‘It’s taken over my life!’

There’s a restlessness about saxophonist and composer Kevin Figes that keeps driving him to try something new. He’s no dabbler: once there is something in his sights he properly goes for it, usually with surprising (and impressive) results.

Like most jazz musicians he has a few bands on the go, notably the anarchic Wallpaper Music and You Are Here, a tribute to a creative strand of 70s UK jazz and, especially, Kevin’s mentor Keith Tippett. That’s a fair bit of arranging and composing in itself, plus he has contemporary music label Pig Records to manage.

But since lockdown Kevin has also been producing a series of increasingly ambitious projects taking him into new areas of creativity: a classical piano suite (2022’s The Common), a feature film in the Italian camp-Gothic giallo style (2023’s Imogen) and now Sound Dimensions, a 70-minute programme of classical, jazz and electronic musics inspired by Italian composers from the 60s and 70s. The obvious question has to be: why?

Inevitably it comes down to money, as Kevin explains: “I had twice applied to the Arts Council for money to tour with Wallpaper Music and failed. Someone explained to me that I was more likely to get funding for composing a whole bunch of new music. I’d always had it in mind to write for strings and, of course, I like working with my bands and having Brigitte Beraha singing. I also thought I might throw in some electronics … but I needed something to hang it all on.

I’m a big fan of Italian film composers from the 50s-70s, obviously Ennio Morricone but I’d also come across Bruno Maderna through the soundtrack of an obscure 60s film called Death Laid An Egg. I started listening to his other stuff and that led on to his mentor Luigi Nono. I was inspired by the sound they had and how they made it so I wrote up a funding proposal. Lo and behold, it was accepted.”

Composer Kevin Figes (pic: Tony Benjamin)

Getting the go-ahead proved to be a mixed blessing, however, as Kevin began exploring the three composers’ music in more depth and realised what a challenge he’d set himself. “I’ve never worked so hard on a composition! (My film) Imogen was a huge piece of work but this is the biggest – it’s taken over my life for the last six months.

I knew Morricone’s stuff, of course, but for the other two I had to read up loads, even people’s PhD theses. Luckily I found a Canadian guy who wrote about Nono who was clear as a bell, no obscure terminology.”

Bruno Maderna was a bigger challenge, however: “I spent ages working on his methods, it was like going back to school. You end up with loads of notes and then it’s up to you how you turn them into music. I was working on a nine-minute piece using his methods and it took me seven months to complete – it was a real journey.”

Brigitte Beraha and Kevin Figes: Wallpaper Music (pic: Tony Benjamin)

Another time-consuming element was constructing a prerecorded sound collage in  the style of Luigi Nono to be performed with Brigitte Beraha’s live vocals. Luckily Kevin is an inveterate sound collector and, with the help of electronic composer Gaz Williams, plundered his own sound archive and a few public domain sources to put it together. “Finishing the recorded piece was great.” Kevin explains, “Brigitte is always so busy she couldn’t make rehearsals but she could just have that and work with it in her own time.”

The crucial element would, of course, be the classical musicians and Kevin was always clear who they would be: “The Bristol Ensemble was a straightforward choice because I’d worked with them before. I’d worked with some of their woodwind players and they also have (percussionist and vibraphone player) Harriet Riley.

I love the vibes and there’s a Maderna piece with vibes at the end of it. Once I knew Harriet was doing it I was able to write percussion parts and glockenspiel parts as well. I’ve got Mark and Harriet doing a bit with glock and vibes together which is great.” The Mark in question is drummer Mark Whitlam, part of Kevin’s regular band along with pianist Jim Blomfield and bassist Ashley John Long, both also involved in Sound Dimensions.

Kevin Figes rehearsing with Bristol Ensemble String Section (pic: Gaz Williams)

After all that preparation the music has finally come together in rehearsal and Kevin is pleased with the results: “A couple of people asked me if it was what I expected it to sound like and I had to say – yes, exactly what I’d expected. I slightly surprised myself, really.” Which is all to the good, as Sound Dimension gets its premiere at The Mount Without on July 30. After all that work, will that be its only outing? “Who knows! It’s being recorded thanks to Tosh Wijetunge. With so many musicians that’ll be a huge challenge but we can do our best: Tosh is great at things like that.”

And, after that – what is he going to do with himself? “Well there’s a lot of exciting action on Pig Records. We’ve just released Sliders’ debut album and The Brackish have a new one coming out later in the year. And I’m planning another film … I’ve already written the screenplay. There’s going to be a crowdfunding push to get that going.” So, another big (and probably exhausting) project then? Kevin shrugs: “Looks like it, I suppose.”

Kevin Figes’ Sound Dimensions will be performed at The Mount Without on Wednesday July 30