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Saturday 9 February 2013
with guests: 人lll
Tickets : £10 adv / £12 on the door
Fresh from an LP and tour as The Cherry Thing with vocalist Neneh Cherry, The Thing - Mats Gustafsson (sax/electronics), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass/electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) return to Cafe OTO for two nights of heavyweight free improvisation and deep dives into an expansive songbook that includes everything from Don Cherry and Norman Howard to PJ Harvey and The White Stripes.
“Tapping into rock’s most primal forces with the fire and fury that’s something to behold” Mojo
The Thing was established in the spring of February 2000 when the three musicians met do play several concerts and to record the first CD on Crazy Wisdom, a sub label of Swedish Universal. In 2001, they also recorded another CD on the same label as a quartet with Joe McPhee. Both CD´s are out of print.
The trio was a long wanted constellation where several musical styles meet in a very high energetic outlet. All members are influenced by different traditions of free music derived from Germany, England and America, and these influences are to be felt and not necessary heard.
When the trio started out, the book contained mainly of tunes by Don Cherry, hence the group’s name. Since Joe McPhee's participation, the group’s reportuar has included other free jazz standards by David Murray, Frank Lowe and Norman Howard. Also, the groups enthusiasm towards rock music, is heard when they play “To Bring You My Love” by PJ Harvey on the second CD. Today the book has expanded to include tunes by The White Stripes, The Sonics and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This is just an example that explains how close musical styles are today, how similar the energy is and can be, and how much today`s audience is melted together, devoted to creative music. The Thing is now signed on the Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound.
Mats Gustafsson is today Sweden’s and one of Europe’s biggest names on the free music scene. Through groups like Gush, AALY trio and Peter Brötzmann`s Chicago Tentet, he has established himself as a very powerful saxophonist, and has somewhat reinvented the way of playing the saxophone.
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love has become known as Norway`s heaviest rhythm-section. Since they`re long time collaboration started in 1992, they have been working in several groups, amongst them are School Days with Ken Vandermark, Scorch trio with Raoul Björkenheim, and the Swedish/Norwegian jazz-group Atomic.
The Thing also performs with Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O'Rourke, Thurston Moore and Cato Salsa Experience.
“The sheer power they generate from wood, metal, breath and muscle is stunning” BBC
人lll (Paul Abbott / Seymour Wright / Daichi Yoshikawa)
“I went to a private session of theirs … which I thought was absolutely outstanding. The musicians are Paul Abbott (drum kit), Seymour Wright (alto), and Daichi Yoshikawa (electronics). [...] They tell me they have been playing together for quite a while...” - Victor Schonfield
“convulsing but controlled, reigned and railed, concentrated not opposing between the 3. Sound bending to include others. to be met and slightly connected. Semi-soothed in trilling galloping galactic space” - KiO
“There are some globs of clay inside a cage. The cage is badly made from a gridded, rough, metal wire. It is suspended from the ceiling of a living room … inside the cage, above the clay, is a small glass box with a neat funnel protruding from its base.” - c-Ban
“dancing in a foundry where they're casting ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ sculptures. Freedom and molten iron.” - JDM [edit]
