About the Experiment
Who will wake the Sleeping Beauties? On 9 November 2026, David Byrne gave a talk in Brighton about Sleeping Beauties: ideas, discoveries and works that may remain unrecognised for years before finding an audience. It prompted an interesting question. What if the problem isn’t that good ideas are being neglected,…
About Richard
I’m Richard Vahrman, a Brighton-based musician, inventor and lifelong enthusiast for ideas that take us somewhere unexpected. I sing and play keyboards and digital accordion in Psychospherix, a jazz-folk-blues trio -also known as the Tardy Dolphins. I also work on more experimental performances, bringing together music, electronics, projected imagery and,…
Mark Millington: A New Jazz Beginning
After decades playing reggae, soul and other music, a Coventry saxophonist releases his debut jazz album. A reminder that musical discovery has no age limit. Our third discovery raises a…
Deconstructed Melodies: Taking Tunes Apart
Four Amsterdam improvisers dismantle familiar compositions by Carla Bley, Sun Ra and others. How much can you change a melody before it becomes something entirely different? Here’s a rather different…
Jacob O’Donnell: Reinventing the Saxophone
A Kentucky saxophonist transforms his instrument with loops, electronics, and improvisation, creating a fascinating soundscape between jazz and ambient music. I’ve just discovered Jacob O’Donnell, and I love what he’s…
This is currently the same as above until we get the second week!
Mark Millington: A New Jazz Beginning
After decades playing reggae, soul and other music, a Coventry saxophonist releases his debut jazz album. A reminder that musical discovery has no age limit. Our third discovery raises a rather different question about musical recognition. Mark Millington is hardly a newcomer to music. The Coventry saxophonist has been involved in the music industry for…
Deconstructed Melodies: Taking Tunes Apart
Four Amsterdam improvisers dismantle familiar compositions by Carla Bley, Sun Ra and others. How much can you change a melody before it becomes something entirely different? Here’s a rather different musical proposition. Deconstructed Melodies brings together four experienced improvising musicians: Peter van Bergen on tenor saxophone, Jeroen Kimman on guitar, Koen Nutters on bass and…
Jacob O’Donnell: Reinventing the Saxophone
A Kentucky saxophonist transforms his instrument with loops, electronics, and improvisation, creating a fascinating soundscape between jazz and ambient music. I’ve just discovered Jacob O’Donnell, and I love what he’s doing. His album The London System, released in May 2026, was recorded in his bedroom in Lexington, Kentucky. What makes this particularly interesting is that…