The Spirit of Gravity are very excited that the no-input mixing desk wizard Toshimaru Nakamura is coming down to play at one of our nights along with 3 excellent improvising musicians. He was a highlight of the Fort Process 2016 event and this a rare opportunity to see him in an intimate space. It should be incredible.
Sam Andreae - saxophone, objects
David Birchall - guitar, objects
Otto Willberg - double bass, objects
with Toshimaru Nakamura - no-input mixer
“Not long after the release of the fascinating Live in Beppu, the new English free sound artists Sam Andreae (saxophone), David Birchall (guitar) and Otto Willberg (bass) will release a new edition, now at the London Raw Tonk label. This time the musicians from Manchester are joined by the Japanese Toshimaru Nakamura. His instrument is the no input mixing board, an electronic instrument that produces sound without any outside audio input.
The no input mixing board is an unpredictable instrument. According to Nakamura, an attitude of obedience and resignation is necessary in relation to the system and the sounds it produces. The instrument ensures a high degree of indeterminacy and surprise in music. It is therefore not surprising that the three English gentlemen, when they were in Japan, came into contact with Nakamura and started making music together.
The four musicians have in common their open vision of what music is and can be. The game with sounds comes first, not so much as making rhythmic or melodic music. These musicians conduct research into sound, the possibilities of their instruments and how they fit into the sounds that the others produce. This leads to music that comes across as abstract, from which the joy of playing is dripping and which, as a listener, often leaves you astonished: what have I just heard? It is precisely the turbulence in combination with the audible love for innovation in which the beauty of this music lies.”
Opduvel writing about Live at Ftarri [June, 2018]
8pm - 11pm