This month we have asked the talented Composer Joel Bell to be our guest editor!

Joel’s work has been characterized by the eclectic array of musicians he has worked with, and by taking risks both in the compositional process and in real-time performance. After recent studies in near and far Eastern music, he is currently exploring micro-tonal musics and maqam systems utilizing the fretless electric guitar.

He has had works performed in festivals in England, Europe, Canada and the Far East, touring internationally and most recently premiering/conducting a new work for the Atlas Ensemble/Nieuw ensemble at the Atlas Festival in Amsterdam. He has performed with Lionel Loueke, Experimentalstudio SWR, Evan Parker, Richard Barrett, Seb Roachford, Tim Garland, Oren Marshall, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Butler, Byron Wallen, Paula Chateuaneuf, John Butcher and is a regular member of contemporary/improvisation ensembles Notes Inégales and Galavanize.

He has performed on BBC Arabic, BBC Radio 3,  Swiss Radio (Espace 2) and spoken on BBC Radio 4.

After studying composition at Birmingham Conservatoire with John Mayer (composer and leader of Indo-Jazz Fusions) and receiving a scholarship to study jazz at Berklee College (Boston), he moved to London to complete his PhD in impact points between composition and improvisation, under the supervision of Richard Barrett and Peter Wiegold.