Kicking off the new year with the second in a series of Sunday concerts featuring drummer/percussionist Steve Noble in various collaborations.
Duo : Steve Noble (percussion) & Alex Ward (clarinet)
Trio : Steve Noble (percussion), Alex Ward (clarinet) & Otto Willberg (double bass)
Doors 3:30 | music 4pm | entry £8
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).
Alex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. A major figure in improvised music, his current work includes the avant-rock duo Dead Days Beyond Help; various groups which perform his compositions-for-improvisers including Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet, and the Item series of ensembles (the first of which, Item 10, debuted at Cafe Oto in September 2017); as well as improvising collaborations both regular and ad-hoc with musicians including Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Kay Grant, Joe Morris and Weasel Walter. Besides his own groups and improvisational work, he also performs in ensembles including the Duck Baker Trio/Quartet, projects with Thurston Moore, and This Is Not This Heat. Much of his work is documented on the label Copepod, which he co-runs with Luke Barlow.
Otto Willberg is a London based musician performing on the double bass. He currently performs with the funk/junk/punk band Historically Fucked, Alex Ward’s large groups, Andreae/Birchall/Willberg and leads the naive groove group Early Nite.
