Tuesday 8 February 2022, 8pm
John Butcher / saxophone
Phil Durrant
Harald Kimmig / violin
Daniel Studer / double bass
Alfred Zimmerlin / violoncello
“The skill and subtlety displayed in this concert was, frankly, amazing, with a recurring sense of “how did we get here?” due to the incredibly organic way they gently massaged and manoeuvred musical sounds and materials.” – Simon Cummings, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 2016
Pleased to welcome the Swiss-German String Trio Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin to OTO for for two dates, this time performing alongside John Butcher and Phil Durrant. After playing for more than ten years with acoustic instruments the trio recently started to play with electric string instruments to explore new qualities of form, sound and material.
Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin performed at numerous concerts and festivals since 2009. In 2011 they released the first double cd “erzählend nah” with live and studio recordings. In 2017 the cd “Im Hellen” was following: “The quality is exemplary. It’s a really bold and clear musical vision” (Stuart Bruce). Meanwhile it was their special intention to exchange themselves with different musicians and dancers. John Butcher, Paul Lovens, Phil Minton, Elliott Sharp joined the trio. Projects with the dancers Lilo Stahl and Michael Schumacher followed. With John Butcher the trio has a regular collaboration. In 2016 they released the common cd “RAW”. In 2019 the cd “Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin and George Lewis” was released, the string trio supplemented by George Lewis on trombone and live electronics.
Butcher is well known as a saxophonist who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of time and place. His music ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and unusual acoustics. Since the early 80s he has collaborated with hundreds of musicians – including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, Andy Moor (EX), Phil Minton, Christian Marclay, Eddie Prevost, John Stevens’ SME, Gino Robair, Polwechsel, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury, and Okkyung Lee.
Alongside long term projects he values occasional encounters; from large groups such as the EX Orkestra & Butch Morris’ “London Skyscraper”, to duo concerts with Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Paal Nilssen-Love, Keiji Haino, David Toop, Otomo Yoshihide, Sophie Agnel and Matthew Shipp.
Recent compositions include “Penny Wands” for Futurist Intonarumori, two HCMF commissions for his own groups, “Good Liquor Caused my Heart for to Sing” for the London Sinfonietta and “Tarab Cuts”, a response to recordings of early Arabic classical music which was shortlisted for a 2014 British Composer’s Award.
“English saxophonist John Butcher may be among the world’s most influential musicians, operating at the cutting-edge of improvisatory practice since the ‘80s. Whenever an acoustic musician starts to sound like a bank of oscillators, a tropical forest, a brook or an insect factory, Butcher’s influence is likely nearby.” – New York City Jazz Record.
Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is a multi-instrumentalist improviser/composer/sound artist who currently performs solo and group concerts.
As a violinist (and member of the Butcher/Russell/Durrant trio), he was one of the key exponents of the "group voice approach" style of improvised music. In the late 90s, his trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn represented a shift to a more “reductionist” approach.
Recently, he has been performing solo and duo concerts with Bill Thompson, Mark Wastell, using a modular synthesizer system. As a mandolinist, he has been performing and recording with guitarist Martin Vishnick, mandolinist Richard Scott and drummer Emil Karlsen.
Durrant still performs regularly with the acoustic/electronic group Trio Sowari (with Bertrand Denzler and Burkhard Beins) and Mark Wastell’s The SEEN.
