GORDON BECK TRIO – Gyroscope (Morgan Records – MJ 1 / LP-1969)

Label: Morgan Records – MJ 1

Morgan Records Twin Stereo / MJ1 Jazz Series

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: UK / Released: 1969

Style: Post Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England, 1968.

Engineer – Andrew Johns

Producer – Monty Babson

Matrix / Runout (Side 1 Label): MJ 1 A

Matrix / Runout (Side 2 Label): MJ 1 B

A1 - Gyroscope ................................................................................................. 7:09

A2 - Clusters ..................................................................................................... 7:06

A3 - Suite No. 1 ................................................................................................ 6:40

B1 - Miss T Fying .............................................................................................. 3:58

B2 - Sincerity ..................................................................................................... 5:20

B3 - And Still She Is With Me ............................................................................ 8:22

B4 - Oxus .......................................................................................................... 3:18

All compositions written-by – Gordon Beck, except

track A3 (written-by – Gordon Beck, Jeff Clyne, Tony Oxley)

Personnel:

Gordon Beck – piano

Jeff Clyne – bass

Tony Oxley – drums, percussion

GORDON BECK TRIO – Gyroscope / Extremely rare, original first UK pressing 1969 / 7-tracks / stereo LP of advanced British Jazz on the seldom seen Morgan label, recorded at London's Morgan studios / Catalog Number: MJ1 ___  Out of Print __

Also re-issued on CD in 2002 (Art of Life Records/Catalog Number: AL1003-2) __ Sold Out __

Beck was a self-taught musician who left the engineering world to become a professional player in England. He eventually blossomed into one of Europe's finest studio and session pianists, able to function effectively in many settings and alongside any vocalist or instrumentalist. His father was a violinist, and Beck started his jazz career with various London bands before joining Tubby Hayes in 1962. Beck stayed in that group three years, making his first tours outside England, before beginning his own band. Beck's trio was the house band at the Ronnie Scott's club in the late '60s, and in 1967 Beck began cutting albums and doing studio work. He gained international attention from 1969-1972 as part of Phil Woods' European Rhythm Machine, his strong playing and propulsive solos making him an effective contrasting voice within the group to Woods. The Machine toured America in 1971, and Beck left the following year to start another band, Gyroscope, and also reactivated his trio. He was part of the group Piano Conclave in the early '70s, but became a busy freelancer from 1974 on, working with major stars like Lena Horne, Gary Burton, Clark Terry, Charles Tolliver, and Woods again. He also got involved in education, becoming co-organizer of the Treforest Summer School in 1978.

...Gyroscope , featuring the group of Oxley and Jeff Clyne (Ron Carter-esque in his ubiquity in British Jazz), minus McLaughlin (Experiments with Pops), was six original compositions and comes off as a much more serious album than its predecessor.

The compositions on Gyroscope, all by the pianist except for one trio credit, are pleasant post-bop launching pads. Played with lesser musicians, they may have come off as trite and derivative, as might much British jazz (for a criminally ignored region of jazz, the Brits might have had the highest concentration of notable musicians to be found in one city—London). It was the inventiveness of his "backing band" that pushed the pieces and the leader far past their potential. Oxley, who would go on to play with Riley, didn't stay supportive for very long, adding his free ideas to the mix very quickly, most notably on the title track, "Suite No. 1" and the lengthy closer "And Still She Is With Me" / "Oxus". While closer to the more traditional jazz played by the likes of Johnny Dankworth and Tubby Hayes (Beck's former employ-er), the open experimentation of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and John Surman were bound to have an effect in a scene as small as late '60s London. This open clash of styles stands as a period document and makes Gyroscope a compelling listen.
(Review by ANDREY HENKIN, July 17, 2002 AAJ)

If you find it, buy this album!

DANIEL HUMAIR / GORDON BECK / RON MATHEWSON ‎– Morning! (Musica Records – MUS 3009 / LP-1975)

Label: Musica Records – MUS 3009

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1975

Style: Modal, Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Fontana Studios in Milan, Italy in January 1972.

First recorded on label: Dire – FO 341 / Released 1972 / Country: Italy

Design – Studio Chouette

Photography By – Lucille Whan Humair

Composed By – Gordon Beck, Daniel Humair, Ron Mathewson

Producer – Alain Boucanus

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): MPO MUS 3009 A

Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): MPO MUS 3009 B

         MORNING !

A1 - 1er Movement ............................................................................................... 12:10

A2 - 2e Movement .................................................................................................. 5:10

         (D. Humair / G. Beck / R. Mathewson)

         SUITE 5

B1 - 1er Movement ................................................................................................. 8:20

B2 - 2e Movement .................................................................................................. 5:45

B3 - 3e Movement .................................................................................................. 4:50

         (Gordon Beck)

GORDON BECK – piano

RON MATHEWSON – bass

DANIEL HUMAIR – drums, percussion

Originally recorded at Fontana Studios in Milan, Italy in January 1972 and subsequently released on the Italian Dire label on LP the same year. 

