Phantom Orchard is the pairing of American multi-instrumentalist/composer/improviser Zeena Parkins, and Japanese electronic composer/improviser Ikue Mori. Here they are joined by London's percussion wunderkind Steve Noble who had previously recorded a blistering duo with Ikue for Fataka. As a trio things loosen up somewhat with passages of textural interplay bridging forthright declarations from both 'percussionists' amid some wonderfully unrestrained harp from Parkins shot through with distortion. --- Ikue Mori / computerZeena Parkins / harpSteve Noble / drums --- Recorded by James Dunn at Cafe OTO on Tuesday 9 September 2014. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photographs by Dawid Laskowski.

Joe McPhee and Chris Corsano have provided some of the absolute stand-out moments at OTO, and this has to be one of the best of them. Playing together for one night only back in August of 2012, the dream duo kick out white hot energy and offer up heart breaking balladry. Corsano's deft hands and a punk rock attitude create haunting textures and huge shadows that allow McPhee to blow lines that make you bleary eyed. When his voice comes through his pocket trumpet it seems to call out from another world. "But when the money's gone", he calls, and it's a sing a long, it's a crooners song - it's free jazz at it's most lively.  --- Joe McPhee / tenor and soprano saxophones Chris Corsano / drums --- Recorded on the 25th August 2012 by John Chantler. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Rupert Clervaux.

Nearly two hours of kolongo grooves from Ghanian superstar King Ayisoba recorded in September 2014 at Cafe OTO on Ayisoba's second visit here - this time joined by Zea (Arnold De Boer of The Ex) on the song Akolbire, Lion on percussion and Wanlov the Kubolor who adds vocals and percussion to a couple of the songs.  -- Recorded Friday 26 September 2014 at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx. Photo by Dawid Laskowski.

This was part of Mdou Moctar’s first tour of Europe and recorded on what was originally scheduled as a night off.  The band had played a rousing set the night before to a packed house when it was discovered that they weren’t up to anything on this night and that OTO was only scheduled to open as a bar. Things were quickly put into place for a second show which promptly sold out and totally delivered the kind of spontaneous energy you’d hope for in this kind of situation.   “We’ve got a problem” said Carl, our erstwhile evening manager at the end of the night.  “Mdou has fallen in love” “ah…” “He’d like to take our amp with him” Of course, a deal was struck and off it went. It’s nice to know that there is a little bit of OTO tearing it up across the north of Africa!  --- Mdou Moctar / guitar, voiceAhmoudou Madassane / guitar, voiceMahmoud Ahmed Jabre / drums, voice Recorded by Shaun Crook at Cafe OTO on Friday 1 August 2014. Mixed by John Chantler.  Mastered by Rupert Clervaux, London. Photograph by Jonathan Crabb.

Norwegian percussionist Ingar Zach first came to wider attention for the two duo recordings on Incus with the late, great Derek Bailey. He’s since become one of the north’s most prolific musicians, working in a variety of contexts including the groups Huntsville, Mural and the ensemble Dans les arbres. This solo recording from October 2014 is characterised by a sustained engagement with the resonant properties of Zach’s assembled percussion instruments - including a massive 34” concert bass drum - for a slow moving and beautifully focussed forty minute expanse of held tones and shifting pulses. -- Recorded by James Dunn at Cafe OTO on Sunday 5 October 2014. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin.

Rie Nakajima / objects (1)Phill Niblock / computerDavid Watson / bagpipes (2) Track 1 recorded by Mark Jasper at Cafe OTO on Sunday 21 September 2014. Mixed by James Dunn.  Track 2 recorded and mixed by Phill Niblock. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Fabio Lugaro. Despite having known each other for many years, and having a long-held affinity for each other's work, this recording documents the first time Rie Nakajima and Phill Niblock had collaborated together. Recorded in September 2014, the work includes Niblock’s sound collage piece “Crick” and Nakajima performing in response to Niblock’s early seventies film "T H I R”. Also included in Niblock’s piece ‘Bag’ which was presented on the same night and features David Watson performing on bagpipes.  This recording is from Niblock’s original files.

