TRIM is an improvising quartet brought together by Dominic Lash (guitar) with Phil Durrant (modular synth), Steve Noble (percussion) and Rachel Musson (saxophones). After Musson was unable to make this show, Colin Webster was recruited on saxophone duties, resulting in two absolutely barnstorming sets under the freshly coined banner of TROM. You know how it is. Times are hard, things get stressful. Sometimes you’ve just got to blow off steam by blasting the doors off an unassuming Hackney music venue and sending the audience barreling down the street. Such was the case at OTO on 5th April this year, when Lash, Durrant, Noble and Webster summoned up the kind of utterly cathartic sonic scree that made a wonderful irrelevance of this having been their first ever performance as a quartet. Make no mistake, this is no one-note performance - the group cover a hugely varied amount of terrain over the two sets' combined near-80 minute run-time - but the sheer sense of exuberance on display here is hard to ignore. A rapidly rotating interplay sees all four musicians trading shapes that mutate and evolve with an almost breathless momentum. There's an exhilarating sense of new forms being created in realtime, forms that seem to blur and shift depending on your vantage point. Whatever angle you come at it, however, this one doesn't let up for a second. On this basis we look forward to welcoming back both TRIM and TROM here, with hopes for TRAM, TREM and TRUM too at some point in the future. -- Recorded by Billy SteigerMixed and mastered by Oli Barrett

A visceral, reflexive set from drummer Steve Noble and trumpeter Gabriel Bristow, recorded at OTO in April 2022. Stepping in for Tashi Dorji, who'd had to cancel his tour, Bristow more than matches the Bhutanese guitarist's intensity, summoning a freewheeling melodicism that combines undeniable technical skill with full-throated breath work and exuberant runs that soar over the rousing fervency of Noble's drumming. For those still in need of proof of Noble's status as one of the all-time-great British drummers (and really, if so, where have you been?), look no further. Noble's distinctive style is in full effect here, an instinctual percussive tour-de-force that covers an incredible amount of ground whilst never seeming to be anything less than utterly suited to the moment. At times the back and forth between the two musicians builds to such a clamorous pitch that it seems that the whole thing must tumble over, but both artists seem able and willing to push on to greater heights. At others, there's a ruminative thoughtful quality to the interplay that evokes the charged semi-silences of the films of the Quay brothers. There's an overarching drive and vitality to the duo's reciprocity, and at times there's enough swing going on here to conjure Jaan Pehchan Ho. But the pair also give each other enough space to breathe, with the set's 40 minute running time punctuated by miniature solo sections that seem to act like deliberate inhales before the next giddy ascension. Through it all, snippets of Albert Ayler's phantom phrases coil and wreathe in new variations that tip the hat without getting bogged down in too much reverence. This is no amber-coated act of jazz preservation, but a living, breathing performance imbued with the spirit. -- Recorded by Chris PentyMixed by Otto WillbergMastered by Oli Barrett

"Originally formed in the mid noughties, when Wilkinson depped for an indisposed Lol Coxhill, the Edwards / Noble / Wilkinson trio quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant combinations on the London Improvised music circuit, playing often atthe earlier iteration of OTO, and around Britain on festivals at home and in Europe. They produced 2 highly acclaimed CDs for Bo’Weavil Recordings the second of which ‘Live at Café OTO’ was voted one of Stewart Lee’s CDs of the decade in The Times. Their music is characterised by a fearless approach to improvisation with lightning responses, flipping from time to abstraction and back again, incorporating inflexions from a vast array of influences. Its great to hear them again.' ---  Alan Wilkinson / alto and baritone sax, clarinet and bass clarinet John Edwards / double bass Steve Noble / drums and percussion --- Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Shaun Crook on 18.10.20. Mixed and mastered by Alex Ward. Design and loyuot by Noble and Blake.

"That night at Café Oto - September of 2019 it was - is one of those gigs that I’d really like to attend. Having listened to and watched live my share of free jazz, like many of you, I’m not easily impressed, or at least I pretend not to be. But this duo of two important figures of the London free jazz/free improv scene surely makes a difference. Wright’s duos and trios (to name a few: Gamut with Eddie Prevost, Blasen with Sebastien Lexer, About Trumpet and Saxophone with Nate Wooley) are mostly playful, less noisy and surely introvert events. EFV, on the resurrected Steve Noble’s Ping Pong Production, is much different than the aforementioned. Noble and Wright have known each other for quite some time, played together a lot. On this live date their focus seems to be the transcendence to a higher level of energetic and passionate playing. I mentioned Wright’s playing earlier because his free jazz blow outs (now that’s an aphorism, I know) were audible in rare moments in his recorded playing. On the contrary on EFV, he lets his voice be heard with intensity. At the same time his playing leaves enough room both for the listener to focus but also for Steve Noble to adjust, play along or lead. Since you follow this site, you are probably familiar with his prolific career that spans over three decades. Noble is one of the most important percussionists of our time in improvisation and that is no exaggeration. I, the listener, am the receiver of a constant flow of ideas and sounds from his drum kit. He has built a unique style of his own that engulfs total flexibility, in adapting with fellow players. But what about their playing as a duo? Well, in the small interview that accompanies this text, I am wondering if EFV is, something like at least, a culmination of their playing together. This is improvised music and the most enjoyable moments (I won’t say the “best”) come unannounced and impromptu. This cd provided the thought that certain ideas, like sketches, existed beforehand, materializing, though, into something not exactly as predicted. Which is great, isn’t it? I mean, this is the essence of improvisational music, if I’m allowed the liberty to give it some kind of definition… So, probably the biggest quality of this cd (apart from their playing which I enjoyed) is that you do not know what to expect next and that is the greatest quality in music I believe." (Free Jazz Collective) --- Steve Noble / drums, cymbals, percussion Seymour Wright / alto sax ---  Recorded in the Cafe OTO Project Space on 29/9/19 by Alex Ward. Mixed and mastered by Alex Ward. Photos by Dawid Laskowski. Design and layout by Noble and Conal Blake.  ---