Thursday 27 August 2026, 7.30pm
John Brennan is a percussionist and sound artist based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. As an improviser his practice is centred on collaboration and collective music-making. He is a founding member of free improv psych quintet EarthBall, and has collaborated with artists including Farida Amadou, Chris Corsano, John Dieterich, Raven Chacon, Bill Orcutt, Andy Moor, Kjetil Møster, Greg Saunier, Victoria Shen among others. Parallel to his music practice, Brennan is also a sound engineer and from 2024-2026, recorded, edited, mixed and released 8 records including four EarthBall records(Upset! The Rhythm) and Buzzing With Rumours (Mint Records), a duo with Chris Corsano.
For this two-night residency, Brennan brings together long-time collaborators and new musical connections from Canada, the UK, and Europe. Rooted in improvisation and artistic exchange, the residency grows out of relationships developed through years of touring, recording, and performance.
Across two evenings, Brennan will perform in a series of different ensemble configurations with invited guests Steve Beresford, Alexander Moskos, Mariam Rezaei, Farida Amadou, Karen Ng, and Jeremy Van Wyck. The residency offers a rare opportunity for these artists to develop new collaborations for the Cafe OTO community.
Each evening will be divided into three sets, featuring a series of ensemble configurations that have never previously performed together. Working entirely through improvisation and spontaneous composition, these artists will develop new musical relationships in real time, creating a unique experience for both performers and audiences across the residency.
FARIDA AMADOU is a self-taught bass player based in Brussels, Belgium. The electric bass has been her main instrument since 2011. In 2013, she has started to play a lot of different musical genres, including blues, jazz and hip-hop; soon she started to dive into improvised music, and was rapidly identified by local collectives and musicians. After a year (2017) as bass player in Belgian punk band Cocaine Piss, Farida decided to focus on her solo improvisation practice and collaborations with musicians such as Steve Noble, Thurston Moore, Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex, Lukas Koening, Pat Thomas and Julien Desprez, among others, occasionally also featuring with groups such as Jerusalem in My Heart and Moor Mother.
Steve Beresford has been a central figure in the British and international spontaneous music scenes for over fifty years, freely improvising on piano, objects, electronics and other things with people like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Han Bennink and John Zorn. Long-standing groups have included Alterations (with David Toop, Terry Day and Peter Cusack), The Melody Four (with Lol Coxhill and Tony Coe, both RIP) and London Improvisers Orchestra.
He has written songs, composed for large and small ensembles, and scored short films, feature films, TV shows and commercials. He was part of the editorial teams of ‘Musics’ and ‘Collusion’ magazines, writes about music in various contexts, and was a senior lecturer in music at the University of Westminster.
Steve has worked with Christian Marclay on various Marclay mixed media pieces. He has also worked with The Slits, Najma Akhtar, Stewart Lee, Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Alan Hacker, Tania Chen, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Faradena Afifi, Blanca Regina, Ray Davies, Mandhira De Saram, The Flying Lizards, Zeena Parkins, The Portsmouth Sinfonia, Ilan Volkov, Rachel Musson, Vic Reeves, Lore Lixenberg, Valentina Magaletti and many others.
Beresford has an extensive discography - around 500 releases - as performer, arranger, free-improviser, composer, conductor and producer. He was awarded a Paul Hamlyn award for composers in 2012.
In 2021, Bloomsbury published a book by Andy Hamilton: ‘Pianos, Toys, Music and Noise: Conversations with Steve Beresford’.
In 2022, Siglio published the book ‘Call and Response’, which partnered photographs by Christian Marclay with notated improvisations by Beresford.
