Preview: THÔT (F-IRE Rhythmic Frontiers Festival at Kings Place, May 26-28)

PREVIEW: Thôt.
Part of F-IRE Rhythmic Frontiers Festival at Kings Place, May 26-28

Next week's Rhythmic Frontiers festival London’s F-IRE Collective extending its reputation for putting on interesting and unusual collaborations.

Peter Slavid picks as his stand-out gig the opening concert next Thursday by Thôt with saxophonist Julian Siegel:

Thôt is often described as France's answer to M-BASE. Led by Parisian alto sax-whizz Stéphane Payen, their long career of international rhythmic collaborations has included engagement with artists from South India, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and now Iran.

This concert features two brilliant collaborators.

First is Iranian superstar Keyvan Chemirani. The eldest son of the renowned Chemirani family, Keyvan has also become the spokesman for these Iranian percussionists exiled in the south of France. His instrument the Zarb is the most fascinating of Classical Middle Eastern percussion instruments, A goblet drum of subtle complexity it is played with fingers of both hands; the right hand is used for deep sounds in the centre, while the left hand concentrates on high sounds near the rim and snaps.

The complex rhythms of the Zarb are ideally suited to collaboration with the metric madness of Thôt.In a four-star review from the Guardian's John Fordham, he described thee most recent disc as: "surprisingly catchy for such edgy music"

And there will be Julian Siegel to join them, as on previous visits, and to add to the mix his freewheeling roller-coaster improvisations.


Full programme for the F-IRE Rhythmic Frontiers festival at King’s Place:


Thursday 26th May:

6.30pm Free pre-concert talk about the Zarb by Fariborz Kiani
7.30pm; THÔT ( Hall One)


Friday 27th:

6.30pm Pre-concert talk from Simon Broghton, editor of Songlines
7.30pm Tcha Limberger’s Budapest Gypsy Orchestra

Saturday 28th:

F-IRE Next Generation Big Band with students from the Royal Academy of Music (free, but tickets required)
7.30pm Django Bates, Beloved Bird (Hall One)
8pm Jonny Phillips’ Oriole (Hall Two)

www.kingsplace.co.uk