Recorded during a tour of Italy with Phil Woods, the European Rhythm Machine, consisting of Gordon Beck, Ron Mathewson and Daniel Humair, recorded this entire album in the course of one morning. The album features two long compositions; on the first page of vinyl "Morning!", composed by Gordon Beck, Ron Mathewson and Daniel Humair performed in two movements and on the other side "Suite 5", composed by Gordon Beck performed in three movements followed by the track.

Easily overlooked as a piece of obscure 1970s Britjazz nostalgia, and short and sweet at 36 minutes, this is an Italian recording of two suites that pianist Gordon Beck conceived with bassist Ron Mathewson and drummer Daniel Humair in 1972. It is short, but far from insubstantial.

The propulsive rhythm section of what at that time constituted the Phil Woods Rhythm Machine gets two extended workouts, all recorded in one morning while on a European tour. It would be fine to cite the Bill Evans primer as a major influence on Beck, but it would be selling him short. The breadth and diversity of ground covered in this session is astounding, from gorgeous postbopflurry to sparse and razor-sharp post-Webernianpointalistic free jazz. None of this should come as any surprise, Beck having worked previously with the incredible and irrepressible timbral powerhouse Tony Oxley. In other hands, such forays into experimentation might come off as mere flirtations, but the trio is obviously so comfortable with every gesture, composed or otherwise, that the album coheres beautifully and seamlessly.

In the first track "Morning!" Humair takes a driving solo that quickly turns funky and everyone follows suit with alacrity. Morning sometimes sounds like Herbie Hancock baiting Tony Williams in Miles's 1960s band before it becomes an astonishing collective improvisation, Beck's steel-hard chords calling and responding to Humair's chattering snare and lashing rimshots.

Suite 5 reflects Beck's immensely sophisticated grasp of the alternative implications of Bill Evans - his faultless timing of the turn of a fast phrase is always startling, and there's an unexpected amount of free-improv. About half way through the track, when freer terrain is traveled, Daniel Humairs brushwork is complemented beautifully by Ron Mathewsons effortless fast slides and runs on bass. Eventually, Beck can be found inside the piano, Humair and Mathewson bowing and scraping along with him. But there's a wide span leading from piano-led tunes, recognisably from the same pen as those on "Gyroscope", to free group improvisations that are exciting but not wild.

Review by MARC MEDWIN, All About Jazz, New York

If you find it, buy this album!

PHIL WOODS And HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – Live At Montreux 72 (LP-1972 / Pierre Cardin – STEC 131)

Label: Les Disques Pierre Cardin – STEC 131

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1972

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded June 19. 1972 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Design [Cover, both side] By – Pierre Cardin

Photography By [Front/Back Cover] – David Redfern

Engineer – Stephen Sulke

Graphics – Hartmut Pfeiffer

Mastered By – Christian Orsini

Producer, Mixed By – Emmanuel "Pinpin" Sciot

Original French pressing with round corners

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout, etched): STEC 131 A

Matrix / Runout (Side B runout, etched): STEC 131 B

It's not my rip (a gift from A. R.) so I apologize for the relatively poor sound. But the album is great.

A  -  The Executive Suite .................................................................... 26:00

B1 - Falling ........................................................................................... 9:00

B2 - It Does Not Really Matter Who You Are ..................................... 15:00

All compositions by Gordon Beck

Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine:

Phil Woods --- alto saxophone

Gordon Beck --- piano

Ron Mattewson --- bass

Daniel Humair --- drums, percussion

This LP is a real rarity how for the record company that produced it, so also for the jazz music and the huge number of admirers an early Phil Woods. The album has never re-issued on CD. 

In the early 70s, the Italian-French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, great lover of music, founded a record company in his name, which had very short life and that was distinguished by his covers particularly elegant artwork, designed by himself.

In the short period of activity he published several LP's, not only of jazz, among which also the French edition of the Concerto Grosso by New Trolls.

Of particular interest are the recordings made during the Montreux Jazz Festival 1972 concert by Jean-Luc Ponty, the Lubat, Louis and Engel Group, in addition to this the European Rhythm Machine Phil Woods, who at the time was hailed as a masterpiece.

Briton David Waddington critic of Jazz called this album "a fluid and breathtaking improvisation titanic wise." The A-side of the vinyl with engaging twenty-five minutes of 'Executive Suite was also described by critics Brian Case and Stan Britt, in their Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz, "a tour de force of the alto sax, with no accompanying sequences in which Woods gives vent his extraordinary instrumental mastery acute from screaming extreme to severe extreme moaning of the instrument. "

In England, the album was released by Verve, on granting the French publisher, with a different layout.

At a distance of forty four years the record is still valid and is an extraordinary testimony to the evolutionary trend of those years jazz. Roberto Arcuri, about that experience said, "Go and hear the term European Rhythm Machine, that was not a rival of no one, Phil Woods was a wonderful musician, super, which remained like that. "

Colossal music. My favorite album for this month.

