LIVE@TEG
III人
LIVE@TEG is proud to present the Asia debut of III人, the London-based trio of Seymour Wright (saxophone), Paul Abbott (drums), and Daichi Yoshikawa (electronics) who will bring their radical, invigorating brand of free improvisation to The Empty Gallery on August 15nth.
Emerging from the experimental music scene around London’s Cafe Oto, III人 are among the youngest and most radical proponents of a post-genre experimental music which merges the dynamism of Afro-American free jazz with the timbral exploration of European free improvisation and the sonic intensity of noise music.
III人 take their name from the fact that they are a trio – a group arrangement of three players which has a long history in the jazz and improvised music world. However, that is where their obvious links to musical tradition end. Drummer Paul Abbott’s propulsive rhythms recall at various moments: the regimentation of the marching band, the clatter of ethnic music, and the swing of trad-jazz drumming. Horn player Seymour Wright (a frequent collaborator with free-improv greats such as Evan Parker and Keith Rowe) wrings piercing curls of sound from his alto sax, creating a soundscape of croaks, bleats, and squeals which seem to mimic the organic noises of the natural world. Daichi Yoshikawa, who plays feedback, deftly winds his way between these two unique players, sometimes emitting sax-like shrieks of high-pitched noise, sometimes augmenting Paul’s drumming with percussive thuds and pops. Altogether, III人 sound like no one else. Though if pressed, we might say they sound like Borbetomagus attempting to give a performance of a Gagaku [Japanese Imperial Court Music] composition. Mixing reference points as far-ranging as world music, nature recordings, Japanese noise, and free jazz – they are truly a post-genre group. As III人 says in their own words: “The ingredients are familiar, but the listening is not!”
Please don’t miss this rare chance to see one of experimental music’s most exciting young groups perform. Come to The Empty Gallery on August 15th!