This improvised performance by French double bassist Joëlle Léandre and UK vocalist and Wire 445 cover star Maggie Nicols took place at London’s Cafe Oto as part of Léandre's two day residency in March 2015.

In Louise Gray's Wire interview with Nicols, the performer discusses her involvement with Feminist Improvising Group and their various offshoots, including the trio Les Diaboliques, which Nicols and Léandre formed with pianist Irène Schweizer.

“We were really militant,” recalls Nicols. “We were naughty: we did a gig in a gents’ toilet once and wouldn’t let the men in. We were part of the women’s movement. It was in that time when women were really just refusing to apologise, and a movement is discovering itself, it’s really unapologetic, it’s bold, it’s provocative, we were part of that.” Read more about Nicols's long career in improvised music and her recently released debut solo album Creative Contradiction: Poetry, Story, Song & Sound in The Wire 445.

The audio recording of the whole evening's performances, also featuring percussionist Roger Turner, is available via Oto's in-house label Otoroku.