Friday 28 February 2014, 8pm
"Being one, among many others, playing on the same ancient instrument, might mean that the bass knows much more about music than me. Without any picture of its early days, any idea about how it would sound in a few decades. Intuitions, mistakes, dead ends; shadows and lights of our time. Vibrations, for it's all about vibrations, but which ones? Not satisfied? Go back on work and trust the bass. Words and drawings displayed in the space may be a non musical way to share vibrations, another attempt to catch imaginary voices... may be also a collective way to play the bass."
An intensely physical double-bassist Viltard was one of OTO’s first associate artists – he has played and performed here with musicians as diverse as Otomo Yoshihide and Kan Mikami, Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Evan Parker. Particularly memorable was a sensational solo set in support of Marc Ribot. Most often his work has been in the ‘classic’ jazz format of saxophone/bass/drums: from trios with the late Tony Marsh and Shabaka Hutchings, to most recently Eddie Prévost and Ken Vandermark.
His uncompromising, physical and rhythmic approach to the double-bass – always acoustic, adamant – connects to jazz learning from sources as diverse as Jean-Jacques Avenel, Barre Phillips, Johnny Mbizo Dyani and Ronnie Boykins.
His close association with OTO endures, and since late summer 2013 he has been part of a group of musicians playing, pushing and learning day and night in the OTO project space. Most often private, groupings around this new energy these groups are increasingly public, for example Steve Noble’s (new) Quartet.
Video by Helen Petts
