OST

OST (Original Soundtrack) celebrates live music and film in one amazing immersive experience. Short films and iconic movie scenes are muted and a new score is improvised live, by a jazz band, who haven't seen the films beforehand! It's a true celebration of imagination and creativity in the moment that the audience find fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.

Beginning in January, the concept has been refined with residencies at 91 Living Room on Brick Lane, Library London and Four Quarters, Peckham; OST now moves to it's new residency at Peckham Gallery aiming to create the best Sunday evening experience in London. OST was conceived by acclaimed trumpeter Jay Phelps and then developed further by him and Pritpal Ajimal; the driving idea behind the concept is for musicians to come together without a plan or a notion and test their skills to interpret a visual cue and truly improvise in the moment without the normal framework of a song or a jazz standard. The band and the audience both face the screen without that normal separation that occurs at a performance and so elicits a feeling of collective involvement.

Taking part in OST for most musicians proves to be extremely challenging with concentration and constant awareness needed throughout each film to interpret the scenes, however, all the musicians comment that it's also one of their most enjoyable experiences. The band is composed of different musicians for every new session of OST, some may have played together or the entire band may not have even met before, giving an added dynamic of excitement. Musicians and vocalists that have taken part in OST include members of Jay Phelps quartet, Steamdown, Pyjaen, Ezra Collective, Abna, Tony Kofi 6tet, Levitation Orchestra, the Outlook Orchestra and numerous musicians from the exciting south London jazz scene.

The short films showcase a mixture of genres of varying lengths ranging from 1 to 20 minutes long, introducing relatively unknown short features from around the world; whether the audience has seen the films beforehand or not, the score created in that moment in the hands of the formidable band frames the memory of that film in a way, that even the directors of the film gain a new perspective on their creations!