Having played together for the first time as a trio as part of the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet tour celebrating Peter's 70th birthday in 2011, the three made an instant decision that this was a group that needed to play together more. Paal and Fred debuted as a duo here at Cafe OTO in April '11 and we're excited to see what the trio will bring.
They'll be joined by a special guest for one of the sets on each night, pianist/keyboard Pat Thomas on the Sunday and drummer Steve Noble on the Monday for a reunion of the incendiary twin-drum showdown that pushed the final set of Lean Left's recent residency to dizzying heights.
PETER BRÖTZMANN
Since the sixties Peter Brötzmann has been one of the most important and uncompromising figures in free Jazz working with everyone from Don Cherry to Keiji Haino. Brötzmann first trained as a painter and was associated with Fluxus before teaching himself the saxophone and establishing himself as one of the most powerful and original players around. Whilst critical shorthand foregrounds his reputation as a hard-blowing sax titan he is also a deeply lyrical and melodic player, evidenced to many people's surprise here at OTO in both his duo with Keiji Haino and in various passages throughout the Tentet residency including a spine tingling duo with Joe McPhee.
FRED LONBERG-HOLM
Fred Lonberg-Holm is a cellist of considerable range and versatility. Combining his instrument with a small selection of electronics he provides textural and melodic counterpoint alongside more pizzacato percussive playing and shuddering bass drops.
"Under the American's ministrations, the cello functioned as effectively in a noise environment as in its more customary chamber habitat. Adjusting his buttons and pedals while bowing, the cellist added sheets of buzzes, white noise and interference. Lonberg-Holm's technique astonished close up, whether scrubbing on his strings, creating hyper distortion, or tapping percussively with both the horsehair and the heel of his bow. Such was his ardor, that almost straight away half the hairs were trailing from the bow." All About Jazz review of the Lonberg-Holm/Nilssen-Love duo at Cafe OTO.
PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE
Paal Nilssen-Love is "one of the most innovative, dynamic and versatile drummers in jazz!" (Downbeat). He has lent his incredible speed and unstoppable creative dynamism to countless groups, notably The Thing and his long-running duo with Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark.
PAT THOMAS
Pat Thomas studied classical piano from aged 8 and started playing Jazz from the age of 16. He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style - embracing improvisation, jazz and new music. He has played with Derek Bailey in Company Week (1990/91) and in the trio AND (with Noble) – with Tony Oxley’s Quartet and Celebration Orchestra and in Duo with Lol Coxhill.
"Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude." The Jazzmann
STEVE NOBLE
Steve Noble is London’s leading drummer, a fearless and constantly inventive improviser whose super-precise, ultra-propulsive and hyper-detailed playing has galvanized encounters with Derek Bailey, Matthew Shipp, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Stephen O’Malley, Joe McPhee, Alex Ward, Rhodri Davies and many, many more.
