Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra festival XVIII: Night 2

Night two of the GIOfest hosts our traditional small groups evening and the premier of the newest Geroge Lyle commission GIOfest XVIII — Night Two The George Lyle Commission + GIO Small Groups Night Two of GIOfest XVIII celebrates the histories, friendships and musical relationships that have shaped Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. The evening opens with a new work from GIO’s George Lyle Commission series, celebrating one of the orchestra’s founding members and one of the influential figures of Scotland’s improvised music scene. Double bassist George Lyle (1948–2016) was a central presence in Glasgow’s jazz and improvising communities for decades. His musical relationships with George Burt and Raymond MacDonald during the 1990s helped lay the foundations for the formation of Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra in 2000, where he remained a deeply loved and influential member. The George Lyle Commission continues that legacy by supporting new work rooted in the exploratory and collaborative spirit that George brought to the orchestra. The evening then turns to another longstanding part of improvising music practice: the small group night. One-off groupings, encounters and musical situations. Moving away from the scale of the full orchestra, these smaller configurations make space for close listening, individual voices, risk, intimacy and the particular chemistry that emerges in the band. About GIOfest GIOfest is the annual festival of Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO), bringing together improvisers, composers and artists from Glasgow and around the world for performances, collaborations and experiments in collective music-making. GIOfest continues GIO’s long-running exploration of what a large improvising ensemble can be, and who, or what, it might make music with.