The unstoppable power trio of Steve Noble (Drums), John Edwards (Bass) and Alex Ward (Guitar) return to Cafe OTO.

" There’s as much rock here as jazz- Ward is all spidery glissandi and slashing power chords. Edwards is a dark magus of a bass player thundering against the elements, while Noble is a violent, malevolent presence. A white- knuckle ride you’ll be glad to take!” (Duncan Heinig- Jazzwise)

"The bass player John Edwards turns up on the best British free-jazz recordings. The drummer Steve Noble cleaves through improvisatory rumblings with dramatic, decisive moves. And the guitarist Alex Ward, a compulsively creative polymath of indiscriminately omnivorous appetite, is a reliably unpredictable axe-hero for collaborators of all backgrounds. The trio’s second record posits a bricolage bebop, an ugly ecstatic jazz, played on sheet metal, broken glass and barbed wire. Coming Up for Air bubbles like an electric soup, and an elastically extended Empty Ballroom finds Edwards and Noble stretching back to catapult Ward’s electric guitar far beyond the gravitational pull of Planet Rock." ( Stewart Lee) Bo’Weavil WEAVIL 30CD Deadeye Tricksters: The Sunday Times Review

N.E.W. on Myspace



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.

From playing with Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde ,Rip Rig and Panic ,Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, Noble went on to work with the pianist Alex Maguire and with Derek Bailey (including Company Weeks 1987,89 and 90) and was featured (along with Alex Ward) in the TV series based on Baileys book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe , Africa and America. Currently leads the groups ‘4tet’ - ‘Say What’- ‘Shakedown Club’- ‘Harry Love All Stars’ and a trio with Lol Coxhil / Edwards - he also fills the drum chair in the following groups ; SFQ, Badland , Gannets , Aethenor, Freebase and Tim Hills group Tongues of Fire.

Noble has also been MD for the Spanish dance company MAL PELO since 1998. He also runs the record company PING PONG PRODUCTIONS.

"An engaging mix of jazz time, free–rock and abstract improv , Noble is one of the country’s most creative drummers” (the Guardian)

" If you want to turn some friends on to improvised music take them to see one of Noble’s bands. The chemistry makes for explosive, exhuberant playing, seemingly endless creativity and- shocking though it may seem to some - fun” (Phil England, the Wire)

JOHN EDWARDS

John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, John Wall, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, and many others.

ALEX WARD

Born in 1974, he has been active in free improvisation since being given his first gig by Derek Bailey in 1987, going on to work with a wide range of musicians as a clarinettist (sometimes also on alto sax), and increasingly since 2000 as a guitarist. His debut recording ‘Ya boo ,reel and rumble’, a duo with Noble was released in 1990 on Baileys label Incus, to great critical acclaim. He has played in bands led by Simon Fell and Eugene Chadbourne, as well as his own quartet “Help Point”, featuring Fell, Steve Noble and Luke Barlow (with whom he runs the label Copepod). He also co-led the rock band Camp Blackfoot with Benjamin Herve, and in 2005 released a solo album of songs entitled “Hapless Days”. He currently writes the material (as well as playing guitar and singing) for “Dead Days Beyond Help”, a 2-piece band with drummer Jem Doulton.