Günter Baby Sommer & Raymond Macdonald - Sounds, Songs & Other Noises

Gunter Baby Sommer, born in Dresden, is one of the pioneers of European Free Jazz. In a prolific career spanning over 50 years he has developed a unique approach to percussion and a captivating highly personalized style that has taken him around the world, collaborating widely and delighting audiences with charm and virtuosity. He has also developed and made his own exceptional instruments and has an unmistakable soundworld that marks him out as a master and a true living legend of percussion.

Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist and composer with an extensive career in music, cross-disciplinary arts and academia. Much of his work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition. As a saxophonist and composer, MacDonald has released over 60 CDs, toured and broadcast worldwide and has composed music for film, television, theatre, radio and art installations.

The result of their collaboration can be heard on their new CD "Sounds, Songs and some other Noises”. Joyous and celebratory, this CD captures two artists at the top of their game exploring new landscapes with mesmerising ideas, drawing listeners into their unique and engaging world of sound. At times fragile and delicate and at others boisterous and freewheeling, they explore their sounds and songs with a telepathic understanding of old friends sharing good times. Carving a new set of beguiling pieces brimming with warmth and excitement, Sommer’s endlessly inventive rhythms dance and weave to create wondrous percussive stories, while the saxophone searches, sometimes soaring and weeping and sometimes probing with tiny subtle sparkling textures. Jointly they create an improvised magnetic charm that is inviting, irresistible and fun. Breezy melodies and roller-coaster improvisations merge in a thrilling adventure bathing the audience in new and glorious sounds.