Above Our Heads

About

Udo Dzierzanowski – guitars
Cathy Stevens – violin
Karen Wimhurst – clarinets
Adrian Newton – electronics
Geoff Hearn – saxophone
Tony Gill – drums
plus
Jan Kopinski (Pinski Zoo) – saxophone; The Heavens; The Harris String Quartet 

Lighthouse favourite Steve Harris was an internationally renowned jazz drummer, composer and music educator, who lived his later years in Dorset until his all too premature passing in 2008. Steve’s legacy included creating ‘the most exciting group operating in Europe today’ (as the Penguin Guide to Jazz described his free improv collective ZAUM); co-founding SoundStorm Music Education Agency, which continues to teach thousands of Dorset’s young musicians to this day; and establishing Safehouse, an inclusive music collective based at Lighthouse, with a sister collective in Brighton. Steve also created the amazing improvised music festival series, UNSAFE, at Lighthouse during the 2000s.

This very special concert, remembering and celebrating Steve ten years after he joined the great gig in the sky, promises a smorgasbord of musical delights. The original lineup of ZAUM (‘a magic band… the most movingly original thing you’ve seen’ / ‘one of the most original and exciting free music projects in the world’ Brighton Argus / Jazzwise) will unite for one night only; JAN KOPINSKI, frontman of trailblazing nineties improv-funk outfit PINSKI ZOO, of which Steve was a key member, will play solo and join Zaum. The HEAVENS, the unique vocal group featuring Steve’s partner, singer Kathie Prince, and eldest daughter May Harris-Prince, will perform a couple of pieces and join the massed ensemble, Finally, a specially convened HARRIS STRING QUARTET, will world premiere a new piece written in tribute to Steve by his old Dorset Music Service colleague, Aidan Fisher. Expect musical fireworks, sonic landscapes and jazz freer than anything you’ve ever heard before!