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DM&P + Temperatures
FRI 3 FEB '12 • 8PM • £5 advance / £6 on the door
London free-rock duo Temperatures pair up their radical collapse of hypno-rhythm and noise with stalwarts of the Scena Krakowska improvised music scene in Poland, DM&P whose two saxophonists converge with electronics/custom-written software for some truly questing and organic free improvisation....MORE>
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Ideologic Organ #1: Andrew Chalk & Timo Van Luijk (Elodie) + Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang
SAT 4 FEB '12 • 8PM • £10 adv / £12 on the door
First concert in a new series curated by Stephen O'Malley of SUNN O))) extending the work he's undertaken with his Ideologic Organ label for Editions Mego. The first event is a double bill of duos. An exceedingly rare appearance from Andrew Chalk - here as Elodie, his duo with Timo Van Luijk and Vocal/Violin duo Jessika Kenney and Eyvind Kang, both collaborators on SUNN O)))'s Monolith's & Dimensions and responsible for the second LP on the label: 'Aestaurium'....MORE>
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The London Improvisers Orchestra
SUN 5 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 / £4 concs
Regular meeting of The London Improvisers Orchestra. The LIO draws on London's rich pool of improvising musicians and is part of a long and varied heritage that stretches back to the free-jazz big bands of Chris McGregor and Mike Westbrook, the intuitive ensembles of John Stevens and purely improvising groups such as the Continuous Music Ensemble....MORE>
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OTO BAR • MON 6 FEB '12 • FREE ENTRY
Come on in and enjoy an OTO Ale or something else from the bar. We stock organic juices, Devon cider, wines, Japanese snacks, Sake, Shochu, Plum Wine, and Japanese Whisky plus beers from Pitfield, and The Kernel's Porter, Pale Ale and IPA.
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Upset the Rhythm's Kingdom Tour Ft. Gentle Friendly, Way Through, Peepholes
TUES 7 FEB '12 • 8PM • £5 advance / £6 on the door
UTR hit the road with three incredibly inventive bands from their native soil to bring their pastoral punk, junked rhythms and tribal synth dance parties to the near and far of the United Kingdom. Upset The Rhythm’s Kingdom Tour sees GENTLE FRIENDLY, WAY THROUGH and PEEPHOLES team up to present a revolving lineup that resonates deep within landscape, drawing on forgotten pasts and remembered futures in equal measure.....MORE>
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Black Top #1: Pat Thomas / Orphy Robinson / Shabaka Hutchings + Guests
WED 8 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 adv / £7 on the door
Originally proposed as a new trio of Pat Thomas, Orphy Robinson and Steve Williamson, Black Top started out as a duo at Cafe OTO after Pat Thomas was unable to make the original gig. Black Top now returns to Cafe OTO reincarnated as an ad hoc series dedicated to exploring the intersection of live instruments and technology such as the looping and sampling used in dub, reggae and other worldly noises. The Black Top project will use improvisation to explore these black influences but not necessarily from an African American perspective. This first show in the new series will feature Pat Thomas - one of the UK's most unique and vital keyboard players alongside Orphy Robinson's Steel Pans and Shabaka Hutchings on saxophones plus guests.....MORE>
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THE WIRE SALON: PRACTICAL ELECTRONICA: FROM CHROMASONICS TO THE MEGATHERM
THURS 9 FEB '12 • 8PM • £4 on the door
For this editon of The Wire Salon, Brighton based film maker, composer and instrument inventor Ian Helliwell stages an audio-visual celebration of the early electronic music of FC Judd, one of the unsung heroes of the UK's DIY tradition of amateur audio adventurers and experimental hobbyists.......MORE>
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Le Volume Courbe + Lonesome French Cowboy & The One + Harvey Smith Salute
FRI 10 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 adv / £7 on the door
London show from Le Volume Courbe. Le Volume Courbe is helmed by French ex-pat Charlotte Marionneau and inspired by the do-your-own-thing ethos of Nico, Patti Smith and Yoko Ono. Their new EP “Theodaurus Rex” is now out on Pickpocket Records, the label formed by Le Volume Courbe’s leader and lynchpin Charlotte Marionneau with Kevin Shields.....MORE>
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Ian Nagoski presents 'To What Strange Place' + The Family Elan
SAT 11 FEB '12 • 8PM • £7 adv / £8 on the door
This concert sees a rare pairing of two musical entities divided by the Atlantic but united by a mutual love for obscure musical outpourings from under-heard sections of diverse cultures - Ian Nagoski will do presentation based on his acclaimed collection 'To What Strange Place : The Music Of The Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916-1929' and The Family Elan will follow in their current bouzouki/bass/percussion power trio format, delving into the same mine of influence - dipping musical toes in Uzbekistan, Eastern Europe and elsewhere....MORE>
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Mia Zabelka / Maggie Nicols / John Russell
SUN 12 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 adv / £7 on the door
Free improvisation from three highly individual musicians with backgrounds spanning a wide variety of musical experiences, the trio’s music both captures and enthralls with its immediacy and a shared, almost telepathic intimacy: Mia Zabelka (Violin), Maggie Nicols (Voice), John Russell (Guitar)......MORE>
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OTO BAR • MON 13 FEB '12 • FREE ENTRY
Come on in and enjoy an OTO Ale or something else from the bar. We stock organic juices, Devon cider, wines, Japanese snacks, Sake, Shochu, Plum Wine, and Japanese Whisky plus beers from Pitfield, and The Kernel's Porter, Pale Ale and IPA.
