15 questions with… ISHMAEL ENSEMBLE
With Ishmael Ensemble’s debut album, A State Of Flow, garnering praise from The Guardian, Mojo and The Wire and landing the band sessions at Maida Vale for Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft, the pressure was on for its followup. Luckily, new album Visions Of Light is just as wide-reaching and ambitious and looks set to only increase the band’s success. The ensemble is led by producer and saxophonist Pete Cunningham, with Holysseus Fly on vocals, Stephen Mullins on guitar, Rory O’Gorman on drums and Jake Spurgeon’s on synths. Their sound takes all sorts of elements from the rich musical history of their home city of Bristol and mixes it up with experimental jazz leanings and a very decent helping of tech...
1 Tell us how you got into music
“I first got into music through my parents’ record collection. All the classics: Dylan, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, Nick Drake etc. We didn’t have a
