THE NUMBER – The Making Of Quiet Things (2006)

Label: Slam Productions – SLAMCD 269
Format: CD, Album; Country: UK - Released: 2006
Style: Free Improvisation
Recorded on 19 to 20 July 2005 at Vestry Hall, London College of Music, Thames Valley University
Artwork – Val Tevenson
Engineer – Paul Borg; Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Andy Johnson
Mixed By – Justin Paterson, Paul Borg
Mixed on 28 Sept 2005 at Vestry Hall and on 1 & 8 May 2006 at Borglands
Photography By – Sue Cunningham
Producer – Justin Paterson

The Making of Quiet Things is the product of a collaboration between Gary Curson and producer Justin Paterson , senior lecturer at the London College of Music. The album was recorded at Vestry Hall Studios at the London College of Music as part of Paterson's research.

Technical challenges:
Paterson asked the musicians to perform free improv whilst separated, unable to communicate directly with each other, without rehearsing, in one take. Paterson's goal was the complete separation of sound for each instrument for a second spinoff album using the tracks from this recording session to produce a new, synthesised improvisational work. This environment was extremely challenging for the musicians. The recording and producing of this album itself was a technical feat. Some problems with the recording session, particularly pressures of time and budget, meant complete separation was not achieved. Paterson attempted to remove the microphone spillage on the tracks and devised an algorithm and built software to do this: The "One-T" . The results were presented it at the 2nd Art of Record Production (ARP) conference in Edinburgh last September to extremely warm reception from the academic and industrial community. Further development of this "One-T" project is continuing. Paterson hopes to complete the second album within the next year or two.

Gary Curson

Anyone who was fortunate enough to hear Dreamtime at the Vortex in December will already have experienced the power and passion of Gary Curson's alto playing. On this quartet album (other participants: Keith Tippett on piano, John Edwards on bass, Mark Sanders on drums) Curson is given even freer rein than he is in Dreamtime; the Number specialise in freely improvised music, full on, fiercely interactive interplay utilising the entire dynamic and textural range of each instrument. Tippett, whether performing in the ensembles, duos or the concluding solo piece, moves with his customary ease between full-blooded percussive playing and the most filigree-delicate contributions, interspersed with rustlings and tinklings produced by objects placed on the piano's strings; Edwards (his playing skills now finely honed by all his experience with the likes of Evan Parker) plunges, twangs and blurts his way through the more raucously vigorous passages and squeaks and drones through the quieter moments; Sanders (his playing as ever finding a middle path between the clattering roar of Tony Levin and the wonderfully sympathetic, quietly rapt patter of Tony Marsh) is the subtly discreet yet powerful heartbeat of the band. It is Curson, however, who most often sets the tone: urgent bordering on downright frenetic, his alto wails, screams and keens, rendering the Number's music raw and adventurous, intensely emotional. Free jazz at its most viscerally affecting.

_ By CHRIS PARKER, The Vortex


Producer Justin Paterson is sampling the recording to create new compositions, so the musicians were isolated to get acoustic separation, listening over headphones without visual cues. This makes their achievement all the more remarkable.



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SLAMFEST 1999 - Live At The Premises, London - (2CD-2000)

Label: Slam Productions – SLAMCD 405
Format: 2 × CD, Album; Country: UK - Released: 2000
Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded live at the Premises, London, England, 10 and 11 July 1999.
Design, Producer – George Haslam
Recorded By, Edited By, Mastered By – Dill Katz

This first SLAM CD release for 2000 is a live recording of the two nights of music played at The Premises, London, July 1999 to celebrate the tenth year of SLAM CDs. The line up presents an impressive array of musicians prominent on the British improvising scene - most of which have appeared on previous SLAM releases. The recording is another example of the impressive abilities of soundman Dill Katz. The music by five different groups fills two CDs; the double CD package is offered at the same price as a SLAM single CD.

ARTISTS: Brian Abrahams, Roberto Bellatalla, Jeremy Brown, Lol Coxhill, Gary Curson, Elton Dean, Jim Dvorak, Nick Evans, George Haslam, Jim LeBaigue, Phil Minton, Liam Noble, Howard Riley, Paul Rutherford, Harrison Smith, Keith Tippett.

The artists who participate on this two-CD set, recorded live at the Premises, London July 10 and 11, 1999, read like a who's who of British modern jazz/improvising superstars. Here, legendary saxophonists Elton Dean and Lol Coxhill, trombonist Paul Rutherford, pianist Keith Tippett, vocalist Phil Minton, and others of note perform within various aggregations or subgroups on this rather multifarious affair. Basically, these performances should whet one's musical appetite, whether they are Tippett's sweeping arpeggios and fervent right-hand leads on the piece titled "Careful Driver," or Coxhill, Rutherford, and baritone saxophonist George Haslam's frisky interplay and converging statements on the 19-minute work "CHAR I." Other highlights include: a spirited duet, marked by counterbalancing themes between pianist Howard Riley and alto saxophonist Elton Dean, while "Tuna Up" features trumpeter Jim Dvorak and Phil Minton embarking upon an often humorous journey, thanks in part to Minton's frantic, scat-like vocalise and the twosome's altogether enticing exchanges. Ultimately, there's quite a bit to digest here, as the musicians toggle between modern jazz- style interplay and cunning improvisational tactics, atop richly thematic lyricism and blues- drenched choruses.

_  Review by GLENN ASTARITA



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