Friday 23 March 2018, 7.30pm
A pleasure to welcome back Ted Milton’s Blurt trio back to OTO, following previous fantastic shows here last year, subsequently released as the vinyl-only LIve at Cafe Oto on Salamander Records.
“Ted Milton – poet, puppeteer and musician – founded Blurt in the late 70′s. Their music is not definable and that is a good thing, although it veers towards freer jazz in many references (also a good thing). Blurt’s first single ‘My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the People’ (1982 Blackhill records) was followed by the live album ‘In Berlin (1981 Armagedon). Since then more than 20 recordings have followed including vinyl albums, EPs and CDs. They are still touring and have a new album ‘Bomb’ out on Salamander Records. Ted Milton has also created artworks which have been exhibited in Paris and the UK and is a puppeteer with contributions to Terry Gilliam’s film ‘Jabberwocky’ and his poems have been published both on their own and as parts of an anthology. Somehow, I have passed Blurt by until now but in many ways, the discovery of this music is a joy. Ted Milton is poetical leader, sax player and vocalist of Blurt, one of the best combos I have heard.” – Sammy Stein, Jazz in Europe review of Live at OTO
Yoni noticed Crystabel after 4 hours of unnoticable playing at Goldsmiths Hall until Billy Steiger infuriated her so much that she played better.
Crystabel noticed Yoni after she bought his album and proceeded to say 'i liked your album with Steve' to multiple different men with shaved heads until she found the real Yoni.
During the late noughties Crystabel Efemena Riley toured Japan and Europe using drums, electronics and make-up in power-noise trio Maria and the Mirrors. This was the start of her interest in patterns on skins — human and drum. An interest in dimensional patterns existing on (and off) different skin surfaces, exploring the idea of 'care and uncare': layered skins, recycled drum skins, smetled sculptures, other metallics and electronics. Crystabel has been a long-term collaborator with Sue Lynch who welcomed her into the Horse Improvised Music Club and later played in the London Improvisers Orchestra. She is currently working on the multi-format duo project @xcrswx with Seymour Wright, together they created the sounds for Edward George’s Black Atlas film at the Warburg Institute.
“deftly weaves a breathtaking range of techniques and textures on the instrument, spanning frenetic highs to lows of bracing physicality. From dizzying clusters of notes to multilayered melodicism […] Silver gives a visceral, bodily performance”
Bass clarinet and multi-instrumental solos, keyboard player in Charles Hayward’s band Abstract Concrete, member of Ana Maria Avram and Iancu Dumitrescu's Hyperion Ensemble, RAY trio with Ashley Paul and Otto Willberg, orchestral song arrangener for Nico Teen and others, collaborations with Steve Noble, Sharon Gal, John Edwards, etc.
