Café OTO

14/05/2026

Now on sale for OTO Members - SCHLIPPENBACH GLOBE UNITY ORCHESTRA - THREE-DAY RESIDENCY!

We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Schlippenbach Globe Unity Orchestra to OTO for a three-day residency coinciding with the group’s 60th anniversary.

Members preview tickets are now on sale, with general sale from May 20th: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/schlippenbach-globe-unity-orchestra/

The most defining orchestral formation in European free music, Globe Unity has been on our wishlist since OTO first opened. To finally host them here, with a 15-piece line-up including Alexander von Schlippenbach, Aki Takase, Evan Parker and Axel Dörner, feels genuinely special: six decades of collective invention and unruly force gathered in the space across three nights.

In 1966, Schlippenbach composed Globe Unity as an exclamatory free-jazz piece for big band. Its Berlin Philharmonie debut was received as a scandal, but the ensemble it produced became one of the central large-ensemble projects of European improvised music, expanding across generations, countries and approaches to collective sound.

Big band residencies have produced some of the standout moments in OTO’s history, from the Sun Ra Arkestra to Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet. These three nights sit firmly within that lineage: an extremely rare chance to hear Globe Unity in its 60th year, still gathered around the music, piano and conducting of the person who first composed the piece that gave the orchestra its name.

This is a genuinely exceptional moment in our programme’s history. A must for those invested in the history of free music, large scale collective improvisation, and the lineages that still shape the present.

LINE-UP:
Alexander von Schlippenbach - piano, conducting
Aki Takase - piano
Evan Parker - soprano + tenor sax
Daniel Erdmann - soprano + tenor sax
Henrik Walsdorff - alto sax
Rudi Mahall - clarinet + bass clarinet
Tomasz Dabrowski - trumpet
Kasper Tranberg - trumpet
Axel Dörner - trumpet
Carl-Ludwig Hübsch - tuba
Christof Thewes - trombone
Gerhard Gschlößl - trombone
Antonio Borghini - bass
Paul Lytton - drums
Dag Magnus Narvesen - drums

With generous support from Goethe-Institut London.

→ Members preview open now
→ General sale from 20 May
→ Tickets via cafeoto.co.uk

30/01/2026

We're delighted to announce a brand new book and accompanying three-day residency from the one and only Adam Bohman!

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/adam-bohman-drawings-collages-paintings/

For the uninitiated, improvisor and visual artist Adam Bohman has been a key part of London's new music scene for over 40 years, working with home made instruments and spoken word in his own distinctive style. Favouring acoustic sounds over electronics, Adam’s music spans song, spoken diary recordings and abstract improvisation, musique concrete, sound poetry and free improvisation. Much lesser known however, is Bohman’s visual output. This year, OTO Projects is proud to publish ‘Drawings, Collages, Paintings’ - the first collection of Bohman’s artworks in print: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/adam-bohman-drawings-collages-paintings/

To accompany the book's release, we'll be hosting a launch event in the afternoon on Sunday 1st March, featuring a screening of Gianmarco Del Re’s portrait of Adam commissioned by OTO in 2014, as well as performances from Adam, Sophie Sleigh-Johson, The Bohman Brothers and Richard Thomas: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/matinee-adam-bohman-drawings-collages-paintings/

Then in April, we're very excited to present a special residency with Adam at OTO. Over three nights, Adam will bring together nine projects, including groups formed during Adam’s early years such as Diastolic Murmurs (formed in 1985 during electro-acoustic research within Phillip Wachsmann's legendary Electronic Music Studio) through Secluded Bronte (with Richard Thomas) and the very new Duvel Mortgage (with Sophie Sleigh-Johnson). Each night will be hosted by our in house gremlin Jackson Burton, and will also feature a special guest, tbc: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/adam-bohman-three-day-residency/

