Tuesday, July 30, 2013

HOPPER / DEAN / TIPPETT / GALLIVAN – Cruel But Fair (1977)



Label: Compendium Records – FIDARDO 4
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: Norway - UK pressing 1976, Released: 1977
Style: Experimental, Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Recorded at The Basement, Oslo, October 1976 
A1, B1, B3 and B4 published by Warner Bros., otherwise by P.R.S.
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Made By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Recorded At – The Basement, Oslo
Bass – Hugh Hopper
Design, Photography – Laurie Lewis

Hugh Hopper - Bass
Elton Dean - Alto Saxophone & Saxello
Keith Tippett - Piano
Joe Gallivan - Drums, Percussion & Synthesizer

Hugh Hopper, who died of Leukaemia in 2009, started his musical career in 1963 as the bass player with the Daevid Allen Trio alongside drummer Robert Wyatt. There can be few other free jazz bands of the era with such a stellar line-up. Unlike other legendary ensembles such as The Crucial Three (a Liverpool band from 1977 which featured three musicians who were to go on to enormous success) the Daevid Allen Trio actually played gigs and made recordings. All three members ended up in Soft Machine, which together with Pink Floyd was the ‘ house band ’ of the burgeoning ‘ Underground ’ movement which tried so hard to turn British cultural mores upside down for a few years in the latter half of the 1960s. (Hopper and Wyatt had also been in another legendary Canterbury band called The Wilde Flowers). Hopper stayed with Soft Machine (for whom he was initially the group ’ s road manager) until 1973 playing at least one session with Syd Barrett along the way. During his tenure the band developed from a psychedelic pop group to an instrumental jazz rock fusion band, all the time driven by the lyrical bass playing of Hugh Hopper. After leaving the band he worked with many pillars of the jazz rock fusion scene such as: Isotope, Gilgamesh, Stomu Yamashta and Carla Bley. He also formed some co-operative bands with Elton Dean who had also been in Soft Machine. Previously Dean had been in a band called Bluesology, whose keyboard player Reginald Dwight had come to the conclusion that his was not a name that had much commercial potential, so he pinched Dean’s Christian name and as a surname chose part of the name of Bluesology’s lead singer, Long John Baldry.

HOPPER/DEAN/TIPPETT/GALLIVAN was an experimental jazz outfit formed in 1976 by former Hopper and Dean, teaming up with the renowned jazz pianist and composer Keith Tippett and the remarkable avant garde drummer/synth player Joe Gallivan. In 1977 the quartet released their album "Cruel but Fair", which Wally Stoup describes as: “ …a wide- ranging programme of bristling, exploratory jazz and innovative electronic music. Gallivan plays synthesiser in addition to his propulsive, pulse-oriented drums, and on several cuts ("Jannakota" and "Rocky Recluse"), the music drifts into beguiling electronic soundscapes. These serve as interludes for the more energetic and fiery pieces featuring Dean's singular sax and Tippett's dense, multi-layered piano. Dean's distinctive alto and the seldom-played saxello both project a plaintive, vocalised sound, equally adaptable to the frenzy of "Seven Drones" or the calm of "Echoes". This ability to shift emotional gears, shared by the group as a whole, results in a collective music that is both spontaneous and cohesive. “ I couldn ’ t have put it better myself.

_ By JON DOWNES



Links in Comments!

8 comments:

  1. HOPPER, DEAN, TIPPETT, GALLIVAN – Cruel But Fair (1977)
    Vinyl Rip - MP3@320+Artwork

    MediaFire:
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/hdw7crth5ncc4x5

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haven't heard this one Vitko, looks very interesting. Cafe Oto and Conic Sections were another 2 favourites - great stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you so much, Vitko! At last verified vinyl rip!

