Roller Trio December 5, 2012

Roller Trio’s music is a fresh, visceral stew of conventional and experimental sounds that features stonking riffs, thrashy noise, evocative songs and electronic soundscapes. Incubated in mammoth improvisation sessions and honed in local gigs, their music is delivered with a captivating swagger and greedy energy that is utterly beguiling and packs a hook-laden punch.

Roller Trio are James Mainwairing on tenor sax and electronics, Luke Wynter on guitar and Luke Reddin-Williams on drums. Still in their early 20s, they met while studying at Leeds College of Music. Influenced by a wide range of music from Tim Berne, Chris Potter and Anthony Braxton to Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, Slum Village, J Dilla and Flying Lotus as well as the vibrant Leeds scene they also name check contemporary bands such as Heernt, Trio VD, Animals as Leaders and Siriusmo. But their invigorating mix of rock riffs, angular drums, electronic loops and James’ powerful tone, use of circular breathing and multiphonics mark them out as a powerful new band in their own right, while their use of electronics gives their music a muscular sonic edge and febrile funkiness that makes this music for the heart, head and feet.

In September, Roller Trio were nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize.

‘Dark, menacing, bass heavy – the new sound of UK jazz!’ – Gilles Peterson, BBC 6 Music

‘Each piece evolves intriguingly – raw noises swap with cool melodies; glowering, Spanish-sounding pieces unleash tenor-sax whirls; blurting stop-start motifs ease in and out of swing grooves – and the trio’s formidable playing and composing power suggest a very bright future’ – John Fordham, The Guardian, ****

‘Epic rock-edge riffs, angular sax explorations, brooding beats and haunting dub-step style electronics’ – Jazzwise

Support comes from Manchester-based jazz-fusion trio Kerfuffle.

Official Website: http://crd.fm/1dH