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OTO BAR • TUES 14 FEB '12 • FREE ENTRY
Come on in and enjoy an OTO Ale or something else from the bar. We stock organic juices, Devon cider, wines, Japanese snacks, Sake, Shochu, Plum Wine, and Japanese Whisky plus beers from Pitfield, and The Kernel's Porter, Pale Ale and IPA.
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Eat Your Own Ears present: MATTHEW BOURNE + guests
WED 15 FEB '12 • 8PM • £10
Pianist Matthew Bourne plays Café OTO to mark the release of his first ever solo studio album, Montauk Variations (out Feb 7). Bourne's extraordinary physical performance on the intimate venue's grand piano is not to be missed......MORE>
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With Lumps + LExer/Noble Duo
THURS 16 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 advance/£7 on the door
Uncategorisable guitar/percussion duo of former Pee-Ess-Eye drummer Fritz Welch and guitarist
Neil Davidson paired up for two duos and a one-off quartet with the reconvened Lexer/Noble Piano/Percussion combo following their stunning first encounter for Muddy Ditch #2......MORE>
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Jason Kahn, Alfredo Costa Monteiro & Juan Matos Capote (Astero) + Phil Julian and Matt Davis : Two Day Residency
FRI 17 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 / £7 on the door
SAT 18 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 / £7 on the door
Two day exploration of various configurations from this group of die-hard electronic and electro-acoustic music experimentalists exploring unstabe systems, analog synthesisers, circuit bending, reclaimed domestic electronics (speakers/radios), prepared instruments and more.....MORE>
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Peter Brötzmann / Paal Nilssen-Love / Fred Lonberg-Holm (trio)
TWO DAY RESIDENCY WITH GUESTS
SUN 19 FEB '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
w/ special guest: Pat Thomas
MON 20 FEB '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
w/ special guest: Steve Noble
Sax/Cello/Drums isn't the most regular of trios, and even if it were this wouldn't be the most regular example of it as it brings together three of the most adventurous and creative players in improvised music. 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. At OTO, they'll be joined by 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.....MORE>
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An Evening With Glenn Jones
TUES 21 FEB '12 • 8PM • £8 advance / £10 on the door
An evening with American primitive guitarist Glenn Jones. Jones will perform compositions from his acclaimed string of solo guitar records and will give a talk on the history of the 'Takoma School' of American music taking in the work he's done on the boxset 'Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You'. Described by The WIRE as "One of the great musical stories of the 20th Century", the boxset covers the early years of Jones' late friend John Fahey. ...MORE>
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Body/Head (Kim Gordon & Bill Nace)
WED 22 FEB '12 • 8PM • SOLD OUT
Unpredictable guitar combo pairing Sonic Youth founder/bass player/guitarist/vocalist Kim Gordon and Boston's favourite free-noise guitarist Bill Nace. As a duo they've put forth a limited cassette only blast via Ecstatic Peace! and covered 'Fever' for an Ultra Eczema compilation so its hard to say exactly what this show will bring, but its sure to be a good one!....MORE>
SOLD OUT
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The Fujii
THURS 23 FEB '12 • 8PM • £6 adv / £7 on the door
An exploration of the blues guitar lexicon with The Fujii - Koichi Fujishima on National Steel Guitar/Vocals and Paul Shearsmith on Pocket Trumpet, Tuned Gas Main, Baliphone and Amazonian Hand Flute.
