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.

Kan will be perfoming solo and as a trio with Alex Neilson (drums) and Guillaume Viltard (double bass).

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.

ALEX NEILSON - Drums

“Already a legendary free-drummer Alex Neilson has played with most of the musical underground’s heavyweights of this era. This one man folk renaissance movement has left a trail of recordings and thrilling live shows with Jandek, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Heather Leigh, Alasdair Roberts, and Richard Youngs in his youthful wake.

Always moving from project to project, Neilson brings a sense of exploration and independence to his playing. As one of the most energetic and ‘in-tune’ free players around, Neilson has a better grasp than most on trying to get across the nature of improvisation.” - stylusmagazine

GUILLAUME VILTARD – Double Bass

Guillaume Viltard(Double bass) : Born in 1975 in the North of Ivory Coast, Guillaume Viltard has grown up in wild countryside with almost no music. He was dreaming about bass playing but started studying philosophy… and stopped. After classical studies, he started playing with musicians of the french improv’ scene, as well as with poets and dancers. He moved in London in 2007, and since, has been playing with many improvisers. Guillaume has recently started working on an exciting new double-bass duo project with John Edwards.