EFG London Jazz Festival presents a showcase of some of Ireland's foremost improvising musicians at the Barbican. Adventures in Irish improvisation shines a light on some of the most daring artists in the Irish jazz and improvising music scenes – featuring the exhilarating electronic duo Ex Isles and a collaboration between violinist Cora Venus Lunny and pianist Izumi Kimura.

Izumi Kimura & Lina Andonovska - 5pm
Ex-Isles - 6pm

The avant-pop project of Pete Devlin and Jamie Thompson (ADJUNCT Ensemble), Ex-Isles’ startlingly beautiful protest songs marry the fringe-pop sensibilities of David Sylvian, Scott Walker, and late-era Bowie, and quarry deep for mineral sensualities. Their self-produced debut Luxury Mass was released in 2018. A record about borders, thresholds and solidarity with the displaced, it set the tone for their sonically more expansive second record Domestic Sacraments, which will be released in early 2023. After spending time writing music for theatre and developing their own projects, they have begun work on their third album, which takes its musical cues from Tony Bennett and Bill Evan’s 1970s albums, as well as Ran Blake and Jeanne Lee’s collaborations. Ex-Isles is currently playing as a stripped back duo of piano and voice. In October they will release a double A-side 'The Smallest Plot Of Land / Deaf Republic', which will be available only as a limited run of high-quality A5 prints with download codes

Improvising duo, Lina Andonovska and Izumi Kimura will also perform together.

Izumi Kimura – Japanese born and Irish resident – is a highly acclaimed practitioner of contemporary piano music, improviser, and educator. She has worked with some of the leading performers and ensembles from both disciplines of classical and jazz, including RTE Symphony Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, Crash Ensemble, Ronan Guilfoyle, Oki Itaru, Makoto Sato, Benoít Delbecq, Stéphane Payen, Sarah Buechi, Fuzzy Logic Ensemble and more.

 Lina Andonovska is a rare breed in the flute world; a name that you’ll discover on both the pages of Rolling Stone and the Australian Chamber Orchestra roster, she has not only cultivated partnerships with leading artists including Louis Andriessen, Donnacha Dennehy and Claire Chase, but also deep community ties from Timor-Leste to Tokyo’s Wonder Site. She is flautist of Grammy Award-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird. 

Lina’s debut album was described as “brimming with energy and bold textures, though marked throughout by nuance. A name to watch out for” (All About Jazz). 

Presented with the support of Culture Ireland