BRUISE: T. Bevan / J. Edwards / A. Wales / M. Sanders / O. Robinson – Bruise With Derek Bailey (2006)

Label: Foghorn Records – FOGCD006

Format: CD, Album; Released: 01 Apr 2006

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at the 291 Gallery, Hackney Road, London E2, on Tuesday August 17th 2004.

Post-production and Mastering: Asa Bennett at sonic studios.

Engineer by – Ashley Wales

Design by Paul Dunn @ diablo based on original artwork by Ashley Wales

Gig of the year – Derek Bailey’s return in triumph from Barcelona to East London. – Phillip Clark, Jazz Review

01. Search . . . 20:50             

02. Locate . . . 16:01 

03. Destroy . . . 34:02

BRUISE is:

Tony Bevan – bass saxophone

Ashley Wales – soundscapes, electronics

Orphy Robinson – electronics, marimba, percussion, steel drums, trumpet

John Edwards – double bass

Mark Sanders – drums, percussion

with

Derek Bailey – electric guitar

Tony Bevan is an improvising virtuoso on Soprano and Tenor saxophones, but perhaps is best known for his work on the Bass saxophone, on which he is probably Britain’s only major modern performer (“the world’s greatest improvising Bass saxophonist” - Timeout). He is closely linked with the late Derek Bailey, with whom he appeared and recorded many times, as well as with Free Jazz legend Sunny Murray, who, along with Edwards, he has been playing with for more than a decade, releasing a number of award winning recordings and appearing in Antoine Prum’s award winning film “Sunny’s Time Now”. He recently curated with Prum a 3 day festival on British Improvised Music in Berlin, which is released on film in late 2012, following more filming in the UK in early 2012 . His playing covers all bases from rock group Spiritualised (on whose new album he is a featured soloist) to Classical Avant-Garde composer Luc Ferrari, with the likes of Barre Phillips, Matthew Bourne, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot and Tony Buck of The Necks in between. 

He runs the Foghorn label.

Derek Bailey (29 January 1930 – 25 December 2005)

Sonically this is maybe not the best document (a straight-to-DAT recording from a gig at London’s 291 Gallery, acoustically somewhat muddled though quite acceptable) but it’s essential listening for Derek Bailey fans. As usual, the guitarist sought out the company of younger players – in this case, the acoustic/electronic (not electroacoustic) quintet responsible for Bruised, one of last year’s best and most overlooked improv records. The new disc is, among other things, the final chapter in the longstanding relationship between Bailey and bass saxophonist Tony Bevan. It’s hard not to hear real poignancy in Bevan’s playing here, which is stripped down so far it’s as if he’s trying to make an entire musical language out of achingly isolated notes. There’s also the tickle of hearing Bailey with the blue-chip UK free-improv rhythm section of John Edwards and Mark Sanders. The off-balance recording makes it harder to parse the electronic input from Orphy Robinson and (especially) Ashley Wales, but they’re certainly responsible for the haunting, elusive soundscaping (I was also surprised at the closeness in timbre between Robinson’s steel drums and Bailey’s distorted guitar). Derek Bailey was the kind of player an Oulipian would love, someone for whom obstacles were occasions for necessary creativity. By the time this disc was recorded in August 2004 he was already suffering from what was initially diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome but later turned out to be degenerative motor neurone disease. In response, he simply went calmly about refashioning his entire approach to the instrument. I’ve always loved the spacious, floaty interludes that occur on his discs, when isolated sound-events: a slow-swelling discord, a quiet scrape over the length of a string are dropped into silence like pebbles cast in a well. His playing throughout this album is like an album-length exploration of that particular corner of his music. His tone on the instrument is much softer than before by this point he was playing without a pick and his improvisations are constructed out of quiet, separately twisted fragments. There’s nothing overtly valedictory about the music the three tracks are called ‘Search’, ‘Locate’ and ‘Destroy’, after all but it is nonetheless hard not to be moved by a few moments here. Bevan’s soft-spoken duet with Bailey near the end of the album, in particular, serves as an achingly beautiful farewell to his mentor, so much so that it’s almost a relief when the full band regroups for a final pummelling blowout.

