Faye MacCalman is an improvisor, performer and composer-songwriter based in the North East playing saxophone, clarinet and more recently voice. Faye writes for and leads award winning genre crossing trio ‘Archipelago’, exploring song forms through improvisation and melody.
In 2017 she toured with Zoe Rahman for Brighter Sound’s Jazz Director Series; she also performs with The Unthanks (‘The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake’), Paul Smith (Maximo Park) and various improvising groups including ‘Kleevex’ with Gwilly Edmondez. Faye has led improvisation workshops across the North East as well as teaching at Newcastle University. In 2018 Faye was commissioned by Lancaster Jazz Festival to compose for and perform in a new 'superband' of J Frisco and Archipelago.
As a recipient of a Help Musicians UK ‘Peter Whittingham Development Award’ in 2018 Faye co-ran ‘BETWEEN WAVES’ https://archipelago-jam.com/betweenwaves; a collaborative project for female artists from around the UK to create new music with Archipelago. Taking place in Newcastle upon Tyne, the project was aimed at addressing the gender imbalance within creative music making environments. In 2017 UK journalist Kevin Le Gendre described Faye as ‘providing food for thought on what jazz is and can become’.
