Continuum of Selves

This is the world premiere of a new set of pieces by this group of local, national and international musicians.  They will have been rehearsing and recording the pieces in Birmingham, on the three days before this date, and will then present them for the first time to a live audience.

'Jazz-Philosophy Fusion' is a unique and innovative combination of jazz music and philosophical ideas. By supplementing a conventional jazz group with a singer and an actress, classic philosophical themes are explored: such as the nature of the self, the passing of time, and pessimism vs. optimism about life. This provides a new layer of conceptual significance to the music, a new resource for improvising artists, and a vivid way of expressing philosophical ideas which acknowledges that they are not always of simply 'academic' interest to us.

Continuum of Selves is a project led by academic philosopher and jazz musician James Tartaglia, and is funded by the APRA Research Foundation Berlin. Tartaglia has explored the idea of jazz-philosophy fusion in recordings since 2002, but this will be the first dedicated work. A group of leading jazz musicians from the UK and USA will perform eight new compositions of jazz-philosophy fusion, unified by the theme of the philosophy of selfhood. Utilising ideas from both contemporary and ancient philosophy, the music accessibly explores issues such as the divide between humans and other animals, the different personas we present to different audiences (e.g. colleagues vs. family), the metaphysical nature of the ego, ‘teletransportation’ (the sci-fi scenario of travel through physical replication), our email personas, and the Buddhist idea that self is an illusion.

The lineup is:
Jessica Radcliffe - vocals; Sonja Morgenstern - conceptual improvisation; James Tartaglia - tenor saxophone; Gareth Fowler - guitar; Steve Tromans - piano; David Hilton - electric bass and Tymek Jozwiak - drums
 

£6 / free for members/Students £3