Album Notes

What is Nankivell's Optet?

We are a five-piece acoustic band from Huddersfield, England. With two songwriters in the band, we specialise in new and original songs, carefully arranged for the extensive array of instruments and voices in the group.

What's the band about?

Our aim is to push the boundaries of the popular song format and to explore arranging and singing styles in a band full of multi-instrumentalists, improvisers and vocalists.

What makes Nankivell's Optet unique?

Probably our mix of styles and extraordinary line-up. The music crosses so many genres it is unclassifiable. Influences drawn from our diverse musical backgrounds include blues, opera, country & western, jazz, punk rock, classical, singer-songwriter, free improvisation, pop, folk, contemporary post-modernist and world music. Between us we play piano, acoustic guitar, bassoon, viola, saxophones, flute, bass, percussion, kora, penny-whistle, djembe, mbira, kalimba, melodica and clarinet - plus just about anything else we can get our hands on...

Who are we?

Hugh Nankivell
Graham Browning
Jim Pywell
Michael Massey
James Squire

Please visit our website for more information.