We're very pleased to announce that Gannets will be playing London's Café Oto on July 10th 2014.

Join the event page on Facebook. Ticket details and info coming soon.

Late For The Train Episode 4 with Chris Cundy

Episode 4 of Dave Battersby's radio show Late For The Train features special guest and Gannets bass clarinettist Chris Cundy. You can listen to whole thing again via the shows Mixcloud archive page. Each show is centred around instrumental music and Chris talks about some of the music that has had a major impact on him from a young age including selections by Billy Childish and improvising guitarist John Russell. The show also features a rare recording of Chris performing Mountains - a solo composition for bass clarinet written by the political activist and one time experimental musician Cornelius Cardew. Okay, that's it for now but look out for more Gannets related news coming soon for 2014.

GANNETS ALBUM OUT NOW NOW NOW!

We keep you hanging on no longer. Gannets debut album Transmissions of Not is finally here! (Sound the clarinets at long last) And you will find it is now available to purchase from all good record stores accordingly. Alternatively, and rather too conveniently perhaps, it is also now available for download and can be ‘got at’ through those reliable portals known as iTunes and Amazon in the usual hasty purchasing fashion. So what hath the heavy shape of it I hear you ask? Well it is our pleasure to present Transmissions of Not to you on two sides of deluxe 180 gram vinyl and insert it sideways into a gatefold sleeve and quite snugly so. What of these beautiful sleeves I hear you say? Ah, well they have been depicted in immaculate detail with original drawings done by the inky hand of Gannets very own bass clarinettist Christopher Cundy. Each and every copy of the vinyl also comes complete with a CD tucked neatly inside it too which, as well as duplicating the entire record, also features one extra bonus track to take you just that little extra mile. Why the name Transmissions of Not? Well this may be confusing if only for us, but the name actually pays tribute to a band that Chris and Fyfe were once in many moons ago also called Transmissions of Not and in many ways this was where it all began. It was a different beast back then though, with gigs often ending up in late night bar brawls and chair fights, and generally upsetting the locals wherever we went with it (which wasn’t far). Although Gannets do capture something of that early spirit and chaotic revelry, we like to think we stoke it with the craft and finesse of a more refined animal. The album was recorded at Pinewood Studios and originally it was intended as a radio session so the name just seemed to make sense to us again.

Transmissions of Not is out now on Babel Label

Fyfe in session with Rory Simmons on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction

Friday's session on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction featured a unique collaboration between Fyfe and Loop Collective's Rory Simmons Click Here - to listen again

You will hear a bizarre and beautifully melodic collection of spontaneous music live from the BBC studios including cut up voice and tape samples which mash together voices both familiar and strange.

It's followed by a short excerpt from Eric Dolphy's 'Last Date' concert . . . happy listening

Stuart Maconie features Gannets live

Gannets returned to the airwaves for a second time this week. Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone on BBC 6 Music ‘live feature’ featured our set from this year’s London Jazz Festival. You can listen to it again on the iplayer for another whole week. This was our first live appearance in over a year, captured amidst the busy comings and goings of the Front Room stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall by none other than the ornithological department of the British Broadcasting Corporation itself. Thanks to Mister Maconie and his crack pot team for picking up on our first flappings as we prepare ourselves for a full UK tour early in 2012 (dates and ticket information can be seen in this very same blog below).

Other exciting Gannets news is that our debut album will be called ‘Transmissions of Not’ and will be exclusively available at the gigs for £15 in a deluxe heavy vinyl packaging with gatefold sleeve featuring original artwork by the band itself – For those of you with a digital persuasion fear not! This will be no Hackney carriage just for old times’ sakes. . . Every copy of the vinyl also comes with a CD complete with extra tracks that we couldn’t fit on the record. With the official release date for the album on the Babel Label set for April 2012, this is your chance to get your hands on a copy of our record months before it gets into the shops and before it appears anywhere on the internet. It’s something we’re extremely chuffed about so why not get your copy piping hot off the band itself.

Jan 25 Gateshead Central Bar / Jan 26 Manchester Band on the Wall / Jan 27 Leeds Brudenell Social Club / Jan 28 Coventry Taylor John’s House / Jan 29 Birmingham The Yardbird / Feb 1 London Vortex / Feb 2 Basingstoke The Haymarket / Feb 3 Bristol St. George’s / Feb 4 Cheltenham Slak Bar / Feb 5 Brighton The Blind Tiger Club.

Click Here to listen again to Gannets on BBC 6 Music.

Gannets live on Radio 3

Gannets returned to the live stage for the first time in over a year with an energetic half hour set during this years London Jazz Festival. We also saw one or two unique collaborations between Gannets and members of Dave Kane's Rabbit Project, Mat Maneri, Corey Mwamba, Paul Rogers, Robert Mitchell and other guest artists at this years festival.

Adventures in Sound, as it was billed by BBC Radio 3 posed the quizzical notion; is improvisation more creative in longstanding groups or one off collaborations? The nature of the gig was to encourage the sense of surprize and shock that should confront improvisation for both the listener and performer and which can truly be appreciated as something unique in that all too breif a moment when and where it takes place. Its also done to mix things up a bit and there were indeed some beautiful and sometimes odd musical moments during the collaborations but I just don't know which I would say was most creative. Judge for yourself . . . . .

Highlights of the gig can be heard over on BBC Radio 3 on Monday 5th December at 11pm - Jazz on 3 presents Adventures in Sound with special guests Gannets.

Photo of Fyfe Dangerfield by Richard Kaby.

gaNNets tour dates

"one of the highlights of the London Jazz Festival"  TIME OUT

"the abstract improv version of the Guillemots"  THE GUARDIAN

GANNETS WINTER TOUR 2012 - click on the tour dates below for more info and to link with local venue and ticket outlets. . .

JANUARY 2012
Weds 25th: NEWCASTLE > Central Bar Gateshead £7 / £5.
0191 478 2543

Thurs 26th: MANCHESTER > Band on the Wall £9 / £8.
0161 834 1786

Fri 27th: LEEDS > Brudenell Social Club £6.
0113 275 2411

Sat 28th: COVENTRY > Taylor John's House £6.
024 7655 9958

Sun 29th: BIRMINGHAM > The Yardbird.
0121 212 2524

FEBRUARY 2012

Weds 1st: LONDON > The Vortex £9.
020 7254 4097

Fri 3rd: BRISTOL > St. George's £10.
0845 40 24 001

Sat 4th: CHELTENHAM > Slak Bar £6.
01242 524011

Sun 5th: BRIGHTON > The Blind Tiger Club £10.50 / £9.50.
01273 606312

With support from ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND, NATIONAL LOTTERY FUND and JAZZ SERVICES.