Monday 17 November 2014, 8pm
First of two nights featuring the Japanese acoustic drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and Italian pianist Giovanni Di Domenico. One of the brightest lights of Japan's improv scene, this will be the first visit to OTO for Tatsuhisa Yamamoto since his fantastic two-day residency split with the Barbican in 2011, and it's a pleasure to have him back. Giovanni Di Domenico's myriad influences have formed into a compellingly original style that has seen him play with the likes of Jim O'Rourke, Nate Wooley, Arve Henriksen and Toshimaru Nakeamura. Joining them will be bassist John Edwards, who formed part of a fantastic quartet alongside Di Domenico, Steve Noble and the great Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata at OTO earlier this year. Also on the bill will be Xomaltesc Tbobhni, the relentlessly exacting duo of drummer Paull Abbott and saxophonist Seymour Wright.
Giovanni Di Domenico, pianist, was born in Rome on the 20th July 1977. Majoring in ‘jazz piano’ at music school - he further built on an encyclopaedic technique; rhythm, harmony and tone are informed by non-western traditions yet equally sensitive to Debussy’s “Préludes”, Luciano Berio’s “Sequenzas”, to the ‘ambi-ideation’ heard in Borah Bergman’s Soul Note recordings, Cecil Taylor’s polissemic density, Paul Bley’s bruised transparency and of course, the most radical manifestations stemming from the underworld of pop music, invariably tied together by his own original praxis. A distinction – one would call it generational – he shares with many of the musicians he has crossed paths with recently, of which we could enumerate Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano, Arve Henriksen, Jim O’Rourke, Alexandra Grimal, Tetuzi Akiyama, João Lobo or Toshimaru Nakamura. Di Domenico has founded his own label, Silent Water, home of an eclectic and occasionally unclassifiable production. He lives in Brussels.
Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, born on Oct 25, 1982, in Yamaguchi, Japan, is a pure acoustic drummer, not an electric drummer. He plays primarily improvised music, and participates in a variety of bands, projects, supporting singers, and has produced multiple recordings. Yamamoto’s solo acoustic performance succeeds in combining dynamism, melodicism and polyrhythm, fusing overwhelming volume with delicate technique.
"Tatsuhisa is one of the most exciting young drummers in Japan at the moment." - Otomo Yoshihide
Yamamoto has also collaborated with artists such as Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O'Rourke, Sachiko M, RUINS, Seiichi Yamamoto (ex.boredoms), Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Keiji Haino, Akira Sakata, Kumio Kurachi, Daisuke Takaoka, Makoto Kawabata (AcidMotherTemple), Munehiro Narita(HIGHRISE), Mitsuru Tabata(ZENI-GEVA/AMT&TCI), Masahiko Sato, Yuji Takahashi, Gianni Gebbia, Ned Rothenberg, Daniele Camalda, Alan Silva, and many others.
Yamamoto’s main projects are SSW, a duo with “Eiko Ishibashi”; “NATSUMEN”, a band lead by AxSxE; acoustic & synthesized drums duo with Muneomi Senju (ex.Boredoms); “Plus Minus Zero”a live electronica & psychedelic prog jam trio with Yuji Katsui (ROVO) and marron a.k.a. dubmarronics; “FirstMeeting,” an acoustic noise improvisation Quartet with Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii, and Kelly Churko; “Ohanami,” a unit with Yoshio Machida on the steelpan; as well as recordings with the Kahimi Karie band featuring Otomo Yoshihide and Jim O'Rourke. Recently he has been performing regularly with Jim O'Rourke. He participates in, and organizes multiple projects around Tokyo.
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke and many others.
"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
