Cafe OTO gold

Takuroku digital label

Takuroku

diane

TR188 - gilgul - OS-22 [excerpt]

TR192 - Paul Abbott - 'Deorlaf Z (version) for XT Deorlaf X Live' [excerpt]

An improvisation on the piano from my childhood years. It still sits in my parents sitting room and each time I visit them, I spend some time catching up with my old friend. 

tremor

TR191 - Taku Unami - 'Stardust 3'

TR187 - The Mermaid Café - Alice

TR190 - Patrick Ward - 'Retroflexion'

‘Piano Music 1959-70’ is a reissue of an album that enjoys cult status among Cardew aficionados. The standout piece remains Volo solo (1965), conceived originally for Tilbury as an attempt to coin a new type of virtuosity. Cardew expected it to be taken at a reckless tempo so that, as he wrote, ‘the piano should seem to be breaking apart’. But the material he gives the pianist – 60 inchoate fragments interlinked by pauses – trips impetus up, the structure left with a hiccuping splendour. The three February Pieces (195961) find Cardew filtering (exorcising?) Stockhausen and Boulez; Unintended Piano Music (1970) reengages with tonality as chords are stripped of their tonal function and mysteriously placed in time." - Gramaphone 

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John Tilbury / piano

Cornelius Cardew / composition

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Recorded at the Royal College of Music, London, during the early months on 1996, by Mary Hughes. Front cover by Keith Rowe - featuring a detail from Octet '61 for Jasper Johns. 

MRDL29 - Piano Music 1959-70 - Tilbury plays Cardew

John Tilbury play’s William Byrde's, 'Pavana - The Earle of Salisbury' and 
Orlando Gibbons', 'Fantazia Of Foure Parts’, followed by an improvisation to Feldman's orchestral piece 'Coptic Light'.

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Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on 31st August, 2016. Mixed and mastered by James Dunn. With thanks to Seymour Wright.

DS076 - John Tilbury 31.8.16

The Very Air Tastes Different (vocal quintet)

Taken from "The Island Come True" the new L.Pierre album to be released on Melodic Records 14.01.2013

Pre-order here: www.melodic.co.uk/theislandcometrue

L. Pierre - Doctor Alucard

Two totally infectious sets from Decoy - the trio of John Edwards, Steve Noble and Alexander Hawkins - reunited with pocket trumpet and saxophone player Joe McPhee on the closing night of his four day residency at Cafe OTO.

In the eight years between the recordings which make up ‘AC/DC’ and their last release ‘Spontaneous Combustion’, Decoy and each of its members have been practicing individually at the very top of their form. Coming together again in such celebratory circumstances and in the good company of a fantastic crowd set the scene for a very special night. 

As they begin, Alexander Hawkins casts a needling surface between his Hammond organ and John Edwards’ loose splatters and slaps of low end bass. McPhee skitters over them with his pocket trumpet by way of introduction; Steve Noble strikes his rims in anticipation. The mood in the room is that of a rock band reformed, of a certain number of “boys” being “back in town”.

The first set sees moments of frenetic free jazz peel off into weirdo soul territory and when switched to saxophone halfway through, McPhee’s romantic lyricism is utterly beautiful. When a groove sets in, Hawkins’ B3 ascension in harmony with an ever powerful Edwards-Noble rhythm section sees the room thicken and swirl to the point of giddiness. There is one unreal part at 22:22 where we’re sure you can hear Edwards’ bass vocalising. 

Regrouped for a second set, Steve Noble’s metallic textures meld with detuned arco bass to create an unholy atmosphere, ripe for Hawkins to play out the eerier end of the Hammond. When McPhee sounds a sax motif the band catches it quickly and it’s soon wickedly morphed and stretched by each player, recurring to absurdity in a stoned out funk free for all. 

The whole recording bleeds enthusiasm and joyful imagination and is a brilliant document of an unforgettable evening. Decoy are a limitless band who play nowhere near enough. We cannot attest to them any more, Book them, buy this, go and see them if you can.  

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John Edwards / bass

Alexander Hawkins / hammond b3

Joe McPhee / pocket trumpet, alto sax, voice

Steve Noble / drums

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Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on Friday 10th May, 2019. Mixed and mastered by James Dunn. Artwork and layout by Oliver Pitt. Printed in an edition of 1000. OTOROKU023CD.

ROKU023 - Decoy with Joe McPhee "AC/DC" [sample]

"Recorded one day before the already famous duo performance by Anthony Braxton at the London Jazz Festival, this recording features five improvised pieces. The addition of Paul Rutherford to the two saxophone virtuosi changes the muusic in the most dramatic way and offers a sound of unending surprise."