Keith Fullerton Whitman presents a special Cafe OTO version of his latest project 'Redactions'. In his own words, Redactions "is an ongoing exploration of ideas surrounding the extraction of "peaks," or "transients" from geographically & thematically relevant audio materials given a particular realization or performance.' Intense poly-rhythmic chaos and nightmarish guitar build to breaking point, only to slowly release with the sort of luminous melodies that shone through his earlier Generator. A real trip, but you're in good hands with Keith.  --- Keith Fullerton Whitman / electronics --- Recorded by Shaun Crook on Sunday 5th July 2015. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Fabio Lugaro.  --- Tracklisting: 1. OTO Redactions A (18.25) 2. OTO Redactions B (19.42)

Diane Cluck was one of the earliest people to play at Cafe OTO, first performing in in June 2008, just a few months after we first opened. We’ve been lucky enough to have her return to OTO half a dozen times since.  This recording is taken from her sold out April 2014 residency where she performed over two nights with cellist Isabel Castellvi. Hang player Manu Delago also guests on four of the songs. --- Diane Cluck / voice, guitar, squeezeboxIsabel Castellvi / cello, voice, autoharpManu Delago / hang (7, 8, 17, 18) --- Recorded by James Dunn at Cafe OTO on Friday 11 April 2014. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Rupert Clervaux at Grays Inn Road, London. Photograph by Dawid Laskowski.

Wildly dynamic 2013 performance by this sextet recorded as part of saxophonist Urs Leimgruber’s two day residency during the London Jazz Festival that year.  All six members of the ensemble are leading protagonist’s in Europe’s free improvisation community and this recording sees them on fine form, rendering unruly sonics and spontaneous freedoms alongside exhilarating passages of collective unity and chamber-like luminosity.  --- Jacques Demierre / pianoOkkyung Lee / cello Thomas Lehn / synthesizer Urs Leimgruber / soprano saxophoneDorothea Schürch / voice, singing sawRoger Turner / drums, percussion --- Recorded by Katherine Arnold at Cafe OTO on Wednesday 19 November 2013.  Mixed by Thomas Lehn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin.

When Kim Doo Soo played at Cafe OTO as part of the first Counterflows festival in 2012 it was the first time he’d performed in Europe. This recording is from his second visit to OTO in June 2015 and includes both recent material and earlier songs - such as Butterfly which was first included on his second LP ‘약속의 땅/The Promised Land’ (1988). --- Kim Doo Soo / voice, guitar, harmonica --- Recorded by Jonathan McHugh at Cafe OTO on Sunday 15 June 2014. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Andrej Chudy.

John Dikeman / tenor and alto saxophonesWilliam Parker / double bassHamid Drake / drums, percussion, voiceThis trio came about when the DOEK festival in Amsterdam invited the American saxophonist (and Dutch resident) to form a new group for the festival. Dikeman went straight for one of the greatest rhythm sections of the last 30 years - asking William Parker and Hamid Drake to join him in a trio. This recording includes both of the sets they performed at Cafe OTO on 7 May 2014 to a sold out house. William Parker and Hamid Drake first came together as part of Peter Brötzmann’s legendary Die Like A Dog Quartet with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. They’ve gone on to form a sympatico partnership, working as a duo (see Piercing the Veil on AUM Fidelity) and together on many of William Parker’s larger group projects. From rural Wyoming to Amsterdam via Egypt, Dikeman’s playing runs the gamut of improvised music with an open attitude to collaboration that tears down any notion of genre. His own groups include the no-wave noise jazz of Cactus Truck, and Universal Indians - a tightly wound trio (with Jon Rune Strom on bass and Tollef Ostvang on drums) seen regularly with special guest Joe McPhee.Recorded by James Dunn at Cafe OTO on Wednesday 7 May 2014. Mixed by Rupert Clervaux at Grays Inn Road, London. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Dawid Laskowski.