'Questions of authenticity are redundant with music this faithful to the Delta blues spirit'. - Mike Barnes, The WIRE......MORE>
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THE WORKSHOP SERIES
MON 27 FEB '12 • 8PM • £5/£4 concs
February's concert of experimental improvised music drawn from participants of Eddie Prévost's weekly workshop. This month's musicians are Marjolaine Charbin (piano), Philip Clark (piano), Chris Hyde-Harrison (double bass), Ross Lambert (guitar), Tom Mills (violin), Tom Mudd (electronics)....MORE>
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Keiji Haino : Two Day Residency
TUES 28 FEB '12 • 8PM • £14 / £17 on the door
WED 29 FEB '12 • 8PM • £14 / £17 on the door
The dark enigma of the Japanese avant-garde returns to Cafe OTO for another two day residency after last year's heady two days of hallowed blues, noise assualt and spry improvisation. This visit promises to reveal even more of Haino's multifaceted musical enquiries.......MORE>
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Benoit Pioulard
THURS 1 MAR '12 • 8PM • £7.50 advance
Bird on The Wire presents Benoit Pouilard aka Michigan resident Thomas Meluch who has fostered an infatuation with a sort of sonic density that combines remnants of pop song structures with the lushness and unpredictability of field recordings and fascination with the sounds of nature and tape decay.....MORE>
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The London Improvisers Orchestra
SUN 4 MAR '12 • 8PM • £6 / £4 concs
Regular meeting of The London Improvisers Orchestra. The LIO draws on London's rich pool of improvising musicians and is part of a long and varied heritage that stretches back to the free-jazz big bands of Chris McGregor and Mike Westbrook, the intuitive ensembles of John Stevens and purely improvising groups such as the Continuous Music Ensemble....MORE>
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Momus
MON 5 MARCH '12 • 8PM • £8 advance / £10 on the door
Momus - One of underground music's most controversial and influential provocateurs - returns to Cafe OTO after his completely sold out show here last summer on the hottest day of the year. From his early days with the Happy Family in the 1980s through his digital troubadour incarnations of the 2000s, Nicholas Currie has lent his style to Pulp, Beck, the Divine Comedy, and others while remaining fiercely political and uncompromising in his artistic vision.....MORE>
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Carl Ludwig Hubsch + John Butcher + Oren Marshall + John Edwards
TUES 6 MAR '12 • 8PM • £7 advance / £8 on the door
Carl Ludwig Hubsch is a collosus of the German Free Jazz and composition scene. His band Primordial Soup which features such heavy weights as Alex Dorner and Frank Gratkowski pushes the musicians and the boundaries of sound and composition to the limits. For the first time he will be playing a duo with another giant of the tuba, Oren Marshall in what proposes to be a fascinating encounter. The second part of the evening will be structured around an equally intriguing but very different encounter in sound exploration; a duo with saxophonist John Butcher and a small group including bass player John Edwards......MORE>
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Group Doueh // Two Day Residency
WED 7 MAR '12 • 8PM • £12 advance / £14 on the door
THURS 8 MAR '12 • 8PM • £12 advance / £14 on the door
Two days of sandblasted trancendentalism at Cafe OTO with this residency for Group Doueh from Dakhla in the Western Sahara. Performing as a five piece band and playing two extended sets each night, the group switch between a hypnotic and ecstatic guitar trance that filters their rock and pop influences to meditative and transcendental acoustic folk tracks as well as synthesising all of these strands into celebratory new forms. Seeing them in such an intimate club setting over here is a rare treat and this is sure to go down as one of the highlights of 2012!.....MORE>
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Roscoe Mitchell // Two Day Residency
FRI 9 MAR '12 • 8PM • £18 / £22 on the door
SAT 10 MAR '12 • 8PM • £18 / £22 on the door
Two day residency with the legendary American saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, founder of Chicago's AACM and long time member of The Art Ensemble of Chicago - one of the greatest groups in free jazz history. For this residency Roscoe will perform a solo each night followed by a set with two of London's most adventurous musicians - John Edwards on double bass and Tony Marsh on percussion......MORE>
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John Cage: 'Song Books'
SUN 11 MAR '12 • 7.30PM • £5 advance / £6 on the door
