Two day residency split between Cafe Oto and the Barbican with Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. Yamamoto is the rising star of Japan's experimental music scene. He will be joined by Seb Rochford (Drums) and Leafcutter John (Electronics) - both members of the award-winning jazz ensemble Polar Bear for an evening of incredible percussive shapes and rhythmic contrast.
"Tatsuhisa is one of the most exciting young drummers in Japan at the moment." - Otomo Yoshihide
Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, born on Oct 25, 1982, in Yamaguchi, Japan, is a pure acoustic drummer, not an electric drummer. He plays primarily improvised music, and participates in a variety of bands, projects, supporting singers, and has produced multiple recordings.
Yamamoto’s solo acoustic performance succeeds in combining dynamism, melodicism and polyrhythm, fusing overwhelming volume with delicate technique.
Yamamoto has also collaborated with artists such as Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O'Rourke, Sachiko M, RUINS, Seiichi Yamamoto (ex.boredoms), Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Keiji Haino, Akira Sakata, Kumio Kurachi, Daisuke Takaoka, Makoto Kawabata (AcidMotherTemple), Munehiro Narita(HIGHRISE), Mitsuru Tabata(ZENI-GEVA/AMT&TCI), Masahiko Sato, Yuji Takahashi, Gianni Gebbia, Ned Rothenberg, Daniele Camalda, Alan Silva, and many others.
Yamamoto’s main projects are SSW, a duo with “Eiko Ishibashi”; “NATSUMEN”, a band lead by AxSxE; acoustic & synthesized drums duo with Muneomi Senju (ex.Boredoms); “Plus Minus Zero”a live electronica & psychedelic prog jam trio with Yuji Katsui (ROVO) and marron a.k.a. dubmarronics; “FirstMeeting,” an acoustic noise improvisation Quartet with Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii, and Kelly Churko; “Ohanami,” a unit with Yoshio Machida on the steelpan; as well as recordings with the Kahimi Karie band featuring Otomo Yoshihide and Jim O'Rourke. Recently he has been performing regularly with Jim O'Rourke. He participates in, and organizes multiple projects around Tokyo.
SEB ROCHFORD
Seb Rochford is a drummer in demand. He leads the Mercury Music Prize nominated Polar Bear and plays in Acoustic Ladyland, Fullborn Taversham and more. Seb's range of influences include Napalm Death, Venetian Snares, Björk, Prince and contemporary electronica as well as a large dose of jazz.
Many may recognise the London-based artist as a full-time member of Polar Bear. Others might be more familiar with his work as a remixer.
Since his first release on Planet-Mu records in 2000, John has developed a strong musical identity using processed instrumental and environmental recordings. His album The Housebound Spirit (Planet-Mu, 2003) won an Honorary Mention at the 2004 Ars Electronica Awards and was featured on The Wire Magazine’s top 50 records of 2003. He writes his music software, has given talks and exhibited software across Europe and is also a regular guest speaker at the London College of Communication.
Currently John's practice is split between playing live, recording projects, the production and performance of animated graphic scores, and creating art installations. Leafcutter John has collaborated with: David Toop, Sebastian Rochford, Sebastien Roux, Kaffe Matthews, Janek Schaefer, Tomoko Takahashi, and Ingrid Laubrock. And has played concerts worldwide with: Matmos, Nick Cave, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jarvis Cocker, Yo La Tengo, Grace Jones, Beth Orton, Otomo Yoshihide, Aki Onda, Phillip Jeck, Carsten Nicolai, Tujiko Noriko amongst others.
