Wednesday 8 October 2025, 7.30pm
Excited to welcome back the great Bhutanese-American guitarist, Tashi Dorji, performing solo and in a trio alongside Steve Noble and John Edwards. Dorji's duo set with Noble at OTO in 2023 was so wildly invigorating that the last vibrations are possibly still settling in the room here; seeing the pair offset by John Edwards should be very special indeed!
Tashi Dorji is a Bhutanese-American guitarist known for his experimental and improvisational approach to guitar music. Originally from Bhutan, Dorji relocated to the United States, where he developed his unique style, blending avant-garde, free improvisation, and traditional sounds. Tashi’s own skewering of guitar traditions has developed an idiosyncratic take on the instrument, one defined by movement and profound openness to technique. Dorji has released numerous solo recordings and collaborated with artists from diverse musical backgrounds, often focusing on the raw, unfiltered potential of live improvisation.
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 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).
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Louis Moholo, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke, Jonny Greenwood and countless others.
"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
