The Nonidentical

Featuring leading lights of the London alternative jazz scene, The Nonidentical combines ferocious improvising with intricate compositional textures. The band came to be out of a series of experimental nights curated by composer and multi-instrumentalist Zac Gvi that brought musicians together with dancers, performance artists, poets and actors to collaborate and explore their differences and common ground. Their forthcoming debut album “Material Tropes” is a politically charged record written in response to the London riots of 2011, Situationism and the climate crisis that revisits the question of whether and on what terms music can engage with ideas outside itself.

Zac Gvi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist and a member of London’s trailblazing F-IRE Collective. He works regularly as a composer and musical director with theatre companies like the Globe and multi-award winning Kandinsky Theatre. His original albums and soundtracks have received praise from the Guardian, BBC3’s Late Junction and Jazz on 3, The Wire, Time Out and Jazzwise among others. He has collaborated with musicians as diverse as Jarvis Cocker, Evan Parker, Kit Downes, Larry Grenadier and Lore Lixenberg.

Seb Rochford is a drummer and composer whose band Polar Bear has been nominated for the Mercury prize multiple times. An ECM artist and regular member of Patti Smith’s band, he has also worked with Herbie Hancock, Damon Albarn, Joanna McGregor, Brian Eno and Acoustic Ladyland among others.

Ruth Goller is a composer, bassist and vocalist whose critically acclaimed debut solo album “Skylla” was one of the top 10 albums of the year according to the Guardian. She is known for the organic sound of her electric bass playing and has played with Vula Viel, Melt Yourself Down!, Bojan Z and Emanuele Maniscalco.

Ben Davis is a cellist and composer whose band Basquiat Strings was nominated for the Mercury Prize. He has performed with artists like Bobby McFerrin, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey and Wadada Leo Smith.

Maurizio Ravalico is a percussionist and composer who is known both for his experimental work and his groove playing. One of the original members of Jamiroquai, he went on to collaborate with the likes of Paul McCartney, Shabaka Hutchins, Greg Osby and Dele Sosimi.

Julie Kjaer is a reeds player and composer with a strong focus on free improvisation. Her debut album featured mainstays of the London free improv scene John Edwards and Steve Noble and she has also played with Django Bates, Dave Douglas, Laura Jurd and Mira Calix among others.

Giulia Loi is a writer and spoken word artist whose genre-defying work deals with themes like globalisation, mental health and identity politics. A frequent collaborator with Different Skies magazine, her inimitable voice provides an integral contribution to the album’s political and philosophical thrust.