SIMA Suite a fine finale to Nock’s 2012: Phil Sandford interviews Mike Nock

‘That’s the thing about this music,’ Nock adds, ‘you can’t just write it without the musicians. It’s who you’re writing for. One of the things that I am really trying to do with the piece is to show that it is a living music in that it depends on the people playing it.’

Gyan Michael side stage

Billy the Rabbit (alive and singing)

‘Michael is a kind of visual jazz artist. He doesn’t like to be scripted; in fact he’s a bit of a daredevil. As much as you’d like to plan, Michael would rather walk a tightrope. We offer the scaffolding in that there’s a set list and there are opportunities for improvisation, where we veer away from song form and build a different type of picture.’