Born in Brighton and living in London, John Butcher is a saxophonist whose work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback, unusual acoustics and non-concert locations. He is well known as a solo performer who attempts to engage with a sense of place. Resonant Spaces, for example, is a collection of performances recorded during a tour of unusual locations in Scotland and the Orkney Islands.
Butcher originally studied Physics, but after publishing a PH.D (1982) in quantum chromodynamics, Butcher left academia and took off with music. He has since collaborated with hundreds of artists, some for many decades. To name a few: Derek Bailey, Akio Suzuki, John Stevens’ Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Sophie Agnel, Rhodri Davies, Matthew Shipp, Gerry Hemingway, Chris Burn, Polwechsel, Magda Mayas, Gino Robair, Thermal (Andy Moor & Thomas Lehn), Christian Marclay, Eddie Prévost, Okkyung Lee, John Russell, and Phil Minton.
Butcher values both permanent groups and occasional encounters and operates within a network of artists also interested in the dynamics of spontaneity and shared history.
This work ranges through:
duo settings, with, for instance, Rhodri Davies, David Toop, Okkyung Lee, Sophie Agnel, Matthew Shipp, Keiji Heino, Fred Frith, Angharad Davies, Eli Keszler, Otomo Yoshihide and John Tilbury;
trios The Contest of Pleasures (with Axel Dörner & Xavier Charles), Chris Corsano & Florian Stoffner, Vellum (with Tony Buck and Magda Mayas), Last Dream of the Morning (with John Edwards & Mark Sanders) and Fictional Souvenirs (with Ståle Liavik Solberg & Pat Thomas).
multimedia projects with Christian Marclay and Lina Lapelyte;
large groups and many one-offs, from soloist with the WDR Sinfonieorchester (in Christopher Fox’s Topophony) to creating a site-specific performance in the Texas dessert with Joe McPhee.
