CICCIC presents some of the best musicians in the UK and on Fri 31st May we have renowned music project Pointless Beauty with their Hearts Full of Grace programme and we have designated this live music event as ‘directors choice’ due to the quality of the musicianship, performance and creativity.

About Pointless Beauty

If Weather Report got into a fight with Brian Eno and Chick Corea and Joe Satriani stood on the sidelines cheering them on maybe it would sound like this….

Committed to a spirit of sonic adventure, Al Swainger has been focused on creating collaborations through his project Pointless Beauty since 2014 and has released two quintet albums, three solo albums and a host of collaborative and solo singles so far.

Blending influences from ambient, latin, rock, pop and electronica with improvised music his use of effects pedals and computer manipulation alongside acoustic instruments provide an extensive and original tonal palette with which to sculpt his music. Described as ‘ Cinematic Fusion for the Emotionally Curious’ Al’s goal is to gently restore our mental health and emotional independence through music and art. He is delighted to bring his current quartet featuring Gary Alesbrook, Gary Bamford & Jon Clark to CICCIC.

• ‘A beautiful collection of musical delights. Blissful listening!’ – Chris Hyson (Snow Poet)
• ‘Joyous…an alluring landscape that transcends its influences’ – Roger Beaujolais
• ‘Musically ambitious, adventurous and imaginative…played with style and panache’ – Theo Travis (Soft Machine, Steven Wilson)
• ‘Swainger has a knack for writing catchy melodies with great rhythmic hooks…blown away…highly recommended’ – Nick Lea (Jazz Views)
• ‘An eclectic range of jazz styles…musically adventurous…’ – London Jazz News
  ‘…easeful interplay…gentle strengths and spiritual uplift. What’s not to like?’ – Andy Robson (Jazzwise)

Al Swainger: bass/electronics
Gary Alesbrook: trumpet/flugelhorn
Gary Bamford: keyboards
Jon Clark: drums

Al Swainger from Pointless Beauty will also be running an ‘Introduction to the wider world of performing and improvising with technology’ music workshop at CICCIC on Sun 9th Jun. Get details here.