Heard the trio at Hitchin, and will catch the big band at Cropredy. The studio album was great, but I now have very high expectations of live album &show

Sound samples from The Gigspanner 'Big Band' Album, to be released August 2017.
The lineup features Peter Knight, Roger Flack, Phillip Henry, Hannah Martin and Sacha Trochet.

As a trio, Gigspanner, formed by Steeleye Span's erstwhile fiddle player Peter Knight, has built a massive reputation for dismantling traditional music and song and reassembling it into "music of intelligently crafted brilliance" (Songlines).

BBC Folk Award winners (Best Duo) Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin are described by The Guardian as being "Subtle, bravely original...a combination of virtuosity, intensity and charisma" 

Their appearances together as the Gigspanner Big Band are a rare but highly sought after affair, thanks to performances of dazzling musicianship and arresting chemistry. 

Unhindered by the limits of technical ability, they take self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles, and with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered within a wealth of subliminal musical influences “with notes seemingly plucked from the stars and rhythms from the equator”.


"It takes a very special inner peace to have the confidence to do what these five do...no egos, no pretensions, no nonsense - it is music from the heart presented by five top class performers for the sheer pleasure of it"  Grapevine Magazine

www.gigspanner.com
www.edgelarks.co.uk

Gigspanner 'Big Band' Live - featuring Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin - Sample of Tracks

A medley based around English tunes on the theme of the Cuckoo. 
The Cuckoo song / The Cuckoo’s Nest / The Cuckoo’s Nest (Longborough Morris)

From the album 'Well Met'. Release date 1st of March 2018. 
For Tour Dates go to https://www.peterknight.net/ or https://www.johnspiers.co.uk/

Well Met

The Cuckoo: The Cuckoo / The Cuckoo’s Nest / The Cuckoo’s Nest (Longborough Morris)

Elwy chante "Le Temps des Cerises" (2010) 

Elwy temps cerises

A composition by Peter Knight, originally featured on his album 'An Ancient Cause' (1991). It features areas of open improvisation, and is played here with his trio Gigspanner.

Eb English by Peter Knight (Live) Gigspanner

"Peter Knight's Gigspanner were amazing. I can only think of a handful of folk musicians world-wide that have the kind of relationship with their instrument that Peter Knight has: Martin Hayes, Enda Scahill, Mike McGoldrick, John McCusker, Martin Simpson.
Many people as they trickled out into the night said that this was one of the best gigs they'd ever been to. I'd agree with that. If you get a quarter of a chance to see them, go - there were people there last night who had travelled many miles to be there. It was well worth every mile" 
Mike Harding: Broadcaster/Musician/Writer
**********
In the wake of his departure from Steeleye Span, fiddle player Peter Knight has turned his full attention to his trio Gigspanner, and in the process has established their reputation as a genuinely ground-breaking force on the British folk scene, described by Folk Radio UK as one of the “most quietly brilliant sets of musicians in the folk world and beyond”.
“Unhindered by the limits of technical ability” (Spiral Earth), they take self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles and with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered in a wealth of subliminal musical influences “with notes seemingly plucked from the stars and rhythms from the equator”  
What makes Gigspanner unique is the variety of musical colours on their palette. What makes them brilliant is how they blend them without ever muddying the landscape ~ Spiral Earth

The captivating nature of their set stems not only from their creative ability and vision, but the eclectic nature of the material chosen. There are eddies and undercurrents drawn from a whole palette of influences which engage and enthral audiences to the closing notes. 

2016 was a vintage year for the trio, with Peter receiving Fatea Magazine's 'Instrumentalist of the Year' Award and ‘Best Musician’ in the inaugural folking. com Awards as voted for by the concert going public. Their album 'Layers of Ages' was included in many of the end of year 'Best of ' lists, including The Telegraph, which gave the album a rare five stars.  
The advent of Gigspanner has introduced a whole new audience to the extraordinary musicianship of Peter Knight, a violinist whom many consider to be in a league of his own. The late author Sir Terry Pratchett in praising Peter's great gift wrote with typical lyricism "Peter Knight can spin the world on his Bow"
Peter is joined by Roger Flack on Guitar and Sacha Trochet on Percussion, both powerful and intelligent musicians in their own right.

Gigspanner 'Big Band' Live - featuring Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin - Sample of Tracks

Peter Knight's Gigspanner

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