Sirkis / Bialas IQ, Asaf Sirkis, Sylwia Bialas, Frank Harrison, Kevin Glasgow

Sirkis/Bialas International Quartet

featuring
Asaf Sirkis – drums, percussion, konnakol, compositions
Sylwia Bialas – vocals, waterphone, compositions
Frank Harrison – piano and keyboards
Kevin Glasgow – 6 string electric bass

SBIQ touring their new album "Our New Earth"

"European jazz is promised a virtually limitless future if it continues to stick close to its European roots embedded in the subsoil of specific regional cultures, and it continues to be performed by bands as imaginative as the SBIQ. " Bill Bruford, Liner notes from "Our New Earth". Surrey 2019

With an emphasis on band interaction and sheer joy of playing, ‘Our New Earth’ celebrates music from both Sirkis and Bialas, covering a wide range of influences such as contemporary classical music, Polish folk, Progressive rock, South Indian and Middle Eastern musics as well as a wide range of dynamics – from the most delicate ballad all the way to high-energy electric lines and everything in between; expect soulful melodies, aerospheric sounds with strong grooves, a full colour electroacoustic jazz with an ethnic touch and some uncommonly used instruments and sound effects.

Although Sirkis/Bialas IQ’s music can sometimes be generically referred to as ‘vocal jazz’, Sylwia’s approach to singing is different; making the role of the voice more like an instrument rather than a lead. 

In the words of Sirkis and Bialas: "The message behind Our New Earth is reflecting the drastic changes we are currently experiencing individually and collectively world-wide with the prevailing of technology, social media, and many other issues. We’d like to offer this music as a reflection, a wish of reconnection with nature and a kind of a prayer in music for a better world for all of us and hence the name Our New Earth".

“On the evidence of this concert, ‘Our New Earth’ from Sirkis/Bialas IQ should help further establish the quartet as one of the most interesting of contemporary jazz ensembles. With music this uplifting, so sensitively and passionately rendered, it`s hard not to be seduced”.  - Ian Patterson, All About Jazz