03/12/2025

Out this week on Otoroku! A vital, utterly cathartic set from the trio of Camila Nebbia (saxophone), Andrew Lisle (drums) and Caius Williams (double bass) recorded at OTO in April 2025.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/camila-nebbia-andrew-lisle-caius-williams/

Convened as a group at short notice, after pianist Kit Downes had to pull out of the original line-up alongside Camila Nebbia and Andrew Lisle, the trio nevertheless display the kind of instant symbiosis that feels honed over many years. Nebbia’s playing doesn’t let up for a second, showcasing her astonishing range on the saxophone from deeply sonorous exhalations, to delicate textural work, to a full-throated caterwauling that pins you back in your seat. Andrew Lisle’s highly dextrous, intricate drumming spans the whole gamut from skirring, scampering percussive clusters to the kind of forceful, unruly assail that borders on the rambunctious. And beneath it all, Caius Williams demonstrates exactly why he’s one of the most in demand bassists working today; crafting seeking, probing lines that provide the foundations whilst tipping the entire structure above off into new directions at the same time.

The three of them cover a huge amount of ground, ricocheting from skittering downhill runs to a sort to bruising melodicism, to the kind of gleeful clatter that would have had Ayler sitting up. When all three get going it’s the kind of jubilant cacophony that can’t help but lift you off your feet, and in places it really swings, albeit the kind of swing that might require a swift trip to the chiropractor afterwards.

The sheer, unbridled energy on display here might sometimes leave you gasping for breath, but this is no one-note onslaught. At times the trio pull it down so low you could almost here a Kernel bottle-top drop, with scattered harmonic notes weaving in and out of a raft of sighing, sloughing cymbals, the bass drawing out the atmospherics from down low. By the end, it's clear that the three of them have left nothing in the tank. Here's hoping it's not long before we see them back here.

12/09/2025

Coming up on Sunday! Radical long-form large-group free improvisation from ONe_Orchestra New! Guaranteed to induce gender euphoria AND musical joy: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/one_orchestra-new-2025/ Scroll through to read some highlights from our chat with ONe_Orchestra New's co-founder Caroline Kraabel..

Check out the full interview on our web archive and come down on Sunday! https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/archive/2025/09/11/interview-with-caroline-kraabel/

12/08/2025

Coming up at the end of the month! The Berlin-based, aesthetically agnostic record label and loose collective, SACRED REALISM, celebrate 14 years of activity with three nights of incredible music: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/sacred-realism-three-day-residency/

It wasn’t long after the life/music paths of Catherine Lamb, Bryan Eubanks, and Andrew Lafkas intersected that a collective was formed. It started as a place to publish recordings of their work but grew into other things as well. Connecting threads being support and encouragement to investigate different interests. Often with recognisable aesthetic and conceptual overlap but certainly not always.

The upcoming concerts at Cafe Oto embody this supportive collective dynamic as well as some of the differences. The collective has grown to include more people, both officially (Rebecca Lane and Xavier Lopez) and unofficially (Clara de Asís, Todd Capp, Joe Foster, Jordan T. Paul, Peter Cusack, Laura Steenberge, and others who will not be a part of these concerts). Support and encouragement are still primary elements.

30/07/2025

Out this week on Otoroku, an invigorating, deeply interwoven recording from the pairing of Glasgow-born, London-based musician, Conal Blake and percussionist, improviser and sound artist, Regan Bowering! https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/conal-blake-regan-bowering-5125/

For this set the pair combined microphone feedback with acoustic percussion - augmented with a delay pedal - where the mics picked up the acoustic, tactile percussive gestures and used them to generate more feedback, which in turn resonated the drums. The result is a highly present, deeply symbiotic setup, whereby Blake and Bowering react to one another, but also the equipment itself, with the resulting strands building to something as densely intertwined as a Piranesi etching.

