Fête Quaqua

• Susanna Ferrar, Benedict Taylor, Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, Kay Grant & Roland Ramanan
• Masaharu Shoji, Sue Lynch, Alex Ward, Steve Beresford & Lee Boyd Allatson
• Ken Ikeda, Blanca Regina, Pascal Marzan, John Russell & Harry Gilonis

Fête Quaqua 2018 19th – 21st August Put together each year by guitarist John Russell Fête Quaqua aims for old friends to get together and meet new ones in an atmosphere of in the moment, never to be repeated, musical invention. Free improvisation is unique in that the audience and musicians discover the music at the same time and this makes for a genuine engagement with the creative process. The musicians taking part this year come from a mix of backgrounds and experiences which should lead to some very exciting exchanges.

Fête Quaqua 2017 Three days of improvised music with 14 world class musicians. The Sunday concert is at 2.00 pm and the Monday and Tuesday concerts both start at 8.00 pm. A three day pass is £20 or £15 concessions and individual concerts are £8 or £6 concessions. Tickets purchases / reservations from The Vortex or from the door on the day. Every year the guitarist John Russell puts together a project involving a group of highly creative and individual musicians to work together, sometimes for the first time.

Fête Quaqua 2016 Both the audience and the musicians share in the discovery of a music as it happens, making for a uniquely rewarding experience. An international cast of musicians will be playing in a variety of different combinations, which won’t be repeated, ensuring that no two shows will be the same. Ståle Liavik Solberg (drums/percussion) Adam Linson (bass, electronics) Paul G. Smyth (piano) John Russell (guitar) Alice Eldridge (cello, feedback cello) Stefan Keune (saxophone) Julia Kjaer (saxophone, flute) Chris Burn (trumpet, piano, electronics) Martin Mayes (french horn, alphorn) Edward Lucas (trombone) Charlotte Hug (viola, voice) Mia Zabelka (violin, voice) Ute Wassermann (voice & birdcall whistles/resonating objects) Maggie Nicols (voice) Lawrence Casserley (electronics) ABOUT THE MUSICIANS Ståle Liavik Solberg (drums/percussion) Ståle Liavik Solberg has made a base for himself within Oslo’s thriving improvised music scene where he plays a central role as one of the driving forces behind the series Blow Out!

Fete Quaqua 2015 Fourteen musicians from seven countries appear in different combinations over three concerts. Each concert begins and ends with a Tutti improvisation. Set 1: Tutt Set 2: Eastley / Fukuda / Solberg / Strandberg / Ward Set 3: Lauro / Zabelka Set 4: Burn / Marshall / Nørstebø / Watanabe Set 5: Eastley / Lauro / Russell / Solberg / Smyth / Winters Set 6: Burn / Eastley / Russell / Solberg / Ward Set 7: Fukuda / Lauro / Smyth / Strandberg / Winters Set 8: Eastley / Nørstebø Set 9: Marshall / Russell / Smyth / Zabelka / Watanabe Set 10: Burn/ Nørstebø/ Strandberg/ Ward/ Watanabe/ Winters/ Zabelka Set 11: Fukuda / Russell Set 12: Tutti Chris Burn (trumpet, piano) UK www.

FÊTE QUAQUA 2014 Since it’s inception in 1982 guitarist John Russell’s Fete Quaqua has brought together different musicians from around the world to share in a programme of free improvisation. Although some of the musicians have never played together before there are always existing collaborative strands to be found within the larger group. It is this development of existing traditions alongside the juxtaposition of previously divergent elements that Russell believes provide a fertile base for the musician’s improvisations.

Fête Quaqua Day Three

Fête Quaqua 2012 Day Two

Fête Quaqua 2012 Day One

Third and final day of Fete Quaqua 2010. Sets in order of preformance.

Second day of Fete Quaqua 2010

First day of John Russell’s annual Fete Quaqua which took place on the 15th, 16th and 17th of August 2010. Originally used as a name for a weekly club for improvised music, the first Quaqua groups performed in the early 1980’s under the heading ‘Fete Quaqua’ at the now defunct London Musicians’ Collective building in Camden Town. The basic idea behind all Quaqua projects being to extend existing collaborations in juxtaposition with new groupings and thus provide a fertile ground for free improvisation.