Von: mike gennaro
Datum: Mon, 17 Nov 2025
Betreff: Durrant / Gennaro / Ward – Concert Proposal
Hello,
I would like to pass on some material by this new British / Canadian electroacoustic improvisation trio in the event that you may have a suitable concert opportunity.
While the following links are from a rehearsal space session, we plan on making a proper recording next month and will start performing live next year.
Phil Durrant – electronics
Mike Gennaro – drums, percussion
Alex Ward – clarinet, guitar
Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is a multi-instrumentalist improviser/composer/sound artist who currently performs solo and group concerts. As a violinist (and member of the Butcher/Russell/ Durrant trio), he was one of the key exponents of the „group voice approach“ style of improvised music. In the late 90s, his trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn represented a shift to a more “reductionist” approach. Recently, he has been performing solo and duo concerts with Bill Thompson and Gaudenz Badrutt using a semi-modular synth system. He has also recently recorded and performed with Dominic Lash’s quartet which includes Rachel Musson and Steve Noble. As an acoustic or electric mandolinist, he has been performing duos with guitarists Daniel Thompson and Martin Vishnick. He also performs regularly in a trio with Mark Wastell and John Butcher and has many ongoing projects with drummer Emil Karlsen including a trio with Maggie Nicols. Durrant still performs regularly with the acoustic/electronic group Trio Sowari (with Bertrand Denzler and Burkhard Beins) and Mark Wastell’s The SEEN, as well as the international electronic ensemble MIMEO with Keith Rowe, Kaffe Matthews, Thomas Lehn, Rafael Toral a.o.
Canadian drummer Mike Gennaro burst into improvised music circles in 1999 with the release Port Huron Picnic (Spool), a disc with lauded Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Then still in his early twenties, Gennaro also made two appearances at the Toronto Jazz Festival, duetting with trailblazing saxophonist John Butcher. Subsequent concert collaborations have included internationally acclaimed improvisers such as Juini Booth, Wilbert de Joode, Veryan Weston, Trevor Watts and Tobias Delius.
In 2022 a German tour saw him performing in duo settings with Eric Boeren, Frank Gratkowski, and Matthias Schubert. Later that year, a week of recording sessions in Berlin produced the duo recording INITIALS with trumpeter Brad Henkel and a trio recording with bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall and bassist Ben Lehmann entitled SECOND TAKE. In 2025, his trio with clarinetist Alex Ward and bassist John Edwards released ACTIVITY and embarked on a successful tour of Germany and Poland.
Alex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. He subsequently took part regularly in Bailey’s Company events, and has gone on to become a major figure in British improvised music.
His current work includes the avant-rock duo Dead Days Beyond Help in which he plays guitar, sings and co-writes the material; various groups which perform his compositions-for-improvisers including Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet and improvising collaborations both regular and ad-hoc with musicians including Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Kay Grant, Joe Morris and Weasel Walter. Besides his own groups and improvisational work, he also performs in ensembles including the Duck Baker Trio/Quartet, Thurston Moore’s recent multi-guitar projects Galaxies and New Noise Guitar Explorations, and Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward’s This Is Not This Heat.