– ND “ParisTransAtlantic”

Foghorn Records:

http://www.foghornrecords.co.uk/shop/

Buy this album!

QUINTET – Quintet At Mulhouse, 29 / 08 / 2008 (JAZZ À MULHOUSE – FREE MUSIC 2008)

Label: Private Recording / DP-0845
Format: CD, Album; Released: 2008
Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Quintet At Mulhouse, 29.08.2008
Recorded live at JAZZ À MULHOUSE – FREE MUSIC 2008, France
Design by ART&JAZZ Studio Salvarica
Artwork and Complete Design by VITKO

Tracks:
01 Quintet at Mulhouse 2008 – Intro  (1:33)
02 Quintet at Mulhouse 2008 - Improv Set  (60:04)

A festival line-up has its hazards, contradictions and happy events. At the beginning, two bands were foreseen : the 1st with Clayton Thomas, the 2nd with John Edwards and Evan Parker. Unavailability and failure of both projects. Clayton Thomas expressed his wish to play with Pascal Le Gall. We therefore submitted the idea of a quartet with two basses to which Evan Parker suggested to add an old buddy, Tony Marsh… Idea accepted. Free music gets the better of us !

Note:
PROGRAMME – JAZZ À MULHOUSE – FREE MUSIC 2008
26/08/2008 – 30/08/2008

26/08/2008
- Barre PHILLIPS solo
- THE SWEEP (Tobias DELIUS / Rudi MAHALL / Joe WILLIAMSON /Tony BUCK)

27/08/2008
- Peter EVANS solo
- ZAKARYA (Yves WEYH / Alexandre WIMMER / Vincent POSTY/ Pascal GULLY)
- Dorothea SCHURCH / Jacques DEMIERRE / Roger TURNER
- ROOT DOWN (Orchestre de 22 musiciens dirigé par Tommy MEIER)
- THAU 4TET (Sabina MEIER / Hans KOCH / Paed CONCA / Fabrizio SPERA)

28/08/2008
- Eddie PREVOST / John BUTCHER
- SPAM (Deborah LENNIE-BISSON / Cédric PIROMALLI / Pascal MAUPEU)
- HUBBUB (Jean-Luc GUIONNET / Bertrand DENZLER / Frédéric BLONDY / Jean-Sébastien   MARIAGE / Edward PERRAUD)
- HUNTSVILLE (Yvar GRIDELAND / Tonny KLUFTEN / Ingar ZACH)
- ELECTRIC ELECTRIC (Eric BENTZ / Vince)

29/08/2008
- Axel DÖRNER, solo
- EDGAR (Sébastien COSTE / Will GUTHRIE)
- Catherine JAUNIAUX / Sophie AGNEL
- QUINTET (Evan PARKER / John EDWARDS / Clayton THOMAS / Pascal LE GALL / Tony MARSH)
- BAISE EN VILLE (Natacha MUSLERA / Jean-Sébastien MARIAGE)

30/08/2008
- Nikos VELIOTIS, solo
- PROPAGATIONS (Marc BARON / Bertrand DENZLER / Jean-Luc GUIONNET / Stéphane RIVES)
- CHARMING HOSTESS (Marika HUGHES / Jewlia EISENBERG / Cynthia TAYLOR)
- GLOBE UNITY ORCHESTRA (Evan PARKER / Ernst-Ludwig PETROWSKY / Gerd DUDEK / Rudi MAHALL / Manfred SCHOOF / Jean-Luc CAPPOZZO / Axel DÖRNER / Johannes BAUER / Christof TEWES / Alex. V. SCHLIPPENBACH / Paul LOVENS / Paul LYTTON)

