2020
Country: BE/UK
WEBSITE

Farida Amadou (b.1989) is a self taught bass player based in Liège, Belgium. The electric bass is her main instrument since 2011. In 2013, she has started to play a lot of different musical genres, including blues, jazz and hip-hop. The same year, she had a big interest on improvised music when she met L’Oeil Kollectif members and started to play with percusionnist/ drummer Tom Malmendier. Nystagmus duo was born in late 2014.

Since 2014, she has performed with many musicians all over Europe: Linda Sharrock, Mario Rechtern, Balasz Pandi, Karl H. Bjora, Jasper Stadhouders, Onno Govaert, Eve Risser, Morgane Carnet, Philippe Lemoine, Timothée Quost, Julien Desprez, Olivier Benoit, Anil Eraslan, Mette Rasmussen, Basile Naudet, Chris Pitsiokos, Alex Ward, Thursthon Moore, etc.

In February 2018 Farida Amadou has joined the punk/noise band ‘COCAINE PISS’. A few months later, Cocaine Piss recorded their album « Passionate and Tragic » at Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago, with Steve Albini. In May 2018, she has started a new duo project with the drummer based in London, Steve Noble, including trio collaborations with Alex Ward on clarinet, Chris Pitsiokos on saxophone, ex Sonic Youth’s guitarist Thurston Moore on guitar and recently with the free jazz pioneer Peter Brötzmann.

Farida Amadou was also part of the OORSTOF series (curated by SoundInMotion – Antwerp) project with Ken Vandermark and his band MARKER. For the second part on the year 2019, Farida Amadou is focusing her work on solo performances. A solo album will be out in 2020.

Download press photo here. (Credit: Laurent Orseau)

Steve Noble (b.1960) is London’s leading drummer, a fearless and constantly inventive improviser whose super-precise, ultra-propulsive and hyper-detailed playing has galvanized encounters with Derek Bailey, Matthew Shipp, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Stephen O’Malley, Joe McPhee, Alex Ward, Rhodri Davies and many, many more.

In the early eighties, Noble played with the Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde, Rip Rig and Panic, Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, before going on to work with the pianist Alex Maguire and with Derek Bailey (including Company Weeks 1987, 89 and 90). He was featured in the Bailey’s excellent TV series on Improvisation for Channel 4 based on his book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe, Africa and America and currently leads the groups N.E.W (with John Edwards and Alex Ward) and DECOY (with John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins).

Download press photo for the duo here. (Credit: Laurent Orseau)

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This artist participated in the SHAPE platform which concluded in 2022. The current version of the project is SHAPE+. Like its predecessor, it is co-funded by the European Union.