Sok Basement - Chris Batchelor's Zoetic at The Star Of Kings

This third installment at The Star of Kings is gonna be heavy!

Zoetic

Zoetic is a new London based group of very experienced improvising musicians. Chris Batchelor, John Paricelli and Steve Watts were all members of influential British big band Loose Tubes in the 1980s and have played together for decades in many different bands. Here they are heard in an unusual combination with violist Margrit Hasler and percussionist Paul Clarvis.

Chris Batchelor’s writing for Zoetic reflects a long held interest in a wide range of music, from East African guitar band rhythms to echoes of Italian circus themes and sinuous melodies influenced by Arabic and Spanish music, through the filters of the contemporary London scene. This repertoire is complimented by the folky Americana of Bill Frisell and the energetic drive of Arthur Blythe’s material....

read more

This third installment at The Star of Kings is gonna be heavy!

Zoetic

Zoetic is a new London based group of very experienced improvising musicians. Chris Batchelor, John Paricelli and Steve Watts were all members of influential British big band Loose Tubes in the 1980s and have played together for decades in many different bands. Here they are heard in an unusual combination with violist Margrit Hasler and percussionist Paul Clarvis.

Chris Batchelor’s writing for Zoetic reflects a long held interest in a wide range of music, from East African guitar band rhythms to echoes of Italian circus themes and sinuous melodies influenced by Arabic and Spanish music, through the filters of the contemporary London scene. This repertoire is complimented by the folky Americana of Bill Frisell and the energetic drive of Arthur Blythe’s material.

Chris Batchelor - trumpet
Margrit Hasler - viola
John Parricelli - guitar
Steve Watts - double bass
Paul Clarvis - percussion

Chris Batchelor has played with many leading international stars, such as Hermeto Pascoal, Michael Brecker, Uri Caine and John Taylor. He leads the band Pigfoot, dedicated to re-inventing well known repertoire from all styles.

"A fine trumpeter who intriguingly blends Miles Davis's shrewd pacing and evocative long-note sounds with something of Harry Beckett's bubbly phrasing." John Fordham The Guardian

Margrit Hasler had an extensive career in classical music working with top conductors such as Solti and Haitink, alongside playing jazz with Barbara Balzan’s Ensemble Zero and Mark Lockheart’s Ellington In Anticipation.

"The burnished legato and glacial harmonics of viola player Margrit Hasler." Peter Quinn The Arts Desk

John Parricelli was one of the founding members of the British big band Loose Tubes. He has worked with Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Paul Motion and Vince Mendoza.

show less