Biography
Cath Roberts’ work explores free improvisation, composition and the music at their meeting point. Her primary outlet as a composer and improviser on baritone saxophone is the quintet Sloth Racket, which has toured widely and released several albums as well as expanding into the ten piece improvising ensemble Favourite Animals.
As bandmate, Cath is a member of multiple groups including Madwort Sax Quartet, Anton Hunter’s Article XI, MoonMot and Alex Ward’s Item 10. She has a long-standing duo with guitarist Anton Hunter called Ripsaw Catfish, as well as regular collaborations with Tullis Rennie, Otto Willberg, Benedict Taylor, Alex Bonney, Seth Bennett and Dirk Serries. Cath co-runs LUME with Dee Byrne, producing concerts, tours and festivals since 2013 and releasing music on the Luminous label. With Tom Ward and Colin Webster she organises BRÅK, an improvised music series taking place in Brockley, South East London.
Cath offers a wide selection of her work on her Bandcamp Page. Well worth a visit!
Awards
2016 Artist in Residence, Lancaster Jazz Festival
Selected Discography
2020 Article XI - Live In Newcastle
2019 Sloth Racket - Dismantle Yourself
2019 Madwort’s Menagerie - Madwort’s Menagerie
2018 Alex Ward Item 10 - Volition (Live at Cafe Oto)
2018 Sloth Racket - A Glorious Monster
2018 A Glorious Monster - Sloth Racket (Luminous)
2017 Favourite Animals - Favourite Animals (Luminous)
2017 See The Looks On The Faces - Sloth Racket (Tombed Visions)
2017 Blurts/Growls - Tullis Rennie & Cath Roberts (Luminous)
2017 Shapeshifters – Sloth Racket (Luminous)
2017 Namazu – Ripsaw Catfish (Raw Tonk)
2016 Triptych – Sloth Racket (Luminous)
2014 For The Benefit Of The Tape - Ripsaw Catfish (Raw Tonk)
2014 Quadraceratops - Quadraceratops (Efpi)
Press Reviews
“Roberts’s Sloth Racket is lurching between riff and abstraction…maintains an elegant balance between emergent melody and the wilder activity at its fringes.” – The Wire
“Favourite Animals confirms Roberts’ talent as a composer and Luminous as a label to watch”– Jazzwise