Robert Mitchell

These are a small set of sound conversations - based on soil that is nearing 30 years worth of riches, stories and spirit. The fuel is made of components from the realms of rhythmic obsession, texture, melodic seeds and waves of harmonic interest in brief holding patterns. These are meeting present day explorations of the vibraphone and piano - via conventional and extended techniques: those from the classroom and those personal expressions based of a myriad of experiences with different instrum…

"This was a unique experience recording for me in a studio that I have had several fantastic experiences in over 20yrs. We have not performed, had not rehearsed and were formulating a sonic world in real time as the takes proceeded. Copious light came into the room and never left! I believe we have more than a book within each of us. Sometimes a day provides a sentence. An hour provides a paragraph. A week provides a comma, and a minute provides a whole page. As Wayne Shorter says ‘Our instrumen…

This is British improvised music at its absolute finest. Three giants of the UK scene – pianist Robert Mitchell, double bassist Neil Charles, and drummer Mark Sanders – locked in a room at Café Oto in February 2022, no safety net, no second takes, just forty minutes of pure telepathic interplay. The result is devastating. Vol. 2 captures the second half of The Flame's legendary debut performance – and if Vol. 1 was a revelation, this is the confirmation. Three extended pieces that move from tend…

This duo, and the resulting album developed out of conversations between Robert and Shirley whilst working on Robert’s Invocation project in 2014. Their discussions explored the varied paths of their respective backgrounds, and different relationships of all aspects of those musical paths to improvisation. Both have a shared classical training, in which the absence of an improvisation became both a frustration and source of inspiration. Part of the story of this album lies in their different for…