Over the set's 21 minute runtime, Blake crafts woozy squalls of feedback, ranging from shrill, questioning tones to ragged, guttural growls, with a highly tactile grasp of the timbral possibilities of the set-up. Alongside this (within, under, over, through), Bowering's clipped percussive ricochets and sharply curtailed rolls spill into an intricate approach that delves deeply into the sonic possibilities of the kit; coaxing new textures and forms from the feedback loops, that in turn galvanise the entire sound palette into new territories.

With such a synergetic sound and interplay, it's perhaps pointless to home in on the component parts too closely, though. Whatever the source, the sound that the duo create is curious, enthralling and fully alive.

18/07/2025

Out this week on Otoroku, a live recording of the debut OTO performance from Basque guitarist, Joseba Irazoki, recorded at OTO in April 2025: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/joseba-irazoki-1425/

From the first ragged, stuttering bursts of ’1920’, Irazoki sets the tone, with pure guitar tones spiralling out of the swells of clipped distortion, before clusters of shimmering notes life themselves out of the fuzz.

The opener is just the first of many cuts from Irazoki's 2024 Otoroku release, Gitarra Lekeitioak (Onomatopeikoa II), that feature over the set’s 36 minute runtime. As with the album, there's a remarkable range on show here; dense slabs of distorted tones and hissing static rub shoulders with featherlight arpeggios and crystalline chords, all run through with beautifully circuitous melodies and incredibly dextrous fingerwork. As the last jagged whirls of notes of the set fade away there’s a charged pause before the applause from an audience clearly aware that they’ve just witnessed something very special indeed.

16/07/2025

Thanks to Time Out London for this extended oral history of Cafe OTO!

The story behind the legendary Dalston music venue.

10/07/2025

Out this week on Otoroku, a gloriously psychoactive set from Joke Lanz (turntable) and Ute Wassermann (voice + objects)! https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shop/ute-wassermann-joke-lanz-8525/

From the outset, there's a real sense of playfulness here, but the technical skill on display from both artists here is truly jaw dropping. They both wear it lightly though, allowing the listener to sit back and bask in the generosity of a rare gift, freely given. All of this races along at a breakneck pace, barely ever giving the audience time to settle. But why would you want to? The sonic landscape keeps flashing by in an ever-brilliant sugar-rush of kaleidoscopic colour, and it's no hardship at all to just give yourself over to it.

02/07/2025

Tonight and tomorrow (2 & 3 July) we welcome the brilliant Marek Pospieszalski Octet to OTO.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/marek-pospieszalski-octet-two-day-residency/

"A stalwart of Polish contemporary jazz, the name of reedist and composer Marek Pospieszalski has popped up on many of the scene’s most stimulating records in the past decade.” – Antonio Poscic, The Quietus

30/06/2025

Coming up this week! The great contemporary music ensemble DISTRACTFOLD celebrate their 15th anniversary with a 2-day festival exploring the acoustic ecology of geology/rocks, marine biomes, and human-machine interactions. Don't miss! https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/distractfold-two-day-residency/

24/06/2025

Coming up at Cafe OTO! To celebrate their 15th anniversary, the great contemporary music ensemble, DISTRACTFOLD host a two-day festival featuring guest artists, Hidden Mother (Magdalena Meitzner & Ulrik Nilsson), Ute Wassermann, Maria Sappho, and Jo Christman.

Connecting geolocation with its sonic expression, the festival is divided into three programming strands which explore the acoustic ecology of geology/rocks, marine biomes, and human-machine interactions.

Tickets / info - https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/distractfold-two-day-residency/

23/06/2025

Coming up in a couple of weeks! The Messthetics - featuring Fugazi members Joe Lally and Brendan Canty plus guitarist Anthony Pirog - join forces with the great American saxophonist James Brandon Lewis to absolutely barnstorming effect. Don't miss!

Joe Lally was onstage, playing at full throttle, when he realized that his band had found a true kindred spirit. It was the fall of 2021 and the Messthetics — the instrumental trio of Lally on bass, his former Fugazi …