Bristol-born saxophonist and producer Peter Cunningham aka Ishmael formed the band Ishmael Ensemble in 2017. This brought together guitarist Stephen Mullins, keyboardist Jake Spurgeon and drummer Rory O'Gorman, for a blend of jazz and electronica unveiled the same year on the Songs for Knotty EP. Several other tracks released over the next two years are collected in the Severn Songs compilation (2019), while the Ishmael Ensemble name begins to flourish on an album of tracks selected by Gilles Peterson and Blue Note Re:Imagined, an exercise offering young talents on the jazz scene the chance to cover classics in their own way. The group chose McCoy Tyner's "Search for Peace". Released in 2021, the second album Visions of Light is considered album of the year by BB6 presenter Hue Morgan. It is the subject of a collection of remixes by producers from the electronic scene such as Tiny Chapter, Rider Shafique, Stanlaey and Medlar. In the same spirit of synthesis between different styles, the album Rituals (2024) was released in 2024, featuring several sung passages.