Scratch Orchestra members (including John Tilbury, Carole Finer and more) disembowel Cage's magnum opus with a sharp younger generation of performers. 'Song Books' is one of Cage's most ambitious works with 48 actual songs and 42 instructions for 'theatre' with radically varying notation - from conventional music to the most abstract and with a libretto that covers most of Cage's interests - from mushrooms to anarchy.....MORE>
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Tashi Wada & Stephan Mathieu // Virginals
TUES 13 MAR '12 • 8PM • £8 advance / £10 on the door
Tashi Wada wrote 'Revenant', a piece for Virginals and electromagnets in 2011 for Stephan's 'Virginals' project which connects the sound of early instruments, the application of historical media in the context of composing and performing contemporary music, as well as the act of paraphrasing a written score. For this occasion Wada and Mathieu will present for the first time a duo version adding a second voice played on ebowed Phonoharp, a table top zither from the late 1800s.....MORE>
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KonstruKt
WED 14 MAR '12 • CANCELLED
The Turkish ensemble KONSTRUKT was founded in 2008 to play and record improvised music and have already recorded and performed with Peter Brötzmann, Marshall Allen (SUN RA ARKESTRA), Bik Bent Braam, Evan Parker, Alfred 23 Harth, Dave Bryant and Jürg Solothurnmann.....MORE>
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CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE FUNCTION FROM 5PM • SAT 17 MAR '12
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Jon Mueller + Pimmon
WED 21 MAR '12 • 8PM • £8 adv / £10 on the door
Double bill presenting two artists with radically different approaches to generating waves of immersive sound. Jon Mueller's snare rolls and tape concerto 'I Almost Expect to be Remembered as a Chair' and Pimmon sharing fine-grained torrents of sound from his laptop......MORE>
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Talibam! & Sam Kulik present 'Atlantis' + Talibam! / Kulik / Alan Wilkinson Quartet
THURS 22 MAR '12 • 8PM • £7 advance / £8 on the door
Talibam! Goes To Bed with Sam Kulik and Discovers Atlantis is a hyper-reflective and humorous take on current events, ecological disaster, pubescent sexual experience, and corporate/political domination. It's an avant-garde buddy movie for the ears: a 21st Century Weimar cabaret of reggae/disco/freejazz/avant-rock/poetry with impassioned soliloquies often transforming into deadpan self-reflective humor. Atlantis will be followed by a quartet set with British sax titan and regularl Talibam! collaborator Alan Wilkinson.
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Joe McPhee Survival Unit III
FRI 23 MAR '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
Special Guest: Evan Parker (Saxophones)
SAT 24 MAR '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
Special Guest: John Edwards (Double Bass)
Two Day residency for Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III featuring drummer Michael Zerang and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. This trio opened the incredible three day residency we held in April 2011 for the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet with a set of nuanced group interplay, lyrical improvisation and textural adventure. It's a pleasure to have them back at Cafe OTO for a residency of their own, two sets a night with special guests Evan Parker and John Edwards.
"[Joe Mcphee's] magical take on avant-garde sax remains one of the wonders of the scene. He still has one of the most beautiful tones on the planet, even when he’s reaching for jazz’s outer limits." - Time Out New York.....MORE>
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Brunel at OTO : Koan Trio
THURS 29 MARCH '12 • 8PM • £5 adv / £6 on the door
The Brunel sound series returns to cafe OTO with a performance by the Koan Trio, a group that combines early music, eastern instrumentation and technological interventions. Formed in 2006 the trio's evocative sound comes form its unique instrumentation, which straddles not only eastern and western musical cultures but also early and new music. They will perform in different configurations alongside the full trio.....MORE>
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Maja S.K. Ratkje & Ikue Mori (duo) +
Evan Parker & John Wiese (duo)
FRI 30 MAR '12 • 8PM • £10 adv / £12 on the door
This unmissable concert brings these two iconic figures from the world of improvised experimentation, together as a duo for the first time. After creating explosions in the downtown NY art rock scene with the legendary DNA, Japanese-born Mori has become one of the world’s most celebrated and respected improv auteurs. Since the turn of the century the Norwegian Ratkje has dazzled with her maverick vocal work, feted compositions and thrilling excoriations of pure noise. Their performances will vibrate with wild sonic colours, forged by a pair of musicians who span two generations of fearlessly inventive sound craft.
