An extended four-day residency in the OTO Project Space from this new quartet.

"This is the first in a series i am planning as a Homage to drummers/percussionist who have had a strong and lasting influence on me ! For these 4 gigs the focus will be on Mr Milford Graves - and the instrumentation I have chosen also relates to one of the most influential free jazz groups- The New York Art Quartet- of which Graves was a member!

This in turn corresponds to the 50th anniversary of the forming of this group and also to the series of legendary concerts held in New York in 1964 under the banner’ The October Revolution in Jazz’ ( so we are a little ahead of time here)!

This is not an attempt to emulate either Graves or the NYAQ- but rather use them as a starting point - ‘Ancient to Future’- as the title for an upcoming documentary on Milford Graves says!- lets see where we can go !

I would also like to add that the drum set i have prepared for these dates was originally Paul Burwells - and was given to me after Paul's tragic and untimely death in 2007!

Paul was also influenced by Graves and did an excellent interview with him for the magazine ‘Collusion’ (published summer 1981!"

SN

STEVE NOBLE / drums

Steve Noble is London's leading drummer, a fearless and constantly inventive improviser whose super-precise, ultra-propulsive and hyper-detailed playing has galvanized encounters with Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, Matthew Shipp, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Stephen O'Malley, Joe McPhee, Alex Ward, Rhodri Davies and many, many more.

In the early eighties, Noble played with the Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde, Rip Rig and Panic, Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, before going on to work with the pianist Alex Maguire and with Derek Bailey (including Company Weeks 1987, 89 and 90). He was featured in the Bailey's excellent TV series on Improvisation for Channel 4 based on his book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe, Africa and America and currently leads the groups N.E.W (with John Edwards and Alex Ward) and DECOY (with John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins).




GUILLAUME VILTARD / double-bass

Born in 1975 in the North of Ivory Coast, Viltard grew up in the wild countryside with almost no music. Back in France, he played with many artists of the French underground improv scene, including dancers and poets as well as musicians.

After moving to London in late 2007, Viltard has worked with many of London’s best improvisers, forming strong associations with the circle of musicians centred on Eddie Prevost's experimental workshop, becoming a mainstay of the London Improvisers Orchestra, and playing in a great free jazz trio with Tony Marsh and Shabaka Hutchings that was sadly curtailed by Marsh's untimely death.

It is this eclectic appetite for collaboration across the whole spectrum of improvised music as well as his resolutely unamplified and powerfully physical playing that marks Viltard out as one of the most interesting musicians to emerge from London's fertile improvised and experimental scene in the last few years.

unrevenu.free.fr




SEYMOUR WRIGHT / saxophone

'[A] very radical saxophonist' - Evan Parker

'The first intertextual saxophonist' - Billy Steiger

'[H]as emerged as the most important saxophonist of his generation' - Brian Morton

seymourwright.com




IAN MACLACHLAN

Ian Mclachlan lives in london with his dog and daughter and unpublished poems and rooms full of audiocassette tapes, trombones, euphoniums…incompatible dat tapes of numerous free improvised music performances. He has collaborated with poet Graham Hartill and Dutch poet Johan De Wit over the years…He is more interested in live performance than the recorded product.




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OTO PROJECT SPACE

The OTO Project Space is located just around the corner from Cafe OTO at 1-7 Ashwin Street - E8 3DL.

It was created as a space for artists to develop new work and for OTO Projects to present workshops, talks, film screenings and installations relating to the core programme at Cafe OTO. The building was designed by Assemble - a young, critically acclaimed design practice based in London - and built by a team of more than 30 volunteers.