I was lucky enough to be involved on a special project known as The Orchestra for a number of years in the early noughties. The Orchestra was established as a charity in 1999 to help raise the funding required to sustain this project.
The Orchestra were unique: defying all preconceptions of orchestral performance, they created a new way for classically trained musicians to perform a rare genre splicing breed of music influenced by drum and bass, club, dance, jazz, funk, world and contemporary classical music. Led by its music director, Andrew Skeet, The Orchestra was a 22 piece classically trained ensemble creating original orchestral based performance developed from collaborations with artists from contemporary, club, hip-hop, electronica and world music.
They launched in the early noughties with Spacer vs The Orchestra, as part of the hugely successful Serious Sampler series at the Spitz, the group went on to host a mass of collaborations at 291 Gallery, Shoreditch working with the likes of Ashley Slater, Jocelyn Pook, Sine, Joby Talbot and Spacer.
Such musical adventures have won The Orchestra an enviable reputation and following for taking orchestral performance to brand new audiences. They have since played at venues and festivals as diverse as The Big Chill, Cargo, the Royal Festival Hall and the Fontanone Festival, Rome. In autumn 2002 they returned to Rome and then performed at the Exeter Phoenix. There was the album launch party at the Scala, London and then they squeezed onto the stage at Band on the Wall, Manchester.
After 2 years of live performance, The Orchestra finally had the opportunity to produce an album recognising the hugely successful collaboration between Andrew Skeet and Luke 'Spacer' Gordon and the original material developed by Andrew over that time.
Written by acclaimed composer Andrew Skeet, whose arrangement credits include Suede and Hybrid and Luke 'Spacer' Gordon, producer and DJ for Howie B's Pussyfoot label, LOOK AWAY NOW creates a sophisticated and infectiously cool compound of electronica, cinematic textures, strings, beats and jazz. In autumn 2002 the album was launched at the Scala, London and then they squeezed onto the stage at Band on the Wall, Manchester.
LOOK AWAY NOW was recorded in the spring of 2002 at Hear No Evil Studios by Steve Parr, co-produced by Andrew and Luke and mixed by Luke at Miloco and Hear No Evil Studios.
In future years, The Orchestra would go on to work and collaborate with a great variety of artists, including David Axelrod, Loka and Siouxsie Sioux.
Unfortunately in late 2005, The Orchestra as a charity was wound up. This was due to key members of staff having their time consumed by other commitments, and funding constraints preventing the recording and release of another album.
I still have a number of copies of their album. Please use the "hello" contact form if you would like to receive a copy. Or, you can download a copy of the album from Kicktone by clicking here.
