about/bio
photo by Declan Forde
In this duo album… the two demonstrate what improvised music means and the fascination it can generate. The sound and sonic sculptures that these two exceptional artists create in these 10 songs defy any classification or simple pigeonholing. Experimental, avant-garde, and never, ever!, boring. A captivating journey into the micro- and macrocosm of improvised, free music and almost pictorial sonic eruptions that enthrals listeners from the very first second.
Claus Volke – Hören und Fühlen
Borage
Megan Jowett – viola/voice
James Banner – double bass
Borage is Megan Jowett and James Banner. They play brittle, strange, dark, weird and vibrant improvised music inspired by animals, plants and governments on strings and voices. Borage self-released their first album transitory in 2023 with a tour in Berlin, Zurich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Uppsala and Bonn, featuring guests including Declan Forde, Eva Lindal and Aurora Nealand, partially supported by Musikfonds. After concerts at Jazz No Picadeiro and a residency at BOTA in Lisbon with João Lopes Pereira and Mariana Dionísio in summer 2024, their second release DRESSAGE, an electroacoustic concept album, was released on 6.12.2024 via Robalo Music in Lisbon – listen/buy here.
…music that is very physical, material, palpable, which perhaps has more to do with sculpture…
This way of making or, more precisely, of shaping music, is not afraid of provoking a form of discomfort if it establishes a tension that maintains attention and allows us to grasp details.The musicians gesture counts here at least as much as the result, always moving, that they produce: a strange sound object that lives, with its audible breaths, where music and musicians, sonically, are one…
Aymeric Morillon, Citizen Jazz
Video
booking
email info (at) jamesbanner.com
dates
2025
20.7. – Borage @ Robalo Satélite – Penha Sco, Lisbon
archive
2023
20.8.- double bill with Nebbia/Forde/Banner/Gerstner – Petersburg Art Space
////
transitory release tour – supported by Musikfonds
24.8.- with Aurora Nealand and Declan Forde – Spektral Raumohr, Berlin (live recording)
1.9. – WIM, Zurich
14.9. – Kreuzkirche, Bonn (as part of Beethovenfest Bonn)
////
29.9. – with Arne Braun – disfigured rivers @ TRXXXTR, Berlin
1.10. – Noiseberg @ Atelier Äuglein, Berlin
2024
5.3. – Copenhagen – PRiMi
6.3. – Stockholm – Khimaira Projektplats (with Eva Lindal)
7.3. – Uppsala – Omnikvariatet (with Eva Lindal)
8.3. – Berlin – Sowieso
20.3. – Berlin – Hošek Contemporary (with Arne Braun)
21.4. – Berlin – Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (with Birgitta Flick)
6.6 – Lisbon – Jazz No Picadeiro Festival – São Luiz Teatro Municipal
76.-9.6. – Lisbon – Boragapangã Residency and show with Mariana Dionísio and João Lopes Pereira – BOTA
2025
28.2. – dim things, Berlin
images/downloads
(HQ images for download – click the image and right click to save)
tech rider
Borage can play acoustic in most venues, especially large halls, churches, as well as small spaces such bars, clubs, event rooms, galleries, house concerts etc. The sound is especially resonant and special in spaces with high ceilings. If required, we can provide our own microphones for amplification – powered speaker(s) or a PA system with phantom power should then be provided by the venue. We can also use the microphones provided by the venue. Area for setup is minimum 2m x 2m. Please contact us prior to the concert for detailed information.
James Banner 