MARK WASTELL + MAGGIE NICOLS
Maggie Nicols & Mark Wastell: Icons of the British Avant-Garde
Maggie Nicols and Mark Wastell are two pillars of British improvised music. Their collaborative projects offer a fascinating dialogue between the human voice and minimalist percussion. The artists bridge generations, the history, and the future of European experimental jazz.
Maggie Nicols – Voice Without Borders
The Scottish vocalist and pianist is a living legend of free improvisation. In the late 1960s, she co-founded the revolutionary Spontaneous Music Ensemble and later co-founded the pioneering Feminist Improvising Group . Nicols treats her voice as an instrument of limitless possibilities. She brilliantly combines jazz singing, throat techniques, sound theater, and even… dance and tap.
Mark Wastell – Architect of Sound
A versatile drummer, cellist, and music curator, he is a key figure in the contemporary independent scene and founder of the prestigious Confront Recordings label . Wastell is renowned for his unique approach to percussion instruments. His minimalist, deep sound textures incorporate tam-tams, gongs, and everyday objects.
Common Achievements
As a duo and in collaborations with other improvisers (including Matilda Rolfsson and Caius Williams), they regularly release albums and perform concerts across Europe. Their flagship collaborative album, "And John" (2023), was enthusiastically received by critics as a moving, raw tribute to the tradition of intuitive music.
Maggie Nicols and Mark Wastell are two pillars of British improvised music. Their collaborative projects offer a fascinating dialogue between the human voice and minimalist percussion. The artists bridge generations, the history, and the future of European experimental jazz.
Maggie Nicols – Voice Without Borders
The Scottish vocalist and pianist is a living legend of free improvisation. In the late 1960s, she co-founded the revolutionary Spontaneous Music Ensemble and later co-founded the pioneering Feminist Improvising Group . Nicols treats her voice as an instrument of limitless possibilities. She brilliantly combines jazz singing, throat techniques, sound theater, and even… dance and tap.
Mark Wastell – Architect of Sound
A versatile drummer, cellist, and music curator, he is a key figure in the contemporary independent scene and founder of the prestigious Confront Recordings label . Wastell is renowned for his unique approach to percussion instruments. His minimalist, deep sound textures incorporate tam-tams, gongs, and everyday objects.
Common Achievements
As a duo and in collaborations with other improvisers (including Matilda Rolfsson and Caius Williams), they regularly release albums and perform concerts across Europe. Their flagship collaborative album, "And John" (2023), was enthusiastically received by critics as a moving, raw tribute to the tradition of intuitive music.
