Wedding Music

The brand new album ‘Vyamanikal is now available on Slip Imprint:

‘Vyamanikal’ [SLP024] is the Slip debut of Kit Downes and Tom Challenger: a collection of transcendent improvisations where the primordial moans and whistles of remote organs meld with gossamer saxophone.

Recorded at 5 Suffolk churches during a 2015 Aldeburgh Music residency, ‘Vyamanikal’ deftly explores the native nuances and acoustics of 6 organs and their surrounding environment. Downes’ organ playing is alternately delicate and thunderous, teasing out unearthly vibrations from converted harmoniums and mighty, century-old 3 manual organs like Framlingham’s ‘Thamar Organ’. Challenger’s sax lines act as a conduit between the instrument and their locale, probing errant pipe tones for interferences, and embellishing distant birdsong.

Named after the ancient Sanskrit term for flying machines – ‘Vaimānika Shāstra’ – the pair’s second release since 2012’s Wedding Music celebrates music-making at its most meditative and transient.

‘Vyamanikal’ [SLP024] is the Slip debut of Kit Downes and Tom Challenger: a collection of transcendent improvisations where the primordial moans and whistles of remote organs meld with gossamer saxophone.

Recorded at 5 Suffolk churches during a 2015 Aldeburgh Music residency, ‘Vyamanikal’ deftly explores the native nuances and acoustics of 6 organs and their surrounding environment. Downes’ organ playing is alternately delicate and thunderous, teasing out unearthly vibrations from converted harmoniums and mighty, century-old 3 manual organs like Framlingham’s ‘Thamar Organ’. Challenger’s sax lines act as a conduit between the instrument and their locale, probing errant pipe tones for interferences, and embellishing distant birdsong.

Named after the ancient Sanskrit term for flying machines – ‘Vaimānika Shāstra’ – the pair’s second release since 2012’s Wedding Music celebrates music-making at its most meditative and transient.

About our first album:

Wedding Music is released on Loop Records…Big Organ, Big Room…It is a collaboration between myself and Kit Downes (playing church organ), recorded in St Paul’s, Huddersfield by staff and students of the Huddersfield University music department. The album is available HERE

Aldeburgh Open Space residences:

We’ve been recently embarking on a project with Aldeburgh Music, making music in various churches in Suffolk. We’re excited as this will be a properly recorded project – stay tuned! However, in the meantime here are some photo’s and a short collage of cassette recordings from our christmas visit: