Miles of Smiles and Cafe OTO present an evening of excited strings with ex Harry Pussy Guitarist Bill Orcutt back at OTO for a solo performance ahead of his new LP release on Editions Mego, legendary ex-pat guitarist/songwriter/improviser Mike Cooper over from Rome and experimental fiddle duo Laura Cannell & André Bosman.

Photo by Jim Hensley

BILL ORCUTT

Bill Orcutt first became widely known as guitarist for Miami noise-rock trio Harry Pussy. Their sonically unruly performances quickly earned them a reputation as a wildly unhinged band whose violent and sexually charged shows were lauded by the likes of Thurston Moore and Lou Barlow.



Still highly influential despite having dissolved in 1997 (drummer Adris Hoyo has been cited as a major influence by Chris Corsano), Harry Pussy went their separate ways and Orcutt seemed to disappear for a while. Then in 2009, an album appeared entitled 'A New Way To Pay Old Debts', a glorious collection of apparently stream-of-consciousness guitar playing with sporadic and involuntary vocalisations that sounds like they were recorded to tape in his Californian living room, with the window slightly open and the phone even ringing at one point.

This was followed up with more regular live appearances including two great days at OTO in 2010 (solo and duo with Paul Hession) and an LP for Editions Mego 'How The Thing Sings' and a bunch of private press vinyl. Bill has also recently returned to electric playing - touring the states in a fiercely in-the-red duo with Chris Corsano documented on the Palilalia LP 'The Raw and The Cooked'.



palilalia.com

MIKE COOPER

MIKE COOPER - plays lap steel guitar / electronics and sings. For the past 45 years he has been an international musical explorer pushing the boundaries of his music. Initially a folk-blues guitarist he is as responsible as anyone else -- and more so than many -- for ushering in the blues boom in the U.K. in the late '60s.

With his roots lying in acoustic country blues he has, arguably, stretched the possibilities of the guitar even more than his better known contemporaries Davy Graham Bert Jansch John Renbourne etc. by pursuing it into the more avant-garde musical areas, also occupied by contemporary guitar innovators such as Elliott Sharp, Keith Rowe, Fred Frith and Marc Ribot, with an eclectic mix of the many styles he has practiced over the years. Ranging freely through his own idiosyncratic original songs,traditional country blues, folk, free improvisation, pop songs, exotica, electronic music, electro-acoustic music, and ‘sonic gestural’ playing utilising open tunings and extended guitar techniques.



He is also a film and video maker in his own right and his work, often featured in his live performances, was recently shown as "Some Sound Point Of View' at GRIM in Marseille/France in a solo show of 12 films/video. Recently he premiered his first 40 minute feature video Hotel Hibiscus City, which he wrote, photographed, edited and scored music for.

He also composes and performs Live Music For Classic and Contemporary Silent Films. As well as presenting screenings/concerts worldwide he has been a guest lecturer and given workshops at universities and colleges on scoring music for films, improvisation and songwriting.

In 2012 he was artist in residence for one month on Pulau Ubin near Singapore which culminated in "Walking In Ubin" - a sound map of the island, three short video films and a free download of his field recordings. In 2013 he was artist in residence on Lamma Island near Hong Kong for Soundpocket.

His audio visual collaboration with Australian video artist Grayson Cooke, Outback And Beyond, for which Cooper wrote and performs live the libretto and music, was a prize winner at the 2013 Japan New Media Arts Festival.

Cooper's discography now stretches into the 100s and his web site has more information and YouTube video work can be seen here - http://www.youtube.com/user/cooparia?#p/u

www.cooparia.com



LAURA CANNELL & ANDRÉ BOSMAN

Laura Cannell & André Bosman perform improvised experimental fiddle music with a focus on exploring the interweaving sounds and textures of their instruments. Through the use of extended techniques, distortion, feedback and space, they create a unified and untamed music of emotive otherness.

Laura explores the spaces between ancient, improvised and contemporary performance and has been described by The Times as a “Virtuoso Magpie Musician”. She is the founder member of experimental early/folk duo Horses Brawl with whom she has released four albums, toured extensively throughout the UK and beyond and appeared numerous times on BBC Radio 3. In 2011 Laura had an Aldeburgh Residency with harpist Rhodri Davies. She is also working on a new collaboration with Charles Hayward (This Heat) and Ralph Cumbers (Bass Clef).

André is interested in live performance and improvisation. With a love of distorted textures, early minimalism, American primitivism, and medieval dirge Andre attempts to explore the aesthetics of liminality and emergence within his music. André has a Masters in Electroacoustic music and has performed with Phil Niblock, Tony Conrad and Rhodri Davies. He has played all over the UK at places including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Faster than Sound.

www.lcab.co.uk