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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PAUL DUNMALL with JOHN EDWARDS with JOHN BUTCHER – Hit And Run (2001)

Label: FMP – FMP CD 116
Format: CD, Album Country: Germany - Released: 2001
Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Recorded during the "Total Music Meeting" on November 5th and 6th, 1999 at the "Podewil" in Berlin
Design, Layout, Photography By – Dagmar Gebers
Liner Notes – Steve Lake
Liner Notes [Translation] – Caroline Lake
Mixed By, Mastered By – Jonas Bergler
Producer – Jost Gebers
Recorded By – Holger Scheuermann, Jonas Bergler

There are two – really three – distinct groups represented here. The first track, taking up more than thirty-five minutes, is an invigorating duo between Paul Dunmall and John Edwards. Evidently, Dunmall was scheduled to perform with bassist Paul Rogers, who was ill at the last moment, and Edwards took his place. The second is a powerful duo between John Butcher and Edwards, lasting just a tad longer, and the final short track features all three musicians. You might consider this is a welcome opportunity to compare Dunmall and Butcher close up, but their styles are so different that that is not really the point at all. All three tracks have their high points, and stand alone as significant pieces of music. It is unclear why the recording is listed under Dunmall ’ s name “ with ” Edwards and Butcher, since Edwards plays his heart out (even if he is a replacement), and is the only player found on all three tracks, and since the two saxophonists would seem to be equal participants. The Dunmall duo is important for his bagpipe work, which if you have never heard it before, is revelatory. It boasts at least as broad a range as the soprano or tenor, and allows the player to perform separate notes simultaneously, giving the impression of a trio or quartet. It has elements of the keyboard, too, in its fingering. Dunmall is the dominant figure on “ Gaulstones ” , in which he performs ecstatically, producing some of the best free bagpipe work on record – a long way from Rufus Harley. Edwards gets plenty of solo space, during and after which Dunmall switches to soprano. There are outstanding interactions, quick changes in tempo and, at least on soprano, some attractively mellifluous sections. “ Rhymes ” , the piece in which Butcher performs with Edwards, is divided into four distinct sections, which add a dash of diversity. The set with Butcher does not break any new ground, but as with so many of his performances, it offers glimpses of new sounds and directions. While Dunmall relies on over-blowing as an important technique on bagpipes, Butcher focuses more on a range of advanced techniques, including split tones, multi-phonics, flutter tonguing, and others to create a palette of sound. You might call Dunmall ’ s approach the macro-sound, as opposed to the micro-sounds of Butcher – but that is probably too great to generalization as each incorporates varied complexities and overlapping strategies. The promising though short closing piece, “ Hit and Run ” , in which Butcher, Edwards, and Dunmall improvise simultaneously, almost lives up to expectations. Its only downside is its short length, and its somewhat abrupt ending, leaving the listener wishing for more, and hoping for a follow-up performance and recording.
Recommended.

_ By STEVEN LOEWY
Cadence Magazine # 6, June, 2002



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WEIGHTLESS: John BUTCHER / Alberto BRAIDA / John EDWARDS / Fabrizio SPERA – A Brush With Dignity (2009)

Label: Clean Feed – CF154CD
Format: CD, Album; Country: Portugal - Released: 2009
Style: Free Jazz
Recorded live in Germany, 3rd and 5th October 2008 Loft-Köln (1-3) and C.U.B.A.- Münster (4)
Photography By – Alessandro Carpentieri
Design – Travassos
New Design by ART&JAZZ Studio Salvarica, by VITKO
Produced by John Rottlers; Executive-producer – Trem Azul
Edited and Mastered by John Butcher

