THE MUSIC IMPROVISATION COMPANY – 1968-1971 (LP-1976)

Label: Incus Records – 17

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album - Country: UK / Released: 1976

Style: Free Improvisation

Side A recorded in mono in London on 4 July 1969.

Side B recorded in stereo in London on 18 June 1970.

Painting – Jamie Muir

Producer [Post Production] – John Hadden

Recorded By – Bob Woolford (tracks: 5, 6)

The back cover features a quote from 'The Wellsprings of Music' by Curt Sachs.

A1 - Pointing . . . 7:10

A2 - Untitled 3 . . . 6:32

A3 - Untitled 4 . . . 4:10

A4 - Bedrest . . . 7:38

B1 - Its Tongue Trapped To The Rock By A Limpet, The Water Rat Succumbed To The Incoming Tide . . . 8:55

B2 - In The Victim's Absence . . . 10:35

Derek Bailey – guitar

Evan Parker – soprano saxophone, autoharp [amplified]

Hugh Davies – electronics [live], organ

Jamie Muir – percussion, painting

This LP covers the historic beginnings of the British free music scene and its founding fathers: Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Hugh Davies, and future King Crimson drummer Jamie Muir. These recordings come off amazingly well, considering the first four were recorded in mono. And while there are six pieces here, it's almost impossible to talk about them as separate entities, since what was at work in the group consciousness was to create a free jazz music in the U.K. that was distinct from what was happening in America and elsewhere in Europe at the time. Therefore in the brave spirit of rabid experimentation and oh so serious creative spirit, we have an amalgam of recordings that suggest the future of a free music that turned out very differently than its origins suggest. This collective is exactly that; none of these players -- especially not Parker or Bailey -- had developed into the kinds of soloists that they are today, not only in terms of technical expertise, but in terms of vision. What one can hear in the bravado here is indecision, misdirection, and wrongheaded musical obfuscation that proved to be liberating obstacles in the long run. The one constant here, the thread, if you will, is the sense of dynamics that became the trademark of the new music and has remained ever since. This is a document that does sound dated, but only in a way that tells a story. It's is a necessary addition to anyone's library who is interested in improvised music.

_ By THOM JUREK  

If you find it, buy this album!