Duos

with Alan Wilkinson

with Paul Rutherford

with Hans-Peter Hiby
Paul first met Herr Hiby in his hometown of Wuppertal in February 1986. The two decided to work as a duo and they toured later that same year, playing in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and (West) Germany. This was the first of many tours for the duo and they recorded a vinyl LP 'The Real Case' in Dusseldorf in 1988. This record features cover art by sculptor Raimund Van Well and design and layout by Peter Brötzmann.

with George Haslam

with Frode Gjerstad

with Leon Johnson, known as Gunboat Diplomacy

with Joe McPhee
Paul and Joe first played together in 2002 at the Unitarian Meeting House in Amherst, Massachusetts. The following year Joe came to England and the duo played in London, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle. The Liverpool and Leeds concerts were recorded by Geoff Clout for the cd 'A Parallax View' (see Discography).

with Mike Hurley

with Marshall Allen
Marshall and Paul first played as a duo at the invitation of the Kraak festival in Brussels in 2008. This was followed by an appearance at the Uncool festival in Poschiavo, Switzerland in 2009 and their last meeting was at Cafe Oto in London (with Farid Baron and John Edwards) in 2010.

with Ewan Stefani

with Bill Orcutt

Art, Bart & Fargo in Liège, 1980 - Hession, Wilkinson & Peter Malham RIP.

---

Trios

The Markov Chain - Piano/Bass/Drums Trio
with Adam Fairhall (piano) & Tim Fairhall (double bass)


Hession/Wilkinson/Fell
The HWF trio is notorious for its forthright, passionate approach to improvising. 
The following information is taken from the Bruce's Fingers website and it gives a detailed overview and photos of the band:

http://www.brucesfingers.co.uk/publicity/hwf/hwf.htm


with Alan Wilkinson & Pete Malham (Art, Bart & Fargo)

with Charles Wharf & Simon Fell

with Jeffrey Morgan & Simon Fell



with Mick Beck & Simon Fell (Something Else)
This is another longstanding group having the Simon Fell/Paul Hession bass/drums combo at its core. The following group information is borrowed from Simon's Bruce's Fingers website:

SOMETHING ELSE

Mick Beck - tenor saxophone, bassoon, recorder
Simon H. Fell - double bass
Paul Hession - drumset
"There's passion, intellect and first-rate group interaction. What more can one ask from a contemporary improvising trio?" Robert Iannapollo CADENCE
"An energetic trio, this group plays improvised music with relentless passion and virtuosity." John Baxter OPTION
"There's an exceptional level of communication between the musicians here. When the group is in full flight the flux of energy is incredible." Francesco Martinelli IMPROJAZZ

Mick Beck formed Something Else in 1992 to explore his ideas about the relationship between improvisation and composition within the relatively conventional format of the sax/bass/drums trio. From its inception the group has mixed compositions and improvisation, and quickly developed a style where complex compositions played from memory could be cued at will by any member of the group, to be played, discarded or ignored by all musicians as they saw fit. The group’s appearances include Sheffield’s Foot & Mouth Festival, three UK national tours for The Arts Council, Oxford Jazz Festival, The Outside In Festival, Other Music Festival, East Coast Jazz Festival, JazzGalerie Nickelsdorf, WIM Zurich and many others.

Recordings include:

Something Else – Rear Quarters (Bruce's Fingers 1992)
Something Else – Start Moving Earbuds (Bruce's Fingers 1994)
Something Else – Playing With Tunes (Bruce’s Fingers 1997)


with Mick Beck & Matt Wand

with Mick Beck & Dave Tucker

with Mick Beck & Milo Fine

with 'Squarepusher' & Mick Beck. See Youtube footage on homepage taken at Koko, London.

with Frode Gjerstad & Nick Stevens

with Lol Coxhill & Borah Bergman. Recorded CD 'Acts of Love' in UK (Mutable Music, NYC)

with George Haslam & Borah Bergman

with Petter Frost-Fadnes & Rus Pearson 
The Thin Red Line

with Richard Ormrod & Paul Moore (Unit of Resistance)

Peter Brötzmann & Paul Hession in Leeds 1995
Photo: C. 1995, Richard Johnson.

---

 Quartets

with Matthew Coe, Richard Ward & Alan Wilkinson (This was a trio in the late 1970's until Alan Wilkinson joined in 1979).

with Charles Wharf, Alan Wilkinson & Simon Fell

HOME OF THE BRAVE - playing cowboy based material (!) with Richard Ormrod, Jonny Flockton and Rus Pearson

with George Haslam, Pablo Ledesma & Mono Hurtado (The Anglo Argentine Quartet). Toured in the UK and Argentina.
 
FREIGHT (Improv Funk) with Leon Johnson, Taz Modi and Michelle Scally Clarke

Quintets

with George Haslam, Pete McPhail, Tony Moore & Paul Rutherford (The Siger Band) - Toured Mexico:   Mexico City, Guanajuato, Queretaro, St Miguel, Tijuana and Ensanada and 10-Day Residency at Hotel Nacional Ballroom, Havana, Cuba in 1986.

CONQUISTADOR (Improv Funk ensemble) with Leon Johnson, Pete Williams, Lee Hooper and Johann Sebastian Barnett (!)

Nat Birchall Band 
with Nat Birchall, Adam Fairhall, Corey Mwamba and Nick Blacka

The IML Ensemble

In 1997 I established Improvised Music Leeds (IML) as a forum for running music workshops, to encourage players new to improvised music and to invite visiting musicians to devise pieces for the group, which would be rehearsed and performed in concerts upstairs at The Adelphi pub in Leeds. 

The workshops took place in a piano warehouse in an old mill which added to the unique atmosphere of these events. The group varied in size from 4 to 14 players and it was funded by grants from the regional Arts Council and Leeds City Council.

A typical block of activity would be myself running the workshops for five weekly meetings followed by a sixth session run by the guest musician in which we would rehearse their piece in preparation for the following night's concert.

The guest musicians were Steve Beresford, Phil Wachsmann, Paul Dunmall, Alan Tomlinson, Paul Rutherford, Milo Fine and John Butcher. Some of these were invited on more than one occasion.
IML ran until 2000 during which time a core group of players coalesced into a strong unit. There are recordings of some of the concerts and I do hope to make some of them available when I can make time to listen/edit them.

The IML Ensemble with Paul Dunmall

---