Noisy Women present at Café Oto, London

Noisy Women
Flying Free
Café Oto
London
Sunday February 19, 2023

Barely thirteen months after the Noisy Women's debut concert at Hundred Years Gallery, London, with the total of their concerts still in single figures, there was an air of excitement and anticipation in the audience before this performance began. The original four Noisy Women—multi-instrumentalist & singer Faradena Afifi, pianist Marion Treby, visual artist Gwendolyn Kassenaar, and pianist, dancer & singer Maggie Nicols—were all scheduled to play. Four guest musicians, trumpeter & flugelhorn player Charlotte Keeffe, microtonal guitarist & bass guitarist Julian Woods, percussionist & vocalist Nicky Smith, and vocalist Jo Morrison, had been invited. Significantly, six of the eight play regularly in the London Improvisers Orchestra, the exceptions (to date) being Kassenaar and Smith.

Sticking to the tried and trusted format of past Noisy Women performances, the first three sets were trios (Afifi appearing in two of them so that the numbers worked), with the final set including all eight players plus willing audience members... The opening trio comprised Afifi, Kassenaar and Woods. In an innovation, the sound of Kassenaar's pastels was amplified so that she was contributing sounds which integrated with the sight of her art being produced plus her dance moves. Wood provided bass guitar accompaniment, rumbling at first but with occasional funky interludes. In typical fashion Afifi was an aural kaleidoscope, producing sounds using voice, a range of instruments and objects, including a flask, keyboard accompaniment, some recognisable sung passages and some improvised vocals, plucked viola, ending with a bowed colander. As a large gong at the front of centre stage acted as a screen, it was most enjoyable to appreciate the total experience rather than trying to see the origin of every individual sound.

After a quick turnaround, the next trio featured Nicols on piano plus voice, Keeffe on horns, and Smith on percussion, the latter often hidden by her gong. Nicols began the set seated at the piano, playing delicately and subtly, complementing her vocals well when she sang in a foreign language. Smith's percussion was just as low key and subtle, adding coloration, particularly when she resonated a large dome-shaped bowl. At times Keeffe's quizzical facial expressions suggested she might be unsure how to fit in with the others, but when she opted for hi-pitched free playing, it was clear she had made the right choice. When Nicols left the piano for a spell of tap dancing plus vocals, the playing of the others was fittingly low key and did not intrude.

After a break, the trio of Treby on piano, Morrison's voice and Afifi, as before, proved to be just as successful as a threesome. As with the other trios, this one's music was clearly freely improvised rather than planned. Despite that, for comic effect Afifi called out to the others just loud enough to be heard, "Play as we rehearsed but a semitone lower, and don't forget the coda... " Jesting aside, the three fitted together well as a trio, in step with and supportive of one another; a pleasure to watch and listen to.

While each of the trios had been impressive and enjoyable, nothing had prepared the audience for what was to come. All eight musicians took to the stage, and Nicols briefed everyone: in a rendition of a classic piece by the late John Stevens (with whom Nicols had played extensively) the eight musicians, plus any audience members who wanted to participate, were to sing one note which blended in with everyone else's, sustained for as long as possible. On Nicols' signal, a harmonious upswelling of vocal sound filled the room and continued for a prolonged period, with individuals taking breath when needed to maintain their note. As audience participation gradually faded away, the eight on stage kept going, some occasionally adding appropriate instrumental contributions, finishing with all eight voices together. At the end, it was not altogether clear who the rapturous applause was for... The audience participants? The eight musicians? Stevens? All of the above? No matter, as this concert is sure to live in the memories of all who experienced it, in the flesh or via live video links.

After the applause had died down, Afifi told the audience that there were now at least ten designated Noisy Women, and that future Noisy Women events would be going further afield than London... Watch this space.