Having played together now for many years, powerful Tyneside bassist John Pope and mercurial virtuoso violinist John Garner have developed a unique improvisational language, channeled through the lens of their contemporary experience in myriad musical traditions. Described by A Jazz Noise as ‘absolutely addictive’ and by The Jazz Mann as ‘nothing less than extraordinary’, their 2022 album Water Music paid tribute to mid- to late-twentieth century artists who shook the world to its core, driving political and social change in their wake, including Jeanne Lee, Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Don Cherry. The pair also have four records of purely improvised music to their name, the latest of which, Judas, was released in support of United Help Ukraine.

In 2022, they appeared at Lancaster Jazz Festival and Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music, as well as venues in Bristol, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Leeds, leading a workshop with jazz students at Leeds Conservatoire, as well as working in schools in Gateshead and Sunderland as ensemble in residence, a scheme facilitated by MishMash Productions. More recently, they released 23323, an album recorded live at Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. In August 2023, they made their London debut at the internationally celebrated Cafe OTO.

This summer, they will appear at GemArts Masala Festival with poet Nisha Ramayya in an experimental homage to their shared influences, as well as recording a new studio album.