"I’ve always heard Butcher’s playing as a kind of nose to tail saxophony, where the whole instrument from reed-tip to brim of bell is available, accessible and articulate."
WIRE Primer - by Seymour Wright
photo: Skanu Mezs by Artur Pavlovs
Latest Releases
Away, I was
John Butcher
Two Seasons
Angharad Davies / John Butcher
Sharp Illusion
Last Dream of the Morning
RARE
Sophie Agnel / John Butcher
Some Uncharted Evening
Steve Beresford / John Butcher / Max Eastley
This Is Not Speculation
John Butcher / John Edwards
Volatile Object
Pat Thomas / John Butcher / Ståle Liavik Solberg
The Glass Changes Shape
John Butcher / Florian Stoffner/ Chris Corsano
Parallel Streams
John Butcher / Luigi Marino / Mark Wastell
Fluid Fixations
A 14 piece group recorded at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
The Very Fabric
solo inside a giant water tower in Copenhagen.
Ice in a Hot World
by THERMAL
Andy Moor / John Butcher / Thomas Lehn
News
BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction has a feature called “In Session” - where musicians who have never worked together before are invited to create a piece specially for the programme.
In April I joined the extraordinary turntablist Mariam Rezaei, who decided to work by manipulating a selection of my solo releases - throwing me into an ever-changing hall of mirrors.
Produced by Gabriel Francis - who took the photo.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
The Urgency of the Leaves
Franpi Barriaux looks at 3 recent release:
Rare - with Sophie Agnel
This is Not Speculation with John Edwards
Embrace 1 with Polwechsel and Magda Mayas
A quintessential European musician, the British musician John Butcher is one of those insatiable artists who constantly seek out new collaborations.
From the October 2024 Wire:
A look back at solo and collaborative work - 35 CDs with Matthew Shipp, Thomas Lehn, Sophie Agnel, Eddie Prévost, John Stevens' SME, John Russell, Phil Durrant, Vanessa Mackness, Akio Suzuki,
Mark Sanders, John Edwards, Polwechsel, Chris Burn, John Tilbury, Rhodri Davies, Radu Malfatti, Derek Bailey.
PDF Download here.
At the end of 2024 I was grateful to programme 3 night at km28, Berlin - Café Oto, London - and have three projects at the Spontaneous Music Festival in Poznan. All with some of my favourite musicians.
Here’s a look at the events from three writers.
Berlin: Nowhere Street by Peter Margasak
London: by John Sharpe @ all about jazz
Poznan: by Mateusz Sroczyński @ Jazzpress
photo: Patsy Bennett - late 1970s.
Ni Vu Ni Connu LP series
Ni Vu Ni Connu has recently been releasing a series of LPs curated by myself and Antoine Prum. All with silkscreened, gatefold sleeves designed by Yaqin Si (pictured).
The first five were with:
Gino Robair & Thomas Lehn,
Sophie Agnel,
Magda Mayas & Tony Buck,
Liz Allbee, Ignaz Schick & Marta Zapparoli.
Burkhard Beins & Werner Dafeldecker.
concert photos by Cristina Marx
sleeve-notes by Stuart Broomer
All About Jazz - Foxy Digitalis - Point of Departure
Then came two London concerts:
Lower Marsh - duos with Angharad Davies, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders & John Edwards
Unlockings - quartet with Angharad Davies, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
sleeve-notes by Clive Bell
Spontaneous Music Tribune - Sound Projector
Fluid Fixations
Fluid Fixations was premiered at the HCMF on 21/11/2021.
It has since been recreated at:
The Vilnius Jazz Festival (2024)
New Music Dublin (2025)
John Butcher - composer / saxophones / saxophone recordings
Sophie Agnel- piano
Isabelle Duthois - voice / clarinet
Liz Allbee - trumpet | Matthias Müller - trombone
Aleksander Kolkowski - stroh viola / musical saw
Angharad Davies - violin | Hannah Marshall - cello
John Edwards - double bass
Pascal Niggenkemper - double bass
dieb13 - turntables | Pat Thomas - electronics
Ståle Liavik Solberg - drums
Mark Sanders - percussion
Read details and an interview.
Visit Fluid Fixations / John Butcher + 13
The Turn Things Take
During lockdown in 2021 the arts-centre West in Den Haag has been invited musicians to contribute filmed pieces for an online project. I made The Turn Things Take for soprano saxophone.
In contrast to the expansiveness of Resonant Spaces it was a look “inside”.
Concerts ++ 2026
Sharon Gal duo
11 January - London
Part of Dimensions Inhabited by Spirits, curated by moreskinsound.
