Saturday 16 August 2025, 7.30pm
Thrilled to present a very special residency with the one and only John Edwards! John has been a mainstay at OTO since the very beginning and has provided so many highlights here that it's impossible to keep count. Despite playing in various series alongside other artists, we've somehow never hosted a residency here dedicated to John himself. These three days aim to rectify that, bringing together an amazing line-up of improvising musicians alongside one of the all-time great jazz bassists.
"Since it's opening in 2008 I've played so many times at Cafe Oto it has become something like a second home to me, therefore it's a great pleasure to be asked to programme these three days.
What a luxury - although I could easily imagine a whole year's worth of concerts !
At first I drew up a list of working groups that I love to play with but quickly realised it was going to be impossible to choose to invite some and not others.
So I decided to put together combinations that have never existed before, to take the opportunity to introduce some musicians to each other for the first time and make that fantastic leap into the unknown when we improvise.
Huge thanks to these wonderful musical alchemists, huge thanks to the Oto and of course, to the great Oto audiences." – John Edwards
John Edwards grew up in London and started experimenting with the bass guitar before he switched in his twenties to play double bass. He is deeply rooted in the creative free jazz and improvisation genre. Since the 80ties he is as soloist and in many groups and ensembles in Europe active and became one of the most renowned bass players. He played/plays regular for example with Peter Brötzmann, Joe Mc Phee, Phil Minton, Maggie Nichols, Evan Parker, Roscoe Michtell, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Mark Sanders, Caroline Kraabel, John Butcher, Pat Thomas, Irène Schweizer, Hans Koch, Florian Stoffner, Gabriele Mitelli, John Dikeman.
"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
Saxophonist Jason Yarde has already been a veteran of the leader's bands for some two decades. He is himself one of the most sought-after musicians of his generation, and has been a member of groups led by Andrew Hill and Jack DeJohnette, amonst many others. He is also a renowned composer, having been widely commissioned (including by the London Symphony Orchestra).
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 surfaces has continued to evolve through exploring the idea of 'care and uncare' of various skin surfaces. 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 and recently released a split vinyl with Lolina.
Mark has worked with many greats of the British, European and American free jazz improvised music scene including Roscoe Mitchell, Roswell Rudd, Evan Parker, John Butcher, Henry Grimes, Elaine Mitchener, Wadada Leo Smith, Myra Melford, Charles Gayle , Sirone and William Parker
He has also played with Jah Wobble, Harold Budd, Bill Laswell, Christian Marclay, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ilan Volkov and The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
He is a member of many working groups including duos with Nicole Mitchell and Rhodri Davies, Neil Charles' 'Dark Days' with Cleveland Watkiss & Pat Thomas, 'Last Dream of the Morning' with John Butcher & John Edwards, 'Shifa' with Rachel Musson and Pat Thomas and 'Sarost' with Larry Stabbins & Paul Rogers.
As an educator he has taught improvisation at many universities around the country as a lecturer and guest tutor.
Mark has played concerts and festivals around the world and appears on over 220 CD and Vinyl releases.
Mark was a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists 2024
"Drop the needle on the first track — or any track for that matter — and the first thing one is bound to notice is the amazing percussion skills of Mark Sanders" – Peter Thelen... Exposé
"Mark is just incredible and immensely diverse, he is at the center of "Kwingyaw" and it is difficult to tell what he is doing to get some of these sounds." – Bruce L Gallenter, Downtown Music Gallery, NY
Amidea Clotet (Málaga, 1997) is a young electric guitar player, improviser, and composer who has established herself in Barcelona’s free improvisation scene.
Clotet’s musical education began at the Conservatori del Liceu, where she studied electric guitar and began to forge her own path in the world of contemporary and experimental music. During her time in Denmark, where she studied contemporary composition, Clotet discovered improvisation and embraced it as a fundamental tool of expression.
In 2022, Clotet launched her first solo album, Trasluz (“Against the Light”), consisting of seven improvised tracks featuring electric guitar. On this album, she explores the wide range of possibilities opened up by her guitar, creating (with tremendous sensitivity) soundscapes that move between chaos and order, silence and noise.
In addition to her solo work, Clotet has collaborated with a number of other renowned musicians from the avant-garde scene, including pianist Agustí Fernández, with whom she recorded the album Spontaneous Combustions in 2021, and dancer Sònia Sánchez.