    ReplyDelete
  4. fijate donde puedo encontrar estas grabaciones:
    11:41 AM 9/11/2015
    While these are the recordings in MP3 or FLAC that I need for my sacred collection of this venerable saxophonist,
    If anyone can give me the download links thanks a million have a nice day :)

    (1) ELTON DEAN / MARK CHARIG / PETER KOWALD / TONY OXLEY
    Here's a present from our favourite clown, MR BOZO

    Elton Dean, alto sax and saxello
    Mark Charig, cornet
    Peter Kowald, bass
    Tony Oxley, drums

    1. Improvisation 40:40

    Pied Bull, London. 15th August 1981
    --------------------------------------------------------

    (2) Harry Beckett Quintet +1

    Harry Beckett, trumpet, flugelhorn
    Elton Dean, alto sax, saxello
    Pete Lemer, piano, synth
    Paul Rogers, bass
    Tony Marsh, drums
    +
    Courtney Pine, soprano sax, tenor sax, bass clarinet

    1. Wind of change 10:43
    2. Time of day 13:35
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    (3) ELTON DEAN - KEITH TIPPETT - MARIO CASTRONARI - TONY LEVIN __Set 2

    ELTON DEAN, alto sax, saxello
    KEITH TIPPETT, piano
    MARIO CASTRONARI, bass
    TONY LEVIN, drums

    SET 2

    1. Set-to. 31:53

    Vortex. London. 18 April 1993
    ----------------------------------------------------------

    (4) ELTON DEAN - KEITH TIPPETT - MARIO CASTRONARI - TONY LEVIN __Set 2

    ELTON DEAN, alto sax, saxello
    KEITH TIPPETT, piano
    MARIO CASTRONARI, bass
    TONY LEVIN, drums

    SET 2

    1. Set-to. 31:53

    Vortex. London. 18 April 1993
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    (5) PAUL DUNMALL'S 50TH BIRTHDAY GIG. VORTEX 2003

    Get a load of Dunmall's scorching saxing on the first trio!!
    Thrill to Elton Dean and Tony Bianco!!
    Leave a comment Howard Cottle!!


    1. PAUL DUNMALL, tenor sax
    JOHN EDWARDS, bass
    TONY BIANCO, drums 16:42

    2. ELTON DEAN, alto sax
    TONY BIANCO, drums 13:25

    3. PAUL DUNMALL, tenor sax
    HOWARD COTTLE, tenor sax
    PHILLIP GIBBS, guitar
    TONY LEVIN, drums 14:04

    4. PAUL DUNMALL, tenor sax
    SIMON PICARD, tenor sax
    HOWARD COTTLE, tenor sax
    ELTON DEAN, alto sax
    JIM DVORAK, trumpet
    NEIL METCALFE, flute
    PHILLIP GIBBS, guitar
    TONY BIANCO, piano
    TONY MARSH, drums
    BRIAN ABRAHAMS, drums 24:06


    VORTEX, LONDON. 13 MAY 2003
    --------------------------------------------------------

    (6) JEAN-LOUIS MÉCHALI "CINE CLUB" (QUOI DE NEUF DOCTEUR, 1993)

    Jean-Marc Larché - tenor sax
    Jef Sicard - tenor sax, baritone sax, bass clarinet
    Philippe Sellam - alto sax
    Elton Dean - alto sax (Disc 2)
    Jacques Di Donato - clarinet
    Jean-François Canape - trumpet, flugelhorn
    Michel Godard - tuba
    Jean-François Ott - cello (Disc 1)
    Denis Tuvéri - accordion, bandoneon (Disc 1)
    Malo Vallois - guitar
    Jacques Labarrière - piano, keyboards
    Sophia Domancich - piano (Disc 2)
    Jean-Jacques Avenel - bass
    Paul Rogers - bass
    Jean-Louis Méchali - drums, percussion
    ------------------------------------------------------

    (7) KEITH TIPPETT'S ARK "100 CLUB LONDON - MAY 1976"

    Elton Dean, alto saxophone
    Chris Francis, alto saxophone
    Larry Stabbins, tenor saxophone
    Brian Smith, tenor saxophone
    Marc Charig, cornet
    Dick Pearce, trumpet
    Nick Evans, trombone
    Dave Amis, trombone
    Keith Tippett, piano
    Harry Miller, bass
    Louis Moholo, drums


    1. unknown title 18:00
    2. unknown title 09:54
    3. unknown title 12:57
    4. unknown title 14:29
    5. unknown title 11:50
    6. unknown title 11:58


    Recorded at 100 Club, Oxford Street, London, UK on Monday May 24, 1976.
    -----------------------------------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All of this can be found on the Inconstant Sol blog:
      http://inconstantsol.blogspot.ba/search/label/Elton%20Dean

      Delete
  5. thank you...picked it on sight at the record theater in Buffalo, it was an import...yes those were the days...saludos...

    ReplyDelete