On the 10th March we had our Programme launch party at The Yardbird. Videos from each of the 7 bands who played that night are now available on our Youtube Channel. As part of the night we announced who we have confirmed for the festival so far. We are very excited about how the festival is shaping up, with some already brilliant local and international acts confirmed for the festival. Below are details of the acts we have confirmed so far. We’ll update this line-up as and when more acts are confirmed.

Thursday 29th September

Harmonic launch party – The Yardbird

Husk

If this is anything like last year’s launch party or our programme launch last month this will be a very special night at The Yardbird. So far we have confirmed Sam Wooster’s Husk. Sam will be putting together a special performance for the festival with his heavy metal-inspired band Husk. Husk are an awesome band. You can check them out at our programme launch party here.

Friday 30th September

Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen makes a long awaited return to Birmingham, and for the first time with Birmingham-based duo Dreams of Tall Buildings. Although they have made an album together, the trio have never performed together live. The music is hauntingly beautiful, and the blend between Arve’s rich trumpet sound and the soundscapes created by DOTB is breathtaking. DOTB site-specific approach to making music led them to perform at the closing of MAC before its refurbishment where their music was made up of recordings taken around the building.

http://www.arvehenriksen.no/
http://www.dreamsoftallbuildings.com/

We have also teamed up with Birmingham City University to deliver the second instalment of their Jazz And The Media conference. Following on from the very successful inaugural concert in 2010, this years focus will be on jazz musicians use of online media as well as on jazz collectives.

As a part of the day we will be presenting three sest from three different UK based collectives. Representing Cobweb Collective from Birmingham will be Lluis Mather’s band Noose. Lluis’s thoughtful and intelligent tenor sax playing is reflected in his composition through this fascinating quartet of sax, vocals, piano and drums. From London’s Loop Collective we have Splice. Splice recently performed for the first time at the Loop festival which was broadcast on Jazz On 3. The band explores electro-acoustic improvisation and features Robin Fincker on sax, Alex Bonney on trumpet, Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay on bass and Dave Smith on drums. Finally from Manchester’s Efpi Collective we have The 265 Quartet. Efpi are really making a name for themselves, especially with the Beats & Pieces Big Band. This quartet is somewhat gentler but nevertheless intriguing.

Saturday 1st October

The third day of Hamonic will be the longest of the festival running from around midday until 11pm. We’ll be making full use of the MAC’s fantastic spaces by using as much of it as possible. In the main theatre we are very pleased to present Food. Iain Ballamy and Thomas Stronen will be joined by some very special guest musicians from Birmingham and further afield. This concert is a jointly presented by Birmingham Jazz. Festvial Director Percy Pursglove will be giving his new project Enchanted Heart with guest Hans Koller a debut airing at the festival. Percy’s ability as a trumpet player is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Here he will be flexing his compositional muscles with collaborator and friend, Hans Koller.

http://www.ballamy.com/

Mike Hurley will be curating a day of free music in the Hexagon Theatre with a food theme. Tasting Notes will feature some of Mike’s regular guests and collaborators from the Fizzle free improv nights as well as some very special guests.

Harmonic will also be presenting some music in the Foyer of the MAC throughout the day. Bands from Cobweb Collective will be providing free entertainment throughout the day with Greyish Quartet, Jonathan Silk Quartet and new band Elda all confirmed so far.

Directions in Music will be a marathon performance from pianist/composer Steve Tromans stretching across the course of the entire day, Steve’s focus will be on performing the uncapturable by performing for at least 11 hours solidly. This will be a truly one-off event.

Sunday 2nd October

MAC, Cannon Hill Park

We’ll have some exciting activity on Sunday afternoon at the MAC on the final day of Harmonic 2011. We’re still finalising the plans for this day, but don’t worry, Harmonic’s creativity, music and atmosphere will all be present!