MICHAEL GARRICK – Troppo! (Argo – ZDA 163 / LP-1974)

Label: Argo – ZDA 163

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1974

Style: Modal, Free Improvisation

Recorded in Decca No. 2 Studio, London 13, 25, 26 October 1973.

Recorded By – Iain Churches

Producer – Kevin Daly

Liner Notes – Alun Morgan

Matrix / Runout (Matrix on label - side A): ZRG 4025

Matrix / Runout (Matrix on label - side B): ZRG 4026

A1 - Troppo!  (Green, Garrick) ............................................................................... 10:05

A2 - To Henry, A Son  (Garrick) ............................................................................... 4:33    

A3 - Lime Blossom  (Garrick, Winstone) ................................................................. 9:10

B1 - Sons Of Art  (Garrick) ...................................................................................... 8:38

B2 - Fellow Feeling  (Garrick) .................................................................................. 8:17            

B3 - Overtones Of A Forgotten Music  (Garrick) ..................................................... 9:05

Personnel:

Michael Garrick – piano, electric piano [Fender], piano [Hohner]

Henry Lowther – trumpet, flugelhorn, violin

Art Themen – flute, soprano sax, tenor sax (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2)

Don Rendell –soprano sax, tenor sax, flute (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B2)

Norma Winstone  – voice

Dave Green – bass

Coleridge Goode – bass (track B2)

Trevor Tomkins – drums, percussion

Michael Garrick – Troppo! / Recorded in Decca No. 2 Studio, London  / Argo – ZDA 163 / Original UK pressing  _____ Out Of Stock __

A landmark album from pianist Michael Garrick – one of the sublime recordings he made with vocalist Norma Winstone in the late 60s and early 70s! Garrick's approach is really unique – a flowing, almost modal approach that spirals out in a joyously dancing groove – not nearly as chunky or standard as styles from American jazz, but working in the freer rhythms being explored on the European scene of the time. Winstone's vocals are a perfect accompaniment for this approach – as she sings in a moody style that's often wordless, and which fits nicely next to flowing piano and sax lines on the set. Players include Don Rendell, Coleridge Goode, Art Themen, and Garrick himself – and titles include "Troppo", "To Henry, A Son", "Lime Blossom", "Sons Of Art", and "Overtones Of A Forgotten Music". 

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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)

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ELTON DEAN / ALAN SKIDMORE / CHRIS LAURENCE / JOHN MARSHALL – El Skid (Vinyl Rec. – VS 103 / LP-1977)

Label: Vinyl Records – VS 103

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Black Label / Country: Germany / Released: 1977

Style: Post Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Riverside Studios, 25th and 26th February, 1977, London.

Design [Cover] – John Fewster

Photography By – Bill Triance

Recording Engineer By – John Gill

Produced – Manfred Schiek

Written-By – Skidmore (tracks: A1, B2) / Dean (tracks: A2, B1)

Original German Pressing

Vinyl Records / Labelcode: LC 7284 / Schlüterstraße 53, 1000 Berlin 12, W. Germany

Matrix / Runout: (Side A Etched) A VS.103 A PF

Matrix / Runout: (Side B Etched) A VS.103 B PF

A1 - Dr. Les Mosses  (A. Skidmore) ................................................................. 8:28

A2 - First In The Attic  (E. Dean) .................................................................... 12:45

B1 - That's For Cha  (E. Dean) ....................................................................... 10:55

B2 - K And A Blues  (A. Skidmore) .................................................................. 9:32

Personnel:

Elton Dean – alto saxophone

Alan Skidmore – tenor saxophone

Chris Laurence – acoustic bass

John Marshall – drums, percussion

Elton Dean is probably still best known for his contribution to Soft Machine, where his fuzzy, amplified alto grafted a jazz sensibility onto that band's organ driven psychedelic fusions. Like many of his peers (Lol Coxhill, Nick Evans, Gary Windo, Keith Tippett) Dean flitted between prog rock fusion, post bop jazz and free improv with ease, and he still does. On this long unavailable 1977 date, he teams up with tenorist Alan Skidmore (with the able support of bassist Chris Laurence and Soft Machine drummer John Marshall) for a straightahead acoustic blowing session on four original tunes, and mighty fine it is too.

Skidmore has long acknowledged his debt to John Coltrane, but he tempers the sheets of sound approach with passages of gutbucket bluesiness, recalling his tenure with John Mayall. On the opening "Dr Les Mosses" he sounds more like Sonny Rollins, delivering a concise, melodic solo over the breakneck tumbling swing of the rhythm section, paving the way for Dean's extended skyscraping alto excursion. Laurence contributes a furiously funked duet with Marshall to encouraging shouts from Skidmore...

The tenorist Alan Skidmore peppers the ballad swing of "First in the Attic" with urgent, doubletimed low register flurries, sparking off Laurence and Marshall into explosive commentary; Skidmore settles on a phrase, modulates it, moves to another or breaks out into keening high register lines, but keeps his ear firmly on the changes. Dean's influences are harder to pinpoint; his smeared phrasing, sometimes vocalised tone and quicksilver runs recall Eric Dolphy, Ornette or even Jackie Mclean, but only fleetingly; Dean is his own man. "Thats for Cha" features Dean on his saxello and Skidmore on soprano but despite its attractively Monkish melody fails to ignite, though the rumbustious blues of "K and A Blues" closes proceedings with things back on track.

The somewhat dry, close miked recording sucks the air out of things a little, but this joyous, unpretentious music is much bigger than that; these four fine musicians sound like they're enjoying themselves, and its infectious. Recommended.

(Review By Peter Marsh, 2002, BBC Review)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/4bdp/

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