The debut for UK saxophonist John Butcher on 577 Records is this exemplary 2021 live recording at Cafe OTO in London by the quartet of Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass and Steve Noble on drums, four of the UK's leading free improvisers demonstrating their prodigious abilities in concentrated conversation.
The first of two planned volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.
The second of two volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.
Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.
The two-headed snake on the cover of this album aptly describes the sublimely sinuous and dark interplay between London free jazz drummer Steve Noble and bass clarinetist Yoni Silver, their 4-part improvisation taking on sinister elements of exceptional cymbal techniques, unusual drum tones, and extended lower register tones and high harmonics; excellent.
London master drummer Steve Noble (Rip Rig and Panic, Derek Bailey), a mainstay on the scene for decades, with Scandinavian free improvising saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts (Cortex, Saka, Starlite Motel) for a live album of uproariously driven, skronky free jazz.
Two live sets of exemplary improvisation: the first revelatory encounter of pianist Sebastian Lexer and drummer/percussionist Steve Noble from 2011, and a more considered and spacious meeting in 2014, both from London's Cafe OTO.
For their 3rd album together, the trio of saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble are caught live at the 2013 Ljubljana Jazz Festival for three blistering works of free improvisation.
