About the line-up:
Pat Thomas
Pat Thomas was born in 1960 in Oxford and began playing Piano at the age of eight. He studied Classical music and reggae was an early interest. Thomas was inspired to take up Jazz after seeing legendary pianist Oscar Peterson on television at aged 16, and by 1979 he was performing seriously as an improviser.
Thomas has played with Derek Bailey, John Zorn, Evan Parker, Marshall Allen, Moor Mother, Hamid Drake, Steve Beresford and many more. In 2022 he received a Robert D Bielecki Foundation grant in recognition of his incomparable artistry and contribution to improvised music.
Alan Wilkinson
Alan Wilkinson is a British improvising musician, active since the late 1970s. An integral part of the Leeds music scene of the 80s he founded the Termite Club and the powerhouse trio Hession/Wilkinson/Fell. In 1987 Derek Bailey invited him to join a European Company tour and subsequently 2 of the London Company weeks. When he relocated to London in 1990 he was already a familiar name and has continued to play and promote the music through his various club nights, the most recent being flimflam, running since 2001.
Whilst playing in numerous ad hoc settings in the UK and beyond, notable collaborators have included Thurston Moore, Akira Sakata, Talibam! and Spiritulized. Long-standing groups include a trio with John Edwards and Steve Noble, and Norwegian Quartet Akode, while guest appearances with Dead Days Beyond Help have now become a separate trio with Alex Ward and Jem Doulton. New projects include a quartet with Belgian pianist Pak Yan Lau, US bassist Darin Gray and Steve Noble, which recently released their first CD recorded live at Café Oto in 2023, and a trio, Hatka, with Finnish drummer Janne Tuomi and Gray on bass once more.
Otto Willberg
Otto Willberg plays predominantly stringed bass instruments and lives in London.
Live, Otto performs unashamedly melodic improvisational workouts created almost entirely with heavily filtered bass harmonica and electric bass. Strangely abstracted funk and fusion, a blend of the abstruse and immediate. Silky smooth, luxurious, odd and compelling, “like listening to Eberhard Weber through a drainpipe”.
Willberg is often heard on acoustic and electric bass in free improv settings and bands with Laurie Tompkins (Yes Indeed) and Charles Hayward (Abstract Concrete). His previous solo releases have ranged from extended technique double bass to explorations of the acoustics of a 19th century artillery fort. Other recent and regular collaborators include Steve Noble, Pat Thomas, Jooklo Duo, Alex Ward, Hannah Marshall and Ashley Paul.
His solo record ‘The Leisure Principle’ was released by Black Truffle in 2023. Listen to ‘The Leisure Principle’ here.
Agathe Max
Graduate in Electroacoustic Composition, violinist Agathe Max, besides her collaborations with Abstract Concrete, KURO, Mésange, Papivores, Melos Kalpa… works on different projects including music and sound design for documentaries, animated movies, short movies, theatre, contemporary dance and art exhibitions/sound installations, as well as a session musician for lots of renowned artists.
Photo: Phil Mackie.