The Spatial AKA Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Spatial AKA Orchestra is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

 group, led by former Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...

 frontman and keyboard player Jerry Dammers
Jerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...

. With music written by Dammers, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

described their music as "afro-futurism
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is an emergent literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise,...

" in the style of Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

. They perform in elaborate Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian and outer space-themed costumes, and share the stage with bizarre props such as model alien heads
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...

 and mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...

 Sarcophagi
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...

. In March 2009 the band performed at The Barbican Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In April 2010 the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

.

Personnel

Members of the Orchestra are:
  • Jerry Dammers
    Jerry Dammers
    Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...

    ;
  • Denys Baptiste
    Denys Baptiste
    Denys Baptiste is a jazz musician from London, England. A graduate of Tomorrow’s Warriors, Baptiste plays tenor and soprano saxophone in addition to composing....

    , saxophones;
  • Larry Stabbins
    Larry Stabbins
    Larry Stabbins is a British jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer.-Biography:Larry Stabbons learned clarinet at school at the age of eight, when his musical idol was Acker Bilk. He started playing saxophone at the age of eleven...

    , saxophones;
  • Zoe Rahman
    Zoe Rahman
    Zoe Rahman is a British jazz composer and pianist.-Education:Born and raised in Chichester, United Kingdom. Rahman studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, a music degree at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, and won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of...

    , piano;
  • Jason Yarde, saxophones;
  • Finn Peters
    Finn Peters
    Finn Peters is a flautist and saxophonist. He studied music at Durham University and took the postgraduate jazz course at Guildhall School of Music...

    , flute;
  • Nathaniel Facey, saxophones;
  • Anthony Joseph
    Anthony Joseph
    Anthony Joseph is a British poet, novelist, musician and lecturer.Joseph was born in Trinidad and was raised by his grandparents. He began writing as a young child and cites his main influences as the Calypso, surrealism, jazz, the spiritual Baptist church that his grandparents attended, and the...

    , poet (author, The African Origins of UFOs);
  • Francine Luce, vocals;
  • Neil Charles, double bass;
  • Patrick Illingworth, drums;
  • Crispin Spry Robinson, percussion;
  • Robin Hopcraft, trumpet;
  • Mat Fox, baritone saxophone;
  • Harry Brown
    Harry Brown
    Harry Brown may refer to:*Harry Brown , Canadian radio and television host*Harry W. Brown , Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross*Harry W...

    , trombone;
  • Ollie Bayley, electric bass;
  • Guy R Clark, guitar;
  • Steve Gibson
    Steve Gibson
    Steve Gibson is a computer enthusiast, software engineer and security researcher who studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Gibson currently lives in Laguna Hills, California...

    , classical percussion, vibes.

External links

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