Since 2017 Rob and Gwilym have been collaborating on several new projects, drawing on their shared love of music that bridges the gap between classical and jazz. Both musicians grew up performing and listening to music that falls into both categories, and wanted to bring together the best of both worlds, improvisation wove into the fabric of through composed music, with the aim of blurring the lines so that it is not obvious where composition ends and improvisation begins. Taking some timeless classical masterpieces (Debussy, Ravel, Faure and others feature here, alongside original works by both Gwil and Rob) as a starting point, the duo have created a spell-being set of music for piano, saxophone and string quartet that has been performing to critical acclaim around the UK. The group recorded a special BBC radio 3 session for Julian Joseph’s Jazz Line Up – sampler below:
In addition, in November 2019, Gwil & Rob, with Yuri Goloubev and Martin France were joined by the combined BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and RNCM Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Clark Rundell, as part of the New Music Manchester festival, premiering a new version of Gwilym’s MOVE! Suite.
Gwilym was also featured guest soloist with the Storyhouse Big Band, a new ensemble directed by Rob as part of the annual Chester Music Festival at Storyhouse. The gig featured some stunning new works by Gwil alongside music penned by the members of the band.