We’re working with musicians who have a special interest in the sound of a space, of your place within it; both have the ability to create magical and charming, intense and often very moving performances. These won’t be like an average live gig, but then don’t you find that the greatest experiences happen where you least expect them. In the oddest of places.

We travelled to a huge sea cave on the north coast, old ice houses, an underground reservoir, a mausoleum and a huge WW2 fuel storage tank on Hoy that has a 17 second decay. These sites allowed John, Akio (with his collection of self-made instruments including his Analapos and others made from pebbles, glass plates, sponges, cardboard box, bamboo sticks and swizzle sticks) and the audiences to experience unique locations all with very highly distinctive acoustic characteristics.

The tour was reviewed in The Wire by Biba Kopf here, by Neil Cooper for the Herald here, and Bixobal featured Akio Suzuki’s Diary of the tour here.

Recordings of performances by John Butcher and Akio Suzuki from the tour were released by Ftarri Records on a record called Immediate Landscapes, recorded by Ruari Cormack and mastered by John Butcher. The release was reviewed in The Squid’s Ear and in The Free Jazz Collective blog and was Number 33 in The Wire’s year end list of 2017.