LR197 - Braxton / Parker / Rutherford - "The Breaker" 1993

"Most Ghost Trance Music performances begin with the entire ensemble in unison at the opening of the work. What happens afterwards, however, differs widely depending on the piece, the make up of the ensemble, and the ever changing performance practices. At designated points of the line, often in looped sections, one may decide to switch to an improvisation, play a secondary / tertiary piece, or play the melody at a different tempo. There are no fixed rules pertaining to when this happens or for how long, and it may also be done individually or in groups.

Composition n. 247 is one of the few Ghost Trance Music works tailored for a specific instrumentation: two saxophones and bagpipes (Anthony Braxton, James Fei, and Matthew Welch). It's been recorded live, and the striking quality of this recording will be evident immediately upon first hearing. "The music on this disc is unlike anything I have participated in, in terms of mental and physical endurance, mobility between different sets of material, and sheer sonic intensity." 

- James Fei, NYC, December 2000.

LR306 - Anthony Braxton Composition N.247 [sample]

"Born in 1945, Guo Yongzhang has performed zhuizi - a traditional Chinese style of narrative singing - for half a century. An artform whose history spans over a century, zhuizioriginated in Henan province. Its main musical instruments are the zhuihu, a two-stringed bowed lute, and the zhuibang, a wooden percussion played with foot tapping. 

Almost completely blind, Guo Yongzhang is known for his peculiar, resounding yet smooth vocal style. He sings with deep feelings and great verve. Lyrics deal with both the hardships and good values of life while always maintaining a sense of humour. Despite being long regarded as a folk master, Guo has continued to play tirelessly among ordinary people, often travelling from village to village and performing for a whole day at a time. As he nears the end of his life, Guo regrets that nowadays, few people wish to learn the art ofzhuizi. He worries that this precious art form may soon be lost. 

This release, titled after one of Guo Yongzhang’s most well-known songs, Lao Lai Nan, commemorates his performance at the 5th Tomorrow Festival. Guo co-headlined the last day of the festival with French prog-rock act Gong on May 20, 2018. His performance was recorded live and is due to be released on both CD and LP by the Old Heaven label in November 2019.

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Guo Yongzhang /  Zhuihu, Zhuibang, Vocals

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Recorded in the late-1980s, Released in 2018

Guo Yongzhang - Lao Lai Nan (Old Man’s Blues)[sample]

"Duo between Zorn and one of most representative guitarist of improvisational music - Fred Frith. Both are in excellent form and the album is great evidence how fruitful and interesting improvisational jazz can sound when played by two masters. Only Frith's guitar and Zorn's alto sax sounds (plus some minimalistic tapes loops) build aural picture of thousand nuances. Not as extremely freaky as Zorn's early experimental works, this music contains one of the best interplays in both musicians history. And - this release is great example how good improvisational sax player John Zorn is ( during last decade or even more he doesn't demonstrate his virtuosity too often).

Far not an easy listening, but one of great "classical" Zorn's avant-garde jazz works, must have album for every serious Zorn's music fan or researcher." - Jazz Music Archives
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John Zorn / alto sax

INCUS020 John Zorn & Fred Frith "The Fountain And The Mirror"

Recorded in his apartment in Brooklyn, Steve Gunn's offers up a delightful selection of refrains from solo guitar, spinning a tapestry of wandering phrases that slowly burrow into vast dream states. Along with subtle breaths of synth washes, the sound of cars passing and dogs barking outside, Steve's refreshingly human tracks pierce little glimmers of light in the opaque global situation. A real treat for old and new Steve Gunn fans alike.

TR005 - Steve Gunn "Spring In Brooklyn 1"

As you can imagine we are under huge pressure at the moment and are working flat out to ensure Cafe OTO survives this. The impact of this situation is extremely acute for small venues like ours and we need all the support we can get to pull through. Please donate what you can, if you can. Thank you. 

Cafe OTO opened in April 2008 with the aim of providing a home for creative new music that exists outside of the mainstream. It comprises one large cafe/performance space open during the day serving food and drink with an evening programme of live music almost seven nights a week. 

OTOROKU is part of OTOProjects - a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) that has been set up to manage the programme at Café Oto. Any profits from OTOROKU are put back into supporting what we do and will help us to continue programming the best musicians and performers from all over the world.

www.cafeoto.co.uk

TR005 - Steve Gunn "Spring In Brooklyn 1"

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