If you find it, buy this album!

PHIL WOODS AND HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – At Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1970-LP-1971)

Label: Embryo Records – SD 530
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1971
Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop
Recorded live on March 21, 1970, at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival.
Album  Design – Haig Adishian
Photography [Black & White] – Giuseppe G. Pino
Photography [Colour] – Marc Riboud
Producer – Horst Lippmann
Producer [Executive Producer] – Herbie Mann

PHIL WOODS – Saxophone [Alto]
GORDON BECK – Piano
HENRI TEXIER – Acoustic bass
DANIEL HUMAIR – Drums, Percussion

A1 Freedom Jazz Dance (Composed By – Eddie Harris) 13:30
A2 Ode A Jean-Louis (Composed By – Phil Woods) 13:30
B1 Josua (Composed By – Victor Feldman) 13:00
B2 The Meeting (Composed By – Gordon Beck) 11:00

Altoist Phil Woods' European Rhythm Machine was the most adventurous group he ever led, bordering on the avant-garde at times. The 1970 version (which includes pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Henri Texier and drummer Daniel Humair) is showcased on this performing two group originals, Victor Feldman's "Josua" and "Freedom Jazz Dance." Beck's "The Meeting" is the briefest performance at 11 minutes, while the other three selections all clock in around 13. Woods' longtime bebop fans may not be that excited by these pretty free improvisations (although the musicians were clearly listening closely to each other), but the altoist's tone remained quite recognizable. Challenging and stimulating music.

_ SCOTT YANOW



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PHIL WOODS AND HIS EUROPEAN RHYTHM MACHINE – Phil Woods And His European Rhythm Machine (1970-LP-1976)

Label: Inner City Records – IC 1002
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue; Country: US - Released: 1976
Style: Post Bop, Modal, Free Jazz
Recorded at Europa-Sonor Studio on July 5, 1970.
Album Design – Frank Vega
Engineer – Charles B. Raucher
Liner Notes – Nat Hentoff

PHIL WOODS – Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Recorder [English], Percussion, Voice
GORDON BECK – Electric Piano, Piano, Organ, Bells, Percussion, Voice
HENRI TEXIER – Acoustic Bass, Flute, Percussion [African], Voice
DANIEL HUMAIR – Drums, Percussion [Remo Roto-tom], Percussion [Woodblocks]

A1 Chromatic Banana
A2 Ultimate Choice
B1 The Last Page/Sans Melodie
B2 A Look Back
B3 The Day When The World...

In 1970, when Inner City Records was just getting off the ground, Phil Woods was in Europe enjoying himself, and collaborating with musicians who were definitely feeling the spell of the Miles Davis groundbreaking jazz fusion epic Bitches Brew. While always a staunch straight-ahead bebop player, Woods decided to mix it up a bit and incorporate elements of funk, rock, and free improvisation, much to the likely chagrin of his listeners. In fact, a vitriolic letter printed on the back cover from an unidentified fan residing in Chicopee Falls, MA, rips Woods for abandoning melody, criticizes his titles, and actually threatens him with physical violence should he ever show up in his town. Woods gives his terse reply, but as cynical as this discourse is, it could all have been whipped up by Woods to deflect any detractors to his "new thing." Truth be told, the music here is inspired and focused, even if it is not what devotees might expect. British electric pianist Gordon Beck (who took over for original keyboardist George Gruntz), French acoustic bassist Henri Texier, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair are all extremely talented musicians, who alongside the excitable Woods forge strong bonds in amalgamating this modern jazz into a personalized sound. Bookended by really long jam-type pieces, the album also retains a certain amount of arranged and complex melody lines. The opener, "Chromatic Banana," is the piece that caused the letter-writing fan's consternation, and in the hilarious liner notes, Woods offers listeners a chance to win one in simulated plastic. Musically, it moves fast from 6/8 to free to 5/4, 4/4, and 7/8 meters in pre-fusion rock-funk modes, with the alto and Varitone-modified sax of Woods wheezing, wailing, improvising, and eventually vocally scatting. Beck's "The Day When the World..." has a folkish intro on the Hohner electric piano, moves from a steady rock beat to a poppish tune, and concludes with introductions of the bandmembers by one of the leader's children in English and French. A combo track of Beck and Woods, "The Last Page/Sans Melodie" starts as a pleasant ballad, then quickens to a bop and rock pace with Woods on a Varitone clarinet. The most straight jazz-oriented cut is also contributed by Beck: "Ultimate Choice" is a fleet bebop discourse between the pianist and alto saxophonist, with hard attacks and Woods digging in and establishing his territory. The short "A Look Back" is actually forward-thinking and progressive in a spontaneous manner via the spare recorder playing of Woods underpinning clacky percussion, rattles, and bowed bass...

_ By MICHAEL G. NASTOS



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