For the Thursday-to-Sunday stretch of September 17–20, Cafe OTO offers a compact route through contemporary composition, collective performance and free improvisation. The three selected nights make sense together because each puts the emphasis on musicians meeting inside a specific framework: an international ensemble residency on Thursday, a four-name Saturday bill, then a Sunday concert attached to Leo Records’ celebration of improvisation-based music. It is a useful way into a weekend that can otherwise look densely scattered across the city.[1][2][3][4]

Thursday: NO HAY BANDA’s London arrival

Thursday, September 17 at 7.30pm brings Another Sky presents NO HAY BANDA – Day Two, with Dali de Saint Paul and Sam Salem. Café OTO’s programme identifies this as the second night of a two-day residency, while the event page frames it as the Canadian ensemble’s UK debut. The timing gives the evening an added sense of occasion: NO HAY BANDA is among the 2026 Ensemble Prize recipients of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, whose account describes its work across avant-garde traditions, DIY culture, improvisation and influences from popular music. This is the week’s strongest invitation to hear new work in a deliberately assembled setting.[1][2][3]

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Saturday: Helen Island and a shared bill

On Saturday, September 19 at 7.30pm, Helen Island heads a bill with Rita P +Xmal, Birdfeeder and Sleepier DJ. The four-part listing is the point here: it places a headliner, collaborative project, support act and DJ within one evening, preserving room for different scales of performance. Café OTO lists the concert alongside its continuing September programme of experimental and improvised music, so this slot works as the weekend’s open-ended stop, shaped by the bill’s internal sequence as much as by one name at the top.[1]

Sunday: a Leo Records gathering

Sunday, September 20 at 7.30pm closes with Evan Parker, Mark Sanders and John Edwards, plus Carolyn Hume and Paul May, under the Leo Records banner. Café OTO presents the show as part of a celebration tied to the label’s earlier Unsung Music festival and its history of improvisation-based new music. Parker’s soprano saxophone work is central to this lineage, while Sanders and Edwards bring a long shared grounding in free-improvised settings. Hume and May arrive as a piano, keyboards and drums duo with a substantial Leo Records discography, giving the night two distinct ensemble scales within the same programme.[4][5]

Plan the run

All three concerts take place at Cafe OTO: Thursday starts at 7.30pm, Saturday starts at 7.30pm and Sunday starts at 7.30pm. Pick Thursday for the commissioned-work context, Saturday for the mixed bill, or Sunday for a concentrated encounter with musicians and a label deeply tied to improvised music. Recheck Café OTO’s official pages before travelling for ticket availability, admission details and any changes.[1][2][4]

These concerts happened on 17–20 September 2026

The next dates at these venues: Cafe OTO

Sources

  1. Event listings — Café OTO
  2. Another Sky presents NO HAY BANDA – day two with Dali de Saint Paul & Sam Salem — Café OTO
  3. Ensemble Prizes ’26 to NO HAY BANDA and Ensemble for New Music Tallinn — Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
  4. Evan Parker / Mark Sanders / John Edwards + Carolyn Hume / Paul May — Café OTO
  5. Leo Records: Music for the Inquiring Mind and the Passionate Heart — Leo Records