The Forge

Cath Roberts is a saxophonist and composer from Northamptonshire, based in London since 2005. From 2008 to 2011, with the Hackney Colliery Band, Cath explored the translation of hip hop grooves into the context of a live marching brass band. Many of her compositions and arrangements can be found on the band’s eponymous album (Wah Wah 45s, 2011), which has enjoyed much BBC radio play. The Observer said: “I can’t imagine any of this lot down a mine, but…this is the most enjoyable, fun, live music I know of.”

With not a marching drum in sight, Quadraceratops formed in June 2011 for Cath’s final recital at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. They very kindly played music by Dave Holland, Bjork and Avishai Cohen along with some original material, in return for beer and the promise of future gigs. Cath then embarked upon a winter of writing to prepare repertoire for the septet and they emerge this Spring to find themselves in the Forge programme.

Band members:
Tom Ward draws on a range of influences to inform his music, from the Fula flute players of the Gambia to saxophone pioneer Tim Berne. He plays alto sax in Porpoise Corpus (F-IRE Collective), and recently spent three years co-directing the Hackney Colliery Band.  Tom is now working on new projects including an improvising saxophone quartet, and has plans to combine his twin loves of saxophones and bicycles by opening an innovative repair shop/gig venue hybrid with the working title ‘Bikeophone’…

Dave Orchant has won both national and international acclaim as trumpeter and writer with the pioneering experimental klezmer band Oi Va Voi, performing with the group in venues across the world. A recent graduate from the Guildhall School, Dave is a talented arranger and composer and enjoys writing for both his own jazz quintet and a range of other projects.

Magnus Dearness moved to London from the Orkney Islands in 1996 to study trombone at the Royal College of Music. Since graduating he has played with, amongst others, Grand Union Orchestra, Nostalgia77 Octet and Incognito.  Magnus can currently be heard playing in the basement bars of East London with the Hackney Colliery Band and, above ground, with the Bollywood Brass Band.

Since gaining a first class honours degree from Trinity College of Music, Kit Massey has enjoyed an eclectic career as both a violinist and pianist. His violin work has included the Chilean Philamonia de Santiago and the Heritage Orchestra, and as a pianist Kit has performed at venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Vortex, as well as the Berlin and Montreaux jazz festivals. His television work includes hand-doubling for Rupert Everett in the BBC’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes where he was asked to play “exquisitely badly”.

Dave O’Brien is in demand as a double bassist, bass guitarist and pianist. He works with many groups in London playing all kinds of music, and has been on musical field trips to Cuba, the Gambia and New York. Dave won the Peter Whittingham award in 2006 for a project featuring his band Porpoise Corpus in collaboration with the film-makers  Dandelion & Burdock. Porpoise have performed all over the UK and released their self-titled debut album in 2007 (F-IRE Presents). They are currently working on their second album.

It has been suggested that Luke Christie has the second biggest hairstyle of all London drummers, although this has yet to be independently verified. Originally hailing from Yorkshire, Luke has lived in London since 1999, playing for various bands in all different genres. He is half of the marching drums in the Hackney Colliery Band, and plays in London’s favourite gypsy band Three Beards. Luke’s solo project ‘Luke Christie and the Held Breath’ releases its debut album this Spring.