British artists and intellectuals have an old fascination for the Italian culture, and Italians like the way they, and their history and classical art, are envisioned by English writers, poets, painters and filmmakers. That's, inevitably, the context of this cooperative effort between John Butcher and John Edwards, from one side, and Alberto Braida and Fabrizio Spera, from the other. It demands your full attention, not because it's difficult (it may be, at times, but who wants real good music to be "easy"?), but because it's intense and needs your open ear and time . First of all, the music is totally improvised, even if it seems meticulously composed. No contradiction here: that's what the improvising masters do, and all the four of them are specially gifted in that aspect. Then, you'll notice there's no leader or hierarchical organization, everything happening through a collective flow, and that's why the credits go to a band name, Weightless. No-one even tries to start an ego-trip: this is a society of equals. Finally, you'll find yourself in a state of bliss, because the resulting music couldn't be more surprising. ~ Clean Feed

Alberto Braida /  John Edwards

Fabrizio Spera / John Butcher

Atonal, audacious and admirable, Weightless is an irregularly constituted quartet made up of four top-flight improvisers: two from England and two from Italy. Recorded during two German gigs, the polyphonic expression is the result of the almost familial musical relations between bassist John Edwards and saxophonist John Butcher on one side and pianist Alberto Braida and drummer Fabrizio Spera on the other.

Over the past few decades Butcher has sonically matched wits with everyone from British guitarist Derek Bailey to French clarinetist Xavier Charles. Edwards, one of London improv’s go-to bassists, has played with personalities as different as British saxophonist Evan Parker and American drummer Sunny Murray, while Lodi-based Braida and Spera have separately or individual linked up with stylists such as Canadian bassist Lisle Ellis and German synth master Thomas Lehn.

Although there are intimations of electricity here, no instrument is plugged into a socket. Instead the pulsating wave forms come from Braida’s internal piano string- exciting, Butcher’s multiphonics and overblowing plus the panoply of tones and textures the other two extract from their instruments. Furthermore, while perfectly balanced throughout, this group interaction doesn’t mean that any of the players sacrifice their individuality.

Case in point: “ Termo ” . Inaugurated full force with sul tasto bass string bowing, snapping and rebounding drum pressure, reversible cascading piano chords and the saxophone emitting fierce bird-like cawing, antithetical roles evolve by the mid-section. While Butcher’s frenetic wide vibrato, spetrofluctuation and flutter tonguing work into an interlude of circular breathing that is both harsh and airy, Braida’s confined comping and near-meditative chording suggest unruffled continuity. Meanwhile Spera’s cymbal resonation and Edwards’ powerful thumps are tonal enough to keep the time measured. Nonetheless, tonality is also in the ear of the listener. Throughout, it’s not that others don't accelerate to tension-laden, stop-time interpolations, or that the saxophonist limits his solos to smeared chirps, growls and tongue stops or echoes partial tone extensions.

“ Centri ” for instance, which unrolls for more than 29½ minutes, demonstrates all sorts of improvisational strategies. The exposition works its way from bass string pings and drumstick squeaks on cymbal tops to a chromatic narrative that mixes aviary pitch variations from the reedist, snare ruffs, near legato bass string bowing and a dramatic two-handed, piano key- pumping that is as much prepared as poramento. Diffuse, wide-bore reed patterns exhibited with the caution tourists use to cross Italian streets, precede an extended pause where Jekyll- and-Hyde-like Butcher appears to split into two saxophonists: one playing straight-ahead and the other sounding buzzing split tones.

As the two sides of his reed personality meld, the tune almost become a rondo, with Braida producing dynamic harmonies, Spera press rolls and pops, and Edwards picking and slapping his strings. By the time the saxophonist has progressed to guttural intensity and overblowing, the pianist’s staccato chording sounds as if he’s playing a pressurized version of “ Chop Sticks ” . A sudden cymbal smack unites this melody to the invention’s final section following a further protracted pause. As the saxophonist rolls unexpected phrases in his mouth as if savoring a sweet treat, the pianist strums and counters with dynamic note clusters. Hesitant nerve beats and ruffs from Spera underline Butcher’s irregular flattement and vibrated ghost notes as the others’ contribution to the final variant, collapses the theme into an overriding segmented buzz.