With David Toop & Ania Psenitsnikova,
and Silvia Hallett & Flavia Ghisalberti
Café Oto, London
Benedict Taylor duo
18 January - London
mopomoso, Vortex, London
Solo
28 January - Brighton
Safehouse, The Coach House, Kemptown, Brighton
with Anthony Moore, Tulliss Renee & Olie Brice (Obtram3)
29 January - St. Leonards on Sea
The Crown House, St. Leonards on Sea, Hastings
with Steve Noble, Jamie Coleman & Caius Williams
7 February - London
Ad-Lib, Open Ealing, London
Aske Krammer duo
13 February - Aarhus
PHONO, Aarhus, Denmark
Caius Williams duo
10 March - London
Sound Bureau, The Hamlet, Streatham, SW16
Short duo with Seymour Wright after the screening of “Beneath the Clouds” by Gianfranco Rosi.
22 March - LONDON
The film-score was composed by Daniel Blumberg, utilising the duo’s playing.
There will also be a Q & A with Rosi and Blumberg led by David Toop.
ICA, London (5:15)
Angharad Davies duo
24 March - Oslo
Blow Out, Kafé Hærverk, Oslo, Norway
25 March - Nonfigurativ musikk, Tonsberg, Norway
Solo
+ Burn into Sleep
28 March - Manchester
St Margaret's Church, Whalley Range, Manchester
29 March - Liverpool (4-7 pm)
House Concert, Liverpool
email: exeasterislandembassy@gmail.com for details
with Liz Albee, Burkhard Beins, Werner Dafeldecker, Jesse Marino & Andrea Neumann
1 April - Berlin
2 April - Berlin
Induction +, KM28, Berlin, Germany
Angharad Davies duo + John Edwards & Sharon Gal + quartet
4 April - London
Ad-Lib, Open Ealing, London
Regan Bowering duo
13 April - London
Bridewell Theatre Bar, London
Mariam Rezai duo
24 April - BBC
In Session - Late Junction, BBC Radio 3
with Li-Chin Li & Julian Woods
13 May - London
Vortex (downstairs), London
18:45 (doors) - music (one set) 19:15 - 20:15 sharp !
Emil Karlsen, Dominic Lash trio
14 May - Oxford
Oxford Improvisers, St. Alban’s Hall, Oxford
with Mike Cooper & Steve Beresford + David Toop & Max Eastley
19 May - London
Cafe Oto, London
with Matt Davis, Angharad Davies, Yumino Seki & Miranda Whall
23 May - Cwmystwyth
When Peat Speaks, Pwllpeiran Upland Research Centre, Cwmystwyth, Wales
with Paul G. Smyth & John Edwards - part of Paul’s 50th birthday celebration.
(+ Benedict Tayl, Daniel Thompson, Áine O’Dwyer)
11 June - London
Vortex, London
with Phil Minton & Erhard Hirt
19 June - Münster
Black Box, Cuba, Münster, Germany
with Daniel Blumberg
3 July - Naples
Screening of Pompei: Below the Clouds, followed by a Q&A with director Gianfranco Rosi and composer Daniel Blumberg, along with a short performance by Daniel Blumberg and John Butcher.
Mubi Film Festival, Villa Floridiana, Naples, Italy
Last Dream of the Morning
Butcher / Edwards / Sanders
6 July - London
7 July - plus guest Cath Roberts - London
Cafe Oto, London
with Mark Wastell & Luigi Marino
9 July - Malmesbury
Way Out Westport, The Three Cups Inn, Malmesbury
Residencial Improvisation Workshop and Concerts
15-20 July - Montaldeo
(15 July - Solo cocert - Montaldeo)
(19 July - Student/Tutors concert - Montaldeo)
(20 July - Student/Tutors concert - Parco Arte Vivente, Torino)
Casa Della Musica San Michelle, Montaldeo, Italy
with Steve Beresford & Pierpaolo Martino
25 July - Bari
Bari in Jazz, Italy
Emil Karlsen, Dominic Lash trio
26 July - London
Cafe Oto, London
The Contest of Pleasures
John Butcher / Xavier Charles / Axel Dörner
20 August - Oslo
Blow Out Festival, Oslo, Norway
Kaja Draksler duo
21 August - Oslo
Blow Out Festival, Oslo, Norway
Regan Bowering, Yoni Silver duo
25 August - London
Part of an evening programmed by Regan Bowering
Café Oto, London
Nodosus (with Angharad Davies, Matt Davis, Dominic Lash , Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga
11 September - Bristol
FIELD, St Anne's Church, Bristol
with Douglas Benford, Regan Bowering, John Edwards
13 September (4 pm) - London
HYG, London
Angharad Davies duo
18 September - Glasgow
The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow, Scotland
19 September - Edinburgh
Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, Scotland
solo + Vasco Trilla duo
30 September - Barcelona
MMI, Barcelona, Spain
© 2026