Kan Mikami returns to Café Oto for a two-night residency. This will be the third time Kan has played at Café Oto the first being his mind blowing three-day residency in September last year followed by a one night appearance in December. It’s hard to believe that prior to those performances Kan had never played in London.

Kan has been a singular figure in the Japanese underground since the early seventies performing his unique Japanese Blues. As a live performer he is a completely mesmerizing presence.

Tonight he will be performing both solo and in a trio with John Edwards and Steve Noble.

The night will consist of three sets;

Alan Wilkinson / John Edwards / Steve Noble – Trio

Kan Mikami – Solo

Kan Mikami / John Edwards / Steve Noble - Trio

Press reviews of Kan’s past performances at Oto….

“A fascinating and quite physical stage presence, he’s a curious mix of sweaty journeyman endeavour and flamboyant showmanship, switching easily from passionate, eyes-closed emoting to gurning leering invocations. His body tenses and uncoils in sympathy with the music, limbs curling and torso jerking laterally at irregular intervals, ducking away from and jolting back to the microphone... the magnetism of Mikami’s presence and the electricity of his performance amply convey the passion and emotion embedded in his songs, for all to see and hear.” - Nick Cain reviewing Kan’s past performance at Café Oto for The Wire.

"Head thrown back and jugular veins pushing through skin, Mikami prowls the stage like a wounded tiger. But then that’s when a beast is at its most dangerous. While his songs are rich with traditional influences – English folk, American blues, Portuguese fado and Japanese enka – his schizophrenic exorcisms – guttural caterwauls, froggy croaks and plaintive whispers – are in a world all of their own. The theatricality of his gestures betray his career as an actor (he appeared alongside David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence); his energy seemingly boundless (this was the final night of a three-day residency), a vigour drawn deep from within and poured out in tempestuous tumult. And as he roars, he swipes at his guitar, summoning a series of staccato stabs and half-played notes that decay back into the silence from whence they came. By turn bone-chilling, irritating and beautifully romantic, Mikami’s music tears down the barriers erected by language. It’s clear what this maestro is saying – you only have to look at his face." - Spencer Grady reviewing Kan’s past performance at Café Oto for the Record Collector magazine.

WILKINSON / EDWARDS / NOBLE- Trio

Alan Wilkinson – alto and baritone saxophones, voice

John Edwards – double bass

Steve Noble – drum set , percussion

“As powerful as the Stooges and as fluid as John Coltrane” – The Times

This trio has become one of the hottest bands on the London scene, reaching a new and enthusiastic young audience for the music. Comprising 3 of the capital’s most experienced and hardest working musicians, they play ‘free jazz’ with one foot firmly in the European school of free improvisation, group music where the twists and turns are born exclusively out of intense listening and an almost intuitive creativity. However, their willingness to embrace a broad spectrum of styles is redefining traditional barriers and prejudices, making the music vibrate with a renewed sense of freedom.

Described as one of the UK’s most creative drummers Steve Noble mixes the earliest jazz drum influences with a wide range of modern, global, and free styles. From playing with Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde, Rip.Rig and Panic,Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble- he went on to play with Derek Bailey(including Company weeks 1987/89/90 Alex Maguire,Tristan Honsinger ,Pat Thomas a.o. performing throughout Europe,Africa and America.

He leads the groups N.E.W- 4tet- the Shakedown club and a trio with Lol Coxhill /Edwards. He occupies the drum seat in SFQ-Badland-Freebase-Gannets-Aethenor and Tim Hills ‘Tongues of Fire.. Noble also runs the record label Ping Pong Productions.

Since taking up the bass, John Edwards has been involved with a diversity of musical styles and situations. At home in both composed and improvised music, he has rapidly become one of the busiest musicians on the London scene. Probably best known for his work with Evan Parker, John Butcher, Sunny Murray, Peter Brötzmann,etc., he has appeared in groups such as GOD, B-Shops for the Poor, and continues to collaborate with electro-acoustic composer John Wall, Spring Heel Jack, Fundamental and play in groups with Louis Moholo, Lol Coxhill, Ingrid Laubrock, and Charles Hayward, to name a few. He also performs solo – releasing a cd of solo bass improvisations to great critical acclaim in 2008,on the PSI label.