Inventive and perfectly balanced whether legato or staccato, with solo tones or with layered timbres, the communication among the four isn’t weightless, but weighty is a good sense. Hopefully an encore CD is in the offing.

_ By KEN WAXMAN, August 22, 2010



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WILKINSON / EDWARDS / NOBLE – Live at Cafe Oto (11-7-2008)

Label: Bo'Weavil Recordings – weavil33CD
Format: CD, Album; Country: UK - Released: 2009
Style: Free Improvisation
Recorded live at Cafe Oto, London 11 July, 2008.
Design – Damien Beaton
Engineer [Post-production] – Mick Ritchie, Noble
Liner Notes – Mike Gavin
Mixed By – Tjan, Noble
Photography By [Cover] – Midori Ogata
Photography By [Inside] – Mark Morris
Recorded By – Anna Tjan, Shane Browne

Its cover looks like a mid- ’ 50s Miles Davis album on Blue Note, but don ’ t let it deceive you. It says nothing about the music that lies within. The trio of Alan Wilkinson on alto and baritone saxophones, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums is an improvising group, one with its roots firmly in free jazz rather than bop. Live at Café Oto is their second album, a follow-up to the fine studio-recorded Obliquity. Where that debut showcased the threesome ’ s pumped-up, high-energy approach to improvising, this one captures them in their natural habitat – in front of a live audience at London ’ s current venue of choice. Indeed, this trio first came together in public by happenstance: when Lol Coxhill couldn ’ t make a trio gig with Edwards and Noble at Wilkinson ’ s own club Flim Flam, and the saxophonist stepped into the breach… and the rest is history.

There are two tracks here, the thirty-two minute opener, “ Spellbound, ” followed by eight minutes of “ Recoil. ” If that sounds short on running time, wait ‘ til you hear the music. This trio delivers concentrated chaos, so those forty minutes contain as much intensity as some albums twice as long. Compared to other improvisers, they are full-on all the time, without atmospheric silences, pregnant pauses or tentative exploratory negotiations.

The opening notes of “ Spellbound ” set the agenda. Silencing the crowd and grabbing their attention, Wilkinson unleashes a clarion-call blast that would shake the walls of Jericho, a blast that is simultaneously exciting and scary. Immediately joined by Edwards ’ bowed bass and a barrage of cymbals from Noble, Wilkinson embarks on an unrelenting solo that is characterized by its logic and coherence; once he has laid down a phrase, he teases out its implications, plays with it and develops it further, leaving the listener with a sense of satisfaction.

But Wilkinson is not the sole focus. Edwards and Noble match him step for step, reacting to his playing and reflecting it back. So, when the saxophone reels out a staccato phrase, it is instantly returned by both bass and drums, leading all three players into a sympathetic exchange. Throughout, the bass and drums maintain a focus on their rhythmic role, never allowing the pace to flag and constantly driving things forward, to thrilling effect.

The shorter “ Recoil ” is just as propulsive, but acts as a refreshing contrast. It starts with Wilkinson ’ s voice issuing a series of declamatory phrases as uncompromising as any from his horns, sounding like a possessed man speaking in tongues. He offsets these vocal calls with saxophone responses, creating a dialogue with himself. Again, bass and drums propel him on, creating a piece that sounds sanctified. Unsurprisingly, through to the final fade-out, the crowd cheers. Obliqity is a hard album to follow. Oto manages to trump that ace.

