Mariam Rezaei is a multi-award-winning composer and turntablist whose practice moves between experimental composition, improvisation, and codes of club culture. Described by The Wire as “one of the most technically adept and creatively daring artists to use the turntable as a musical instrument,” she works with a digital vinyl system that allows her to manipulate samples in real time. Her work pushes the turntable beyond its conventional function, drawing on diasporic musical histories, contemporary composition, and experimental sound practices. She holds a doctorate in the Philosophy of Composition for Turntable and Ensemble from Durham University.

Rezaei is joined by collaborator Edward George, a British writer, broadcaster, filmmaker, and founding member of the Black Audio Film Collective. Together, they use the studio as a space for recording and sampling, developing new material centred on the life and work of late avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor (1929 - 2018).

Classically trained yet radically uncompromising, Cecil Taylor is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His explosive approach to the piano resonates with Rezaei’s own reimagining of the turntable as an instrument of physicality and inquiry. Through this collaboration, the red thread of The Third Room is extended: a continued exploration of how practices rooted in established traditions can be pushed beyond their limits, opening space for new forms of listening.

Mariam Rezaei’s latest solo release, FRACTURED (Heat Crimes), has been praised by The Wire, Uncut, and Bandcamp Daily, and was one of The Quietus’ cassette releases of 2024. Rezaei is a member of the international free music supergroup The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters and the pioneering Turntable Trio with Evicshen and Maria Chávez. Her co-composition with Matthew Shlomowitz, 6 Scenes for Turntable and Orchestra, was premiered at IMD Darmstadt 2023. Other collaborators include Jennifer Walshe, Kobe Van Cauwenberghe, Edward George, Pat Thomas, Farida Amadou, Valentina Magaletti, Lasse Marhaug, and Okkyung Lee.

Edward wrote and presented the ground-breaking science fiction documentary Last Angel of History. George’s series The Strangeness of Dub (Morley Radio) dives into reggae, dub, versions, and versioning, drawing on critical theory, social history, and a deep and wide cross-genre musical selection. Its evil twin, The Strangeness of Jazz (live @ Cafe Oto), does something similar, but with jazz and all its flowerings. Edward George lives and works in London.

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