On the playing side, Cath Roberts‘ Quadraceratops had a brilliant gig at Lume back at its old home Hundred Crows Rising opposite Dee Byrne‘s Entropi. There was a really good audience and the band continues to go from strength to strength. Despite being a South London resident these days, I also depped on bass clarinet & bari sax with the e17 large ensemble, which was a good chance to dust off the bass clarinet and get stuck in…
On the listening side, Wadada Leo Smith at Cafe Oto was immense. Incredibly powerful, expansive, engaging music, although the night that we were there the string quartet didn’t play a very large role. The visuals at that gig were also brilliant, it really felt like another member of the ensemble adding an extra dimension to the experience. Troykestra seemed like a great idea in principle, but was hampered by pretty poor sound in the Purcell Room.