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Winner of the 2007 BBC Jazz Awards Best Band.

One of the finest flautists and alto sax players in the UK, Finn is incredibly versatile, performing and composing in a wide range of musical styles. A founder member of the contemporary classical musical group Noszferatu, Finn is equally adept at recording Radio 3 concerts to sessions in the studio with such reputed names as DJ Spinna, 4 Hero, Trip do Brasil, The Herbaliser and IG Culture, to name but a few. He has also toured with 2 Banks of 4, Sam Rivers, Jhelisa, Tony Allen and SA-RA, not to mention his Latin credentials with Giovanni Hildago, Jimmy Bosch and Bobby Matos.

Finn’s first two Dr Seuss EPs on his own record label Mantella were released to widespread praise. 2005 saw the release of Bansuri on Traficante Records: another critically acclaimed, self-produced project, this time featuring Eska, Bembe Segue and Jade Fox.

FINN PETERS - BUTTERFLIES (Accidental records)

Given his background and reputation, it is only to be expected that Finn Peters' new recording branches into exciting new musical territories. Peters is one of the UK's top innovators on both saxophone and flute, with an already envious musical CV including a long-standing association with North London's esteemed F-IRE Collective, over eighty album credits as a well-respected sideman and the prestige of setting up and releasing records through his own imprint Mantella. He has taken home the 1999 London Young Jazz Musician Award, the 2007 BBC Jazz Award for Best Band (his 'Finntet'), his previous release Su-Ling was nominated for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2007 and he has recently been nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Award for composition - Peters has deservedly established himself as a singularly explorative artist.

During the course of his career, Finn Peters has earned the respect and admiration of his many and varied collaborators for his broad scope of musical influence and ability to turn his hand to any style – world renowned DJ Gilles Peterson has singled Peters out as one to watch, playing his tracks on both his radio shows and his live club sets. He has encompassed acoustic jazz, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban music, electronica, contemporary classical music and many more besides, and worked alongside artists as diverse as esoteric Mara Carlyle, Frederick Rzewski, Giovanni Hidalgo, DJ Spinna, Sam Rivers and Sa-Ra Creative Partners. His latest release, Butterflies, is co-produced with Peters by legendary collaborator and trailblazer Matthew Herbert and once again sees Peters exploring new ideas with the same fervour and enthusiasm that has marked him out as a major talent on the music scene, regardless of genre. This is the work of a composer, player and artist working at the peak of his creative powers.

Butterflies takes a more measured, reflective tone than some of Peters’ earlier work. The pieces grow from themes of stillness, quiet transformations and reflections on both form and formation. Butterflies, the album's title track, is based on the music that accompanies the traditional Balinese Butterfly and Bird dance, while the cyclical Octet takes its inspiration from nature's recurring mathematical structures. Composed in the quiet Devon countryside, Peters draws on influences from the through-composed works of Olivier Messiaen to the nature-inspired sounds of Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal. On The Nightingale, real birdsong (as recorded by Peters in the local woods) sits beneath gentle flute melodies which ebb and flow alongside electronic sounds as the tune progresses; a Balinese gamelan ensemble provides an ethereal backdrop on Atlas, the jegogan and gangsa instruments conjuring shimmering Eastern imagery; metaphors of water drive Moyse, with the opening droplets giving way to powerful drum swells as the piece subtly twists from peaceful to menacing in a moment. The players Peters has surrounded himself with on this album represent the pick of the current modern scene, with his usual band of Tom Skinner on drums, Dave Okumu on guitar, Nick Ramm on piano, Tom Herbert on bass and Matthew Yee-King processing the live sound through his Supercollider and synths, augmented with strings, electronics, the gamelan ensemble and kora.

However, as meditative or searching as Finn's music gets, he never lets go of the essential elements of strong melodies, solid rhythms and intelligent harmonic interplays. On Butterflies, Peters brings together the huge variety of music he has experimented with in the past, combining it with his own original ideas, concepts and philosophies - the title is inspired by the great Chinese thinker Chuang Tzu, whose dream of a butterfly caused him to question his own placement and existence within reality. With so extensive and varied a background to draw upon, this fascinating and beautiful release stands out as that of a musician able to create a sound that is both familiar and original but far from settled or complacent, questioning his own placement within the world he inhabits.

Finn's latest project is inspired by his research into the use of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) in music. Looking at technology which allows the user to create music just by thinking, as well as teaching computers to write new material and looking at music in relation to amnesia, dreams and meditation, Finn’s research is caught on film and shown during the performance. The music is a mixture of tunes written with these new technologies, as well as songs inspired by the experiences along the way. With influences as wide as world and modal jazz, soul and classical, Finn’s brain is likely to provide some unique and exciting music. The Brainstorm project features sax, tuba, two laptops and bass, and includes electronic music pioneer Yee King.