On_the_outside_festival

The 2009 'On the Outside' Festival is over, and after all the hard work, all the stress, and all the inevitable last minute crises (musicians missing flights, hotels double booking, etc), it was a triumphant success. With every set featuring different combinations of musicians it's pretty meaningless to talk of 'highlights', and anyway everybody would come up with a different list. But German drummer Gunter 'Baby' Sommer (pictured) was a revelation every time he played, the duo of Marilyn Crispell and Raymond MacDonald displayed an immediate meeting of musical minds (and is likely to lead to further collaborations), and pianist Cor Fuhler's inspired suggestion that he play with two bassists and two cellists came off triumphantly. And those are just three that spring immediately to mind. In all the Festival featured an astonishing 32 different combinations of musicians over its three days, and every single one produced spontaneous improvisation of the highest quality. A truly great Festival. Now we have to turn our minds to 2010. It won't be easy, as our core funding from the Northern Rock Foundation has come to an end after three years, and in the current financial climate it won't be easy to find a replacement. But with the sounds of the 2009 edition still ringing in our ears, you can be absolutely certain that we'll do everything in our power to keep 'On the Outside' in the calendar.