Black Top #7 // Orphy Robinson, Pat Thomas + special guests: Satoko Fukuda & Fumi Okiji

Event information

Black Top is back with the 7th event in the series this time with series founders Pat Thomas (piano/electronics) and Orphy Robinson (vibes) will be joined by violinist Satoko Fukuda, vocalist Fumi Okiji and another very special guest to be revealed nearer the time.

The ad hoc 'Black Top' series is dedicated to exploring the intersection of live instruments and technology such as the looping and sampling used in dub, reggae and other worldly noises - using improvisation to explore these black influences but not necessarily from an African American perspective.

www.thecentreofattention.co.uk

SATOKO FUKUDA / violin

Satoko has performed worldwide as a classical violinist, and currently on EMANEM Label with the Trio of Uncertainty. Since her concerto debut at thirteen, she has broadcasted an eclectic range of music for Classic FM, Resonance FM, BBC Radio 1, and BBC Radio 3. TV appearances include BBC Culture show and the Sky Classics. UK appearances include the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, the South Bank, and the Barbican. Chosen to be musician in residence for the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House, she frequently travels with the team on international diplomatic engagements. Moving fluidly beyond the classical music, she is a regular guest performer at events such as the London Fashion Show, and the London Jazz Festival

FUMI OKIJI / voice

Fumi Okiji is a London-based singer exploring free improvisation using jazz language, speech and human emotionality. She’s known for her rich, sonorous, contralto and her ability to inhabit each note she sings. Her interest in improvised music was sparked in her teens by weekly workshop sessions led by trumpeter Jim Dvorak. Fumi was one half of the experimental duo, The Man Who Laughs, who released an album of ‘industrial scrapyard, jazz-noir’ standards, Deep Songs on the F-ire label in 2009. She is currently working with VIT (Vocal Improv Trio) led by Cleveland Watkiss. Her influences are wide and varied, taking in Ellington, Billie Holiday, Monk, Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Eric Dolphy, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Jeanne Lee.

PAT THOMAS / piano, electronics

Pat Thomas studied classical piano from aged 8 and started playing Jazz from the age of 16. He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style - embracing improvisation, jazz and new music. He has played with Derek Bailey in Company Week (1990/91) and in the trio AND (with Noble) – with Tony Oxley’s Quartet and Celebration Orchestra and in Duo with Lol Coxhill.

"Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude." The Jazzmann





ORPHY ROBINSON / vibes, electronics

Orphy Robinson is one of the major figures of the jazz scene - he has released records on Blue Note and played with Don Cherry, David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Courtney Pine, Jazz Warriors and Andy Shepherd.

He has composed for Film and TV- including “In answer to your question” for the Balanescu String Quartet and “ 42 Shades of Black” for Phoenix Dance Theatre,which was performed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Currently leads the groups CODEFIVE- NUBIAN VIBES - he also plays in the groups BRUISE and CLEAR FRAME


"As the saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter once famously remarked in a 1992 interview with Mel Martin, “The word ‘jazz’ means to me no category”. You would similarly search in vain for a pigeon hole in which to place Black Top #5. An evening of surpassing invention and ambition, there might be a more creative, more engaging and more inspiring gig at this year’s London Jazz Festival. But I somehow doubt it." - The Arts Desk