ALATI began as a flexible group working with poems, song and improvisation.

The group’s first venture was an Illuminations project, working with poems by the French poet Rimbaud, which included improvising from the words, and also songs that I wrote from the poems. As part of this project, we played for my father’s event, ‘Another Look at the Illuminations’, which gave the acronym for ALATI’s name.

More recently, ALATI has coalesced and crystallised into a trio of myself (trumpet & flugelhorn), Brigitte Beraha (vocals) and Dave O’Brien (piano). We have worked on various projects in both acoustic and electronic worlds, all around settings of poetry, including words by Alice Oswald, Andrew McMillan and Colin Simms.

Our debut release, ‘Ascending the Morning’, is available now – presented as a booklet published by Singular Publishing in Norwich and a CD on the Luton-based 33Jazz label. The release features settings of eight poems by Alice Oswald, with the booklet including the notation of the songs, alongside the poems, with beautiful artwork by Morris English, as well as artwork from a workshop with Musical Keys:

https://alatimusic.bandcamp.com/album/ascending-the-morning

An evening with ALATI is a beguiling, uplifting experience. Come to a gig..!

Quotes:

“Fantastic – I love this band..!” (Sylvia Hallett, violinist)

“Dowding’s sprightly and round-toned trumpet, O’Brien’s well-considered pianism and Beraha’s unignorable voice add up to a generous invitation to enter Oswald’s poetic world. More, please.” (Jon Turney, London Jazz News)

“The writing and arrangements are very much in service to the text. In that spirit, Dowding’s own horn playing is often restrained, his breath as much part of the accompaniment as the notes he plays, so intimate is the recording.” (Andy Robson, Jazzwise)