Wednesday 30 April 2025, 7.30pm
Ute Kanngießer is a London based cellist and composer from Germany. Over the years, she has carefully deconstructed her classical roots and almost exclusively performs unscripted / improvised music. Much of her work has evolved in relationship with other art forms such as film, poetry, dance and site specific work. She is interested in the vast expressive possibilities of her instrument in relation to body, space, and others, always looking to rediscover or redefine what is musical in this moment in time. Ute has played at Cafe Oto since its early days and is part of the vital community of musicians and artists that call the venue their creative home.
She will be presenting new solo work and collaborations in a two day series:
Day 1 - 12/03/2025
- Solo
- Duo with Bo-Sung Kim
- Trio with Paul Abbott and Evie Ward
"This is an evening of firsts - BO-SUNG KIM is one of the first musicians I have collaborated with in a non-classical context. She is an exceptional percussionist and has been hugely influential to me. Since then, I have worked with (in my view) some of the best percussionists and drummers out there. Every single one of them has had a deep impact on me: Eddie Prévost, Steve Noble, Crystabel Riley, Toshi Tsuchitori, Jim White, Chris, and PAUL ABBOTT. EVIE WARD is the first poet I have ever collaborated with before projects with Denise Riley, Zara Joan Miller, and Nathaniel Mackey."
Day 2 - 30/04/2025
- Solo
- Quintet with Nik Colk Void, Theodora Laird, Kenichi Iwasa, and Steve Noble
"Every musician in this group has shaped my music in one way or another. NIK COLK VOID is a wizard artist on modular synths an instrumental set-up I love sonically and conceptually. THEODORA LAIRD is such a strong presence and voice she has blown my mind since first meeting her last year at The Avalon. I have known KENICHI IWASA longer than most other musicians in London and he is one of the most creative and versatile multi-instrumentalists I have come across here. But I am lost for words in trying to explain how important (and how much fun) playing with STEVE NOBLE has been to me over the years. I am excited everyone said yes to this first time meeting."
Nik Colk Void is an electronic musician and artist with a vast reputation in experimental shapeshifting and collaboration. Void’s interests lie in the unconventional encounters with her tools, both analogue and digital, as a means of expression. Her key instruments are voice, guitar, and modular euro-rack systems engaging in a new language using extended technique and cut-up sampling through synthesis. As a result, the blends of her compositional tracks lean towards techno, club, experimental and noise.
UK based, Void has produced eight acclaimed studio albums with her musical groups Factory Floor (Gabriel Gurnsey & Dominic Butler), Carter Tutti Void (Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti) and NPVR with the late Peter Rehberg, releasing via Mute, DFA, Blast First, Editions Mego and Industrial.
Theodora Laird is a vocalist and multidisciplinary artist. Releases under her solo project ‘feeo’ have received critical acclaim. Theodora's practice has involved in tandem with an interest in situating narratives within freely improvised music, specifically through frequent involvement in the GRAIN residency.
Kenichi Iwasa is a London based improviser and multidisciplinary artist from Japan, also known for his legendary Krautrock Karaoke night, and collaborations with visual artists and musicians such as Beatrice Dillon, Maxwell Sterling and Linder Sterling.
He currently performs with Naima Karlsson under the name Exotic Sin and released LP on Blank Forms.
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). He was featured in the Bailey's excellent TV series on Improvisation for Channel 4 based on his book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe, Africa and America and currently leads the groups N.E.W (with John Edwards and Alex Ward) and DECOY (with John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins).
