Before his gig at the 2019 Festival we hear more from guitarist Ant Law. Ant also joined us at the 2018 Festival with Trio HLK and Dame Evelyn Glennie…
Musically, what inspires you today?
All good music inspires me! Guitaristically speaking, the bar seems to get higher and higher. There are so many younger players coming up at the moment, it’s quite scary and exciting. I listen to classical music, folk music, world music, pop, jazz…there are no boundaries, right?
What did you learn from working with artists like Dame Evelyn Glennie at the 2018 Festival?
Evelyn is a seriously inspiring character – a force of nature. The feeling she puts into the delivery of every single note is quite profound. I asked her “What’s your favourite piece that we play?” and she said “Whichever’s in front of me!” – So now I try to take a leaf out of her book and really try to inhabit each piece. She’s also incredibly humble (Grammy awards/Olympic opening ceremony notwithstanding!). And she’s not afraid to get out of her comfort zone!
Tell us about your new album Life I Know and what people can expect from your performance at the Festival.
People are calling the album “career-defining”, which is nice! I’m very excited to be leading my own group for the first time at BJF – I’ll have my favourite reedsman Michael Chillingworth with me, along with London’s heavyweight bassist Ferg Ireland & Euro drum hero Marc Michel. We’ll be playing music from the album ‘Life I Know’. The album is a musical expression of all my influences – community, culture, human interaction, creative spirit. The recording has been really warmly received throughout Europe and I’m very excited to explore the music further in a live context. In the past I have toured extensively prior to recording music in the studio, but it’s nice to do it this way round – audiences can familiarise themselves with the music a little before hearing it live – people really like my version of “Pure Imagination” (below), so I’ll definitely be playing that one…
Ant Law will be performing in Anson Rooms – Winston Theatre on Saturday 23 March. See more.