This was a blast, in every sense of the word. The 16-piece Special Big Band of Japanese underground jazz icon, Otomo Yoshihide, squeezed on to the stage area at a packed Cafe Oto to deliver an unremittingly visceral performance of [...]
John Butcher, maverick, groundbreaking saxophonist célèbre, celebrated his 70 years in style, with a three day residency at Cafe Oto. I caught the second night, the only one which featured a rare solo performance prefacing his duet with percussionist Gino [...]
This was a cleverly constructed and joyous evening. An Ogun – Cadillac 50th birthday sandwich, both groundbreaking labels being formed in 1973, kicking off with the first showing since the 70s of The Real McGregor, a film recently re-discovered languishing [...]
“We’re going to do our best to make the biggest mess we can make!” pronounced legendary American tenor saxophonist Joe McPhee, who was guesting with the British power trio, Decoy. Together, they performed two fine sets. Decoy, Alex Hawkins (on [...]
Gabriels, the formidable, nu-soul trio based in LA, have carefully taken their time to raise their heads above the waterline. Currently on an extensive international tour taking in major festivals and a handful of intimate venues in the UK, they [...]
This Cafe Oto evening was, foremost, a 60th birthday celebration for Andy Moor, best known as the uncompromising, maverick guitarist in the Dutch, post-punk band The Ex with whom he has been a solid anchor for over 30 years. The [...]
This hastily arranged afternoon gig, on Phill Niblock’s brief return from travels, brought together three formidable kindred spirits in arts and improvisation, selling out in four hours. Niblock, celebrating nine decades, whose recent inspired Cafe Oto matinee combined sounds, music and [...]
Fragile, magical, elusive – merest hints to describe avant guitarist Loren Connors’ mesmeric playing at Cafe Oto. Notwithstanding the long-term ravages of Parkinsons disease, Connors, who was helped and guided onto the stage, and wore a sparkling, beaded jacket, maintained [...]
An 11am sound check set up Phill Niblock’s afternoon concert at Cafe Oto perfectly, ensuring that the venue’s sound system would be fine-tuned to the intricate nuances of Niblock’s multi-layered electronic minimalism and to those of his improvising collaborators, radical [...]
Lonnie Holley played two sold-out concerts in London in March, each to capacity audiences of 200 and at venues imbued with the kind of intimacy which reinforces the emotional intensity that is at the heart of the work of this [...]
