Ikue Mori, Maja S.K. Ratkje, John Weise and Evan Parker at Cafe OTO London

Text and photography: Jack Wilson

‘The evening starts with the duo of John Weise on mixing desk and laptop and Evan Parker on saxophone. Taking to the stage to perform two brief pieces stylistically similar to their recent joint-release ‘C-Section’ on PAN records.

Clocking in at around half an hour their performance felt a swift warm up for the main act of Maja S.K. Ratkje and Ikue Mori. Norwegian composer and performer Maja Ratkje remains animated during the performances, moving between samplers FX units, microphone, laptop and a selection of acoustic pieces, such as small wooden bells and a toy music box, all arranged on the table in front of her.

Japanese born composer, former member of the New York Post-Punk group DNA and veteran of the New York experimental scene, Ikue Mori on the other hand, remains seated and still for the performance focusing solely on producing sounds through her laptop. After a similarly short set, Maja announces they are to be joined on stage by Chris and Evan to form a one of quartet for the evening, an arrangement which they play in until the end of the night.