I think the answer to this changes everyday. Music has an immense power to communicate nuances of emotion and aspects of the human condition where words are limited. I suppose the thing I love about improvising is that it is an expression of freedom. Whoever and wherever we are in the world, we can find types of freedom in its various guises, even when the status quo tells us otherwise. Music-making can be a microcosm of this idea.

I've been listening to a beautiful new album called '"Twa Double Doubles" by 2 Scottish musicians Norman&Corrie (Norman Willmore on saxophone and Corrie Dick on drums). The music takes old tunes from Shetland and re-imagines them in a really refreshing and contemporary way. I particularly love a track called "Robbie Tampson's Smiddie" - it's a sonically adventurous, deep groover and slowly unravels in a super satisfying way.

My main focus as a musician at the moment is a collaboration with 2 folk musicians: Ultan O'Brien - a fiddle player from Ireland and Martin Green, an English accordionist living in Scotland. We've recently recorded an album with my regular rhythm section of Ruth Goller on bass and Corrie Dick on drums which will be released later in 2025. The music is a lot darker and in many ways simpler than my previous releases, with a focus on unison melodies and improvising in very rootsy, folk-inspired environments. Whilst I've always been drawn to folk traditions, playing more closely with traditional musicians over the past few years has unlocked a deeper understanding of this way of playing music and how I can explore this on the trumpet.

The band I'm bringing to the festival played our first gig together in the Austrian Mountains in the summer of 2023 playing at Outreach Festival in Schwaz. For a long time I've wanted to have a vehicle for a trumpet-led, improvised groove band, inspired in part by Miles Davis albums of the 70s. Joining me on trumpet is guitarist James Kitchman, bassist Tom Hebert and drummer Corrie Dick, all of whom I have played alongside in various contexts over the years as part of the jazz scene in London, UK. Due to the fact that we don't ever play the same thing twice, we have called ourselves "Never Again".

I am also very excited to be sharing the stage in duo with master-musician and bassist Petter Eldh. I have long admired Petter's incredible creativity and facility on his instrument and have seen him perform in a number of bands over the years. It will no doubt be a thrill to improvise alongside his incredible sound.