Arctic Circle's Daylight Music has for over 14 years become an important part of London’s live music scene, with a weird and wonderful mix of musicians presenting ideas and storytelling in music and sound, alongside delicious cake, in some of London’s most splendid and iconic venues.

On this afternoon we listen in on a series of conversation between some more unusual musical pairings or duos. In a rare London appearance especially for the festival, Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Wells and virtuoso tuba player Danielle Price team up under the name The Sensory Illusions (Karaoke Kalk). Picking up on elements from jazz, pop, blues, and classic songwriting while acknowledging their debt to techniques from the worlds of avant-garde and improv music, The Sensory Illusions weave together disparate elements into a colourful, imaginative suite of songs.

j2oh are a dreamjazz DnB duo based in the north, with Jenny Walinetski
on drums and Jemma Freese on keys and vocals. Their energetic and emotionally epic sound comes from a hybrid of hiphop/trap/dnb/electronic and contemporary jazz, using cross signatures, melodic phrasing, rhythmical hooks, complex harmony and vocal sound bites to create their sound. Each composition is rooted in improvisation, which is part of their creative process and is also how the two met. They were awarded a place on Sage Gateshead’s Summer Studios programme in 2022 and are in the process of recording their first EP with Brendan Williams (producer and engineer for GoGo Penguin).

After featuring on over forty albums with numerous different collaborators, Aby Vulliamy (‘one of Yorkshire’s best kept secrets’ -Record Collector) released her debut solo album Spin Cycle which features George Murray’s ‘bulbous’ (Mojo Magazine) and ‘splendidly booting’ (The Wire) trombone throughout. It is a musical exploration of the highs and lows of domestic life and parenthood. Expanding on some of this material plus new compositions and a lot of improvisation and spontaneity, Vulliamy Murray Duo go head-to-head on viola/voice/piano and trombone in a challenging, courageous, forceful and tender musical journey, finding new and unexpected places to explore even after 20 years of living and playing together.

A journey in sound and ideas in three parts, featuring three very different duos. An afternoon in improvised or composed conversations that will stretch your ears and delight your mind in equal measure.