We're also please to confirm that the evening will now open with a rare appearance of the Evan Parker/John Wiese duo continuing the heady collaboration they first undertook as part of the Free Noise tour of the UK in 2008 that culminated in their C-Section CD/LP on Second Layer/PAN.....MORE>
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The London Improvisers Orchestra
SUN 1 APR '12 • 8PM • £6 / £4 concs
Regular meeting of The London Improvisers Orchestra. The LIO draws on London's rich pool of improvising musicians and is part of a long and varied heritage that stretches back to the free-jazz big bands of Chris McGregor and Mike Westbrook, the intuitive ensembles of John Stevens and purely improvising groups such as the Continuous Music Ensemble....MORE>
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Touch.30 // Oren Ambarchi + Daniel Menche + BJ Nilsen
MON 2 APR '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
An evening celebrating Touch's 30th anniversary and the release of Oren Ambarchi's striking new album 'Audience of One' - a four-part suite which moves from throbbing minimalism to expansive song-craft to ecstatic free-rock. Ambarchi will perform alongside the unparalleled aural intensity of Daniel Menche (who has a forthcoming 12" on Touch's 'White Label' series) and BJ Nilsen's layered sound environments.....MORE>
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Sound and Music and Entr’acte present: Helena Gough + Lionel Marchetti & Jérôme Noetinger + hamaYôko + Adam Asnan
SAT 14 APRIL '12 • 8PM • £10
A special concert to celebrate the launch of Helena Gough's new Entr'acte release, her third on the label. The starting point for the album was the simple idea of using only the cello as source material. Original improvisations were made by cellists Anthea Caddy and Anton Lukoszevieze. Gough will be joined by two of the most distinctive voices in contemporary French electronic music - Lionel Marchetti and Jérôme Noetinger as well as hamaYôko - the musique concrète-influenced electro-pop project of Yôko Higashi and london-based acousmatic composer Adam Asnan.....MORE>
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Jasper TX + Matthew Collings + Ten
SUN 15 APRIL '12 • 8PM • £7 / £12
The Local have teamed up with Sleepsound Agency to present a weekend of innovative modern electrical and acoustic music from England’s shores and a little bit further abroad. The result: The Dalston Residency, a multi-venue musical showcase spread over a weekend. On the Sunday night, Jasper TX will be performing at Café Oto as part of this residency. Also joining him will be Matthew Collings, and Ten......MORE>
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Barn Owl + Antoine Chessex + Cam Deas
THURS 19 APRIL '12 • 8PM • £8 adv / £10 on the door
San Franscisco's Barn Owl bring their dual guitar/tube amp worship strategies to Cafe OTO for an evening of transcendent sonics alongside shapeshifting Swiss composer/improvisor Antoine Chessex presenting a piece for Tape/Saxophone and the post-Takoma 12 string explorations of London guitarist Cam Deas.....MORE>
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James Blackshaw + Jozef Van Wissem + Tony Marsh
WED 2 MAY '12 • 8PM • £8 advance / £10 on the door
Mie Music presents the first London show in a long while from 12 string guitarist James Blackshaw... He'll be joined on the evening with sets from Jozef Van Wissem - Blackshaw's partner in Brethren of the Free Spirit - and Tony Marsh - one of London's most extraordinary percussionists.
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Frode Gjerstad Trio
THURS 3 MAY '12 • 8PM • £8 adv / £10 on the door
Saxophonist Frode Gjerstad touches down at Cafe OTO with his first all Norwegian trio feat. Paal Nilssen-Love on Drums and Jon Rune Strøm on double bass......MORE>
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Matthew Shipp & Sabir Mateen
FRI 11 MAY '12 • 8PM • £10 advance / £12 on the door
Piano/Reeds duo concert from these two leading American improvisers.
"Shipp's piano playing is clearly articulated and patient whether his is laying down a foundation for Mateen to improvise over, or engaging him in a head-to-head duet. Shipp lays down beautifully stark and dark toned chords and notes, and Mateen swirls and probes them in a natural and organic way."....MORE>
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