Hidden Notes Records are proud to release a collaborative project by contemporary/experimental chamber quartet Spindle Ensemble and the veteran Canadian ensemble Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan.

The unique partnership came about after a chance meeting between Harriet Riley (Spindle Ensemble/Paraorchestra) and Chris Hull (ECCG) whilst they were both studying gamelan in Bali, an encounter which resulted in the Spindle Ensemble heading out to Canada to meet the rest of the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan. Both groups spent a week together rehearsing a set of new repertoire culminating in a live performance at 918 Bathurst Street Art Centre,Toronto.

The ‘Live in Toronto’ release features two live performances from the concert composed by different members; Harriet Riley’s Orpheus, Open Fifths: Gardens by ECCG’s Andrew Timar and a studio recording from their downtown Toronto rehearsal space of Lucid Living written by Daniel Inzani from SE.

Since their formation in Bristol in 2016 Spindle Ensemble have garnered much praise for their innovative take on contemporary classical music. Their distinctive sound is a combination of composer Daniel Inzani’s idiosyncratic modern-impressionist pieces, their improvisation, deft musicianship and unorthodox instrumentation of piano and harp (Inzani), violin (Caelia Lunniss), cello (Jo Silverston) and marimba and vibraphone (Harriet Riley).Their acclaimed second album Inkling was released by Hidden Notes Records in May 2021 and received features and reviews in the likes of the Big Issue, Electronic Sound, BBC Music Magazine, Louder Than War, Loud and Quiet, Joyzine, A Closer Listen and featured in the Guardian’s 10 Best Contemporary Albums of 2021.

Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan is an ensemble of eight highly skilled Canadian musicians who perform and record playing several families of bronze and wood and bamboo instruments from West Java, Indonesia. Collectively these instruments are known as gamelan degung – an important indigenous West Javanese instrumental ensemble with a rich history. Formed in 1983 and based in Toronto, Evergreen Club is a unique performing ensemble dedicated to the development of it’s repertoire of some 400 works through the commissioning of new works by noted Canadian and international composers, as presenting new interpretations of traditional and contemporary Indonesian music. Their numerous concert appearances have delighted audiences across Canada, USA, Europe, Japan and Indonesia. ECCG has collaborated with film-composer Mychael Danna on three of his scores, including his Oscar-winning soundtrack, Life of Pi. The group was also the centrepiece of John Wyre’s Heartbeat Orchestra that toured internationally in the 1990s and 2000s.