Few artists maintain such a fearsome reputation and enigmatic presence as Kevin Drumm.  This recording is from Kevin’s first appearance at Cafe OTO (as part of a PAN event with Thomas Ankersmit and Helm) and doesn’t waste a single second across its short duration. Delivered on the night at devastating volume via a full range quadraphonic d&b; audiotechnik system we recommend, where possible, playback on speakers at high volume for maximum impact. Kevin Drumm / electronics Recorded by John Chantler at Cafe OTO on Wednesday 24th April 2012. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Dawid Laskowski.

75 minutes of psychedelic excess, molten electronics and DIY ritual from the totemic ensemble of contemporary British outsider music. Vibracathedral Orchestra's chimerical DNA spans from beatific Labour-club raga to full-on face-flaying West Riding Kraut-out, whilst the core membership and elastic supporting cast that has realised this wayward vision is an unrivalled who’s who of the UK audio underground - this time Julian Bradley, Neil Campbell, Adam Davenport, Michael Flower and Bridget Hayden. Recorded by Mark Jasper at Cafe OTO on 10 April 2015. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin.

It's a real honour to share this music performed by three of OTO's most treasured musicians - John Tchicai, Tony Marsh and John Edwards. This was the first set of the trio's residency at Cafe OTO in 2010, returning on blistering form after an initial two-day stint in 2009. --- John Tchicai / saxophones, fluteJohn Edwards / double bassTony Marsh / drums --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO on 27 September 2010 by James Dunn. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Nicholas Lativy. Special thanks to John Coxon for his assistance in making this recording possible.

Available as 320k MP3 Tracklisting: 1. To Do First 2. Marui Hito (Everyone) 3. My Car is Burning 4. Oide no Umi 5. Ending Theme 6. Donna Donna 7. Oetsu to Kanki no Nanoriuta (Given Song by Sob and Joy) 8. Hareruhi 9. Melt Horn 10. Baibaba Bimba 11. Greensleeves   To celebrate being open for 10 years we thought we'd share the very first show we hosted as a download. John Chantler organised Saya's first show outside of the UK and remembers it like this: Saya was in the UK for a short stint to work on the mix for the Pastels/Tenniscoats LP 'Two Sunsets' - travelling to Glasgow from Japan via London. I'd heard word of a new venue opening up in town with the Japanese name and got in touch to see if they'd be interested in having Saya play. Turned out they'd be (fingers crossed) open just in time, and as big fans of Tenniscoats would love to have play the venue's first show.   The paint was still fresh on the walls. There was no proper mixing desk (I brought my own and got a bit heavy-handed with the echo). The PA was far from the best and the sound meter that they'd had to install wasn't set up right. It tripped not once, but twice during 'Baibaba Bimba' (you'll hear the silence as the power cuts out on the recording) - leaving Saya to switch from keyboard to guitar to finish it off. Despite all that it was a magical early sunday evening. Saya was nervous playing her first solo show outside Japan, but the attentive crowd of 70 odd stuck with her and sat in rapt attention. No one show is going to capture the essence of cafe OTO, but if they say you should start as you mean to go on and that's what happened here. It's nice to finally be able to share this little slice of the venue's history. Enjoy. - John Chantler

Available as 320k MP3 or 24 bit FLAC. 1. #1  12:342. #2  23:283. #3  11:10A recording of a rare duo performance by percussionist / composer Michael Zerang and guitarist / vocalist / banjo player Daniel Higgs conjuring densely interwoven improvisations that draw on traditional forms but take them in defiantly unexpected directions. Both musicians will be familiar to OTO regulars - Zerang as a member of Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III alongside Fred Lonberg-Holm, and his gracefully rolling approach to the drums has provided a welcome, beatific contrast to PNLs full-on assaults in Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet. Daniel A.I.U Higgs has also been responsible for some singularly memorable performances here alongside the likes of Maya Dunietz and Jennifer Walshe and his transcendental ragas here reach an even higher level of hypnotism. --- Michael Zerang / percussionDaniel Higgs / voice, banjo --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO on 28 June 2014 by James Dunn. Mixed by James Dunn.  Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Calyx, Berlin. Photograph by Andrej Chudy.