Alexander Moskos is a Canadian guitarist, improviser, composer, and sound artist based in Montreal. He is widely known for his solo project Drainolith as well as for his work as guitarist in the influential avant-garde group AIDS Wolf. Through Drainolith, Moskos has developed a distinctive approach combining experimental song structures, electronics, modified consumer electronics, analog synthesizers, noise, and improvisation. Releases under the Drainolith name have received international critical attention from publications including Pitchfork, The
Wire, Time Out New York, and Dusted Magazine. His work has been released on labels including American Tapes, NNA, Deception Island, Wagon, Psychic Handshake, and Spectrum Spools. Alongside his solo work, Moskos has collaborated with John Brennan, Raven Chacon, Wolf Eyes among others while remaining active within free improvisation, noise, and experimental music communities internationally. He has performed at festivals including Mutek, POP Montreal, and Neon Marshmallow and currently serves as Director of the independent Montreal radio station CKUT.
Toronto-based improviser Karen Ng has established herself as a unique musical force nationally and internationally. Whether encountering her on tour with renowned artists or in an intimate venue in Berlin, audiences have come to know her distinctive tone and remarkable offerings in a variety of contexts. Over the last 15 years Ng has performed with some of Canada’s most prized artists such as The Weather Station, Andy Shauf, Do Make Say Think and many more, appearing in high profile performances such as Jimmy Kimmel, NPR’s Tiny Desk, Austin City Limits and festivals including Big Ears, Pitchfork, Bonaroo, Primavera, Osheaga, Best Kept Secret and Wilco’s Solid Sounds among others.
Described by The Wire as “one of the most technically adept and creatively daring artists to use the turntable as a musical instrument,” Mariam Rezaei is a multi-award-winning composer, turntablist and performer. Working at the nexus of experimental new music, free improvisation, mutant club musics and hip-hop, Rezaei uses a digital vinyl system, allowing her to manipulate an expansive range of samples in real time. Her work has been described as “genuinely ground-breaking” (London Jazz News 2022) and “high-velocity sonic surrealism” (The Guardian 2022). Praised by The Wire, Uncut and Bandcamp Daily, her latest release FRACTURED (Heat Crimes) is one of The Quietus’s cassette releases of 2024.In November 2022, she received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation #AwardsForArtists in recognition of her contribution to music composition. She previously led experimental arts projects TOPH, TUSK FRINGE and TUSK NORTH, and is writing a book on turntablism for Repeater.
In addition to her solo work, Rezaei’s projects include a Turntable Trio with Evicshen and Maria Chávez (making their US premiere at Big Ears 2025), supergroup The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (with saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, trumpeter/electronics Gabriele Mitelli and drummer Lukas Koenig), and orchestral compositions with Matthew Shlomowitz (6 Scenes for Turntable and Orchestra). She recently performed Anthony Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music with guitarist Kobe Van Cauwenberghe. Other collaborations include duos with Jennifer Walshe, Edward George, Farida Amadou, Valentina Magaletti, Lasse Marhaug, Evicshen, Lukas Koenig, Mette Rasmussen, Gabriele Mitelli, Okkyung Lee and Ali Robertson, Black Top with Pat Thomas, Orphy Robinson, Cleveland Watkiss and Leon Foster Thomas, and a quartet with DJ Sniff, Rex Chen and DJ SlowPitchSound at Taipei Biennial 2023.
Jeremy Van Wyck is an experimental musician, drummer, guitarist, vocalist, and organizer who has been an influential figure in Canada's underground music community for more than two decades as a founding and current member of Shearing Pinx. Van Wyck has played a significant role behind the scenes as a promoter, label operator, and community builder. He helped establish the influential Fake Jazz concert series and festival, which has provided a platform for experimental, punk, noise, and avant-garde artists in Vancouver. While also curating and co-running the label Isolated Now Waves. Known for his adventurous approach to sound, Jeremy Van Wyck's work spans punk, free improvisation, noise, electronic experimentation, and psychedelic forms, reflecting a deep commitment to artistic exploration and collaborative music-making. Current projects include EarthBall, CROTCH, Behaviors, Aerosol Constellations and Mongst.
Jeremy Van Wyck is a Metis musician/artist and curator living and working in Nanaimo within Snuneymuxw territory on Vancouver Island.
