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Dominic Lash

Dominic Lash is a freely improvising double bassist, although his activities also range much more widely. Based in Bristol, he leads his own quartet (with Javier Carmona, Ricardo Tejero and Alex Ward) as well as the ensemble Consorts. He has performed with musicians such as Tony Conrad, Joe Morris, Evan Parker and Steve Reid, while his current collaborative projects include Stray (with John Butcher, John Russell and Ståle Liavik Solberg) and The Convergence Quartet (with Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt and Alexander Hawkins).

Born Cambridge, England, in January 1980; played bass guitar since 1994; studied with Hugh Boyd and Pascha Milner and at Basstech (London) with Rob Burns, Terry Gregory and others. Played double bass since 2001; basically self taught, with grateful thanks to Simon H. Fell. Received MA Composition from Oxford Brookes University in 2003, having studied with Paul Whitty, Ray Lee and others. PhD from Brunel University, supervised by Richard Barrett & John Croft.

Has performed in the UK, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and USA. Festival appearances include Akbank Jazz Festival (Istanbul), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Konfrontationen (Nickelsdorf), Manchester Jazz Festival and Tampere Jazz Happening. His work has been broadcast on a number of radio stations, including BBC Radios 1 and 3 and Germany's SWR2.

In 2021 his label Spoonhunt released its first CDs, featuring two quartets (with John Butcher, Javier Carmona, John Russell, Mark Sanders, Ricardo Tejero, and Alex Ward), and the large ensemble Consorts.

Tags

5
Album Review

Dominic Lash, Alex Ward: Antonyms

Read "Antonyms" reviewed by John Sharpe


Can an album's contents be any less summed up by its title? While Antonyms suggests opposition, the collaboration between bassist Dominic Lash and clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward evidences rather more empathy than contradiction. That is unsurprising given regular appearances in each other's bands as well as collective arenas going back at least to Barkingside (FMR, 2008). If the title is not referring to the principals, then perhaps it is the form of their encounters? Not really, as each brings ...

3
Album Review

John Russell / John Butcher / Dominic Lash: But Everything Now Left Before It Arrived

Read "But Everything Now Left Before It Arrived" reviewed by John Eyles


Released towards the end of 2021, the year of guitarist John Russell's death, this recording dates from December 2010, a time before Russell was seriously ill and needed heart surgery. As such, this recording is very welcome as it recalls happier times. The album's five tracks, totalling about forty-one minutes, were recorded at the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra Festival III at the Glasgow Centre of Contemporary Arts. As the YouTube footage below (filmed on 16th August 2010, ...

2
Album Review

John Butcher / Dominic Lash / John Russell / Mark Sanders: Discernment

Read "Discernment" reviewed by John Sharpe


As part of his 40th birthday celebration at Cafe Oto in January 2020, bassist Dominic Lash convened a quartet of some of the UK's finest improvisers, completed by guitarist John Russell, saxophonist John Butcher and drummer Mark Sanders. With such experienced practitioners, there are any number of prior connections which help ensure a successful and empathetic outing. Russell, who died in January 2021, was one of the so-called second generation of British improvisers, often working closely with Butcher ...

3
Album Review

Dominic Lash Quartet: Limulus

Read "Limulus" reviewed by John Sharpe


The third outing from British bassist Dominic Lash's Quartet continues in the vein of its predecessors, Opabinia (Babellabel, 2013) and Extremophile (Iluso, 2017), in respect of its eclecticism, but if anything is even more cohesive and successful as a result. Lash's crew remains unchanged comprising Alex Ward on electric guitar, and the Spanish pairing of Ricardo Tejero on alto saxophone and Javier Carmona on drums. The album, presenting a 2019 live performance from north London's Cafe Oto, constitutes the inaugural ...

5
Multiple Reviews

Spoonhunt's First CD Releases

Read "Spoonhunt's First CD Releases" reviewed by John Eyles


Like the notorious London buses, with musician-run independent record labels, you wait ages for one to arrive and then two come along together. Just as punters were welcoming N.O. Moore's new dx/dy label, along comes the first batch of releases on bassist Dominic Lash's charmingly-named Spoonhunt label. To be fair, Spoonhunt is not totally new. Since April 2015, it has been issuing downloadable recordings via Bandcamp. The label's first three CD releases were recorded live at London's Café Oto. Spoonhunt ...

4
Album Review

Keune Lash Noble: And Now

Read "And Now" reviewed by John Eyles


The trio of German saxophonist Stefan Keune with British bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Steve Noble first came together in September 2013 when they appeared at guitarist John Russell's monthly Mopomoso afternoon at The Vortex, Keune having been a regular visitor there through his duo with Russell which dates back to the 90's. The trio worked well together and, a couple of months later, returned to The Vortex to record Fractions (NoBusiness, 2015) which was issued as a limited edition ...

2
Album Review

Dominic Lash & Seth Cooke: Egregore

Read "Egregore" reviewed by John Eyles


Making their Intonema debut here, the occasional duo of Dominic Lash and Seth Cooke dates back to 2013. Egregore is their third album release, following PACT (1000 füssler, 2014) and Canary (Hideous Replica, 2015). However, anyone familiar with those releases and/or Lash's other work may be surprised by this new album as he does not play double bass at all here, opting instead for electronics throughout while Cooke is heard on cymbals and microphones. Their new label may be the ...

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"following in an illustrious lineage from Barry Guy through Simon Fell ... breathtaking" - All About Jazz

"His range is just about unrivalled" - The Watchful Ear

"explosive bass-strumming" - The Guardian

"endless efforts to veer left of every known note or chord" - Newcastle Journal

"dextrous bass playing teems with energy" - Nightshift

Primary Instrument

Bass, acoustic

Location

London

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Antonyms

Copepod Records
2022

buy

Limulus

Spoonhunt
2021

buy

Distinctions

Spoonhunt
2021

buy

Discernment

Spoonhunt
2021

buy

Videos

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