Alan Wilkinson, Andrew Lisle, Colin Webster, Dirk Serries, John Dikeman

"Understated, tightly controlled, minimalist music always gets the better deal. There is something mature and cultured about an artist who distills and reaches for the essence instead of provoking and dabbling in exuberance, volume and a cluster of diverging ideas. In a world that is nearly driven to total chaos by a maddening abundance of impulses, Goethe’s worn out adage - that it is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself - has become the ultimate compliment. Less is more and all that.The inevitable consequence is that the opposite approach is often denied these qualities. Volatile, energetic, loud and wild music becomes something reckless, thoughtless and impulsive. Immature. It becomes the playing field of lesser minds, of machos who confuse an explosive racket with actual substance. All too often, tumultuous and unpredictable music that is confrontational, is given a treatment of belittlement, as if such outsized music and confidence can only come from well-intending, but intellectually limited origins. Like spit and blood, volume and manic energy are perhaps too reminiscent of the physical side of life and creativity.Be that as it may, but sometimes you just have to beg to differ. Watching Rothko and Barnett Newman is great, just like listening to Thomas Köner, Arvo Pärt and, well, old school Dirk Serries, but sometimes you just want artists to fuck shit up, throw cans of paint against the wall, create sounds that make sensitive ears piss their pants and cause some unease and discomfort. Sometimes we need to be reminded (I’m speaking for myself, first of all) of the excitement that surprise, intensity and sheer fucking volume can cause.The live setting is ideal, of course. From hard-hitting improvisers to apocalyptic noise merchants and drone kings: studio recordings are heavy artifacts, but concerts are (were) where shit gets real. The same holds true for the quartet of Dikeman, Lisle, Serries and Webster. While one doesn’t necessarily eclipse the other in terms of cohesion or inventiveness, the Live At Cafe Oto had a frenzy that returns twofold during these performances at Dalston’s much-loved Vortex. The unholy roar and squeak of Webster and the spiritual hysterics of fire-breathing juggernaut Dikeman are already one thing, but add the poisonous contractions of Lisle and the thoroughly disjointed language of Serries, and you are dealing with an untamed beast whose brief silences cannot be trusted.Then add hard-blowing veteran of the British scene Alan Wilkinson, and you are dealing with a three-pronged frontline that can rival the holy trinity of Brötzmann, Parker and Breuker during their wildest days. Which is not to say there is anything derivative about these performances. They come from inside and are made possible by years of perfecting craft, technique and intuition, but they also revel in the exciting and liberating act of collective improvisation as a conquest of sound through willpower. There is no such thing as total freedom in music, of course, but in their wildest moments, these four / five rave, rant and rage with an intimidating snarl and growl that’s pure bloody excitement. When such an outrageous racket provokes spasms of giddy delight, you know you are in for something special." - Guy Peters

Quartet
John Dikeman : tenor saxophone
Andrew Lisle : drums
Dirk Serries : electric guitar
Colin Webster : alto and baritone saxophone

Quintet
John Dikeman : tenor saxophone
Andrew Lisle : drums
Dirk Serries : electric guitar
Colin Webster : baritone saxophone
Alan Wilkinson : alto and baritone saxophone

Performed at Vortex Jazz Club, London (UK) on February 8th 2017. Recorded by Ed Lucas and Daniel Kordik. Mixed & mastered by Dirk Serries.