_ By JOHN EYLES (Dusted Reviews, Feb. 19, 2009)



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EVAN PARKER / JOHN EDWARDS / CHRIS CORSANO – A Glancing Blow (2006) - Live At The Vortex

Label: Clean Feed – CF085CD
Format: CD, Album; Country: Portugal - Released: Sep 2007
Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Recorded at the New Vortex, London, 24 August 2006.
Design – Rui Garrido; Photography By [Photographs] – Caroline Forbes
Re-Design (pages 2, 3, 4, 5) by ART&JAZZ Studio; Design by VITKO
Executive-producer – Trem Azul; Producer – Evan Parker
Liner Notes – Brian Morton; Mastered By – Luís Delgado
Recorded By, Mixed By – Steve Lowe

Review:

The music of saxophonist Evan Parker is an acquired taste. Like all the great jazz players he has created his own language. Think of Louis Armstrong calling Dizzy Gillespie's sound "Chinese music or that Ornette Coleman's music once caused a riot. It might be difficult to step back in time to understand the confusion over Ornette's music or that of Thelonious Monk, whose vision is now accepted into the jazz canon. Evan Parker holds that most sacrosanct title today. Listeners idolized his sound or reject it as Armstrong once did of Gillespie, or as folks once thought of Armstrong himself.

Parker's is the music of extended technique, the language of chirps, multiphonics, and circular breathing. Immediately identifiable, his sound is perhaps the next progression of the spirit of John Coltrane's final hours.

Parker has worked solo, but has also produced some fine trio sessions with Alexander von Schlippenbach and Paul Lovens or perhaps his most famous with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton. Here he is matched with a longtime collaborator, bassist John Edwards from the London Improvisers Orchestra and many an Emamen recording, and newcomer/percussionist Chris Corsano. Corsano, born in the US is most known for his collaborations with saxophonist Paul Flaherty and most recently in their band Cold Bleak Heat.

A Glancing Blow is a live recording from 2006 at London's New Vortex. The trio plays two lengthy tracks of twenty-eight and nearly forty-eight minutes. Its nontraditional compositions are suite-like improvisations, as the tempo and rhythms shift in and out and the players contribute, sit out, and play off an idea or the energy of their partners.

Theirs is a music of no beginnings and endings that appears out of thin air. The language spoken is both energetic and meditative. Corsano can play the colorist role or, when enabled, the provocateur. His highlights are the subtle shadings of tom-tom and cymbal, the completion of a remark made by his partners. The music changes directions, not like a traditional composition, but with a flow of energy. The quiet intensity of Parker's saxophone can be like syrup, making it's way from a high spot to a lower one. With a trio he has less of a burden to carry (as he does with his solo performances) and his thoughts come unhurried and with much deference to Edwards.

For his part, Edwards doesn't so much keep time as he spreads it. His performance on bass is that of slaps, plucks, bowing, knocks, and all other physical manipulation of his instrument.

Together, the trio molds these two extended performances into an abstract, but consistently satisfying presentation of very thoughtful free jazz.

_ By MARK CORROTO, Published: September 15, 2007 (AAJ)

A Glancing Blow, with free pioneer Evan Parker joined by veteran bassist John Edwards and up-and-coming percussionist Chris Corsano for a live concert, would seem to be a classic free-form blowout. And certainly it has its moments of saxophone wailing over free time. On the opening title track, Parker, on tenor—the horn he features most on this disc—twists out lines that ring out the upper extensions of unstated harmonies. Underneath Corsano rolls out wave after wave of ametric time while Edwards grounds the musical melee with a few deeply planted notes. Later in the track, with Parker on soprano issuing tumbling, anxious lines, the band leaps forward over Corsano ’ s barline-melting ride patterns. Here Edwards plants a two-beat figure that leans back against the rhythmic current. But the most arresting moment comes midway through the half-hour long first track when Corsano and Edwards both take up bows and creating an eerie spectral curtain of sound that ’ s electric without being plugged in. The even longer second selection is all Parker tenor with interludes for solo bass and drums. Parker builds three solos, starting with the first two with ballad statements that grow increasingly gnarled as they progress. On the last he worries a fragment that sounds cribbed from Wayne Shorter. Each time Parker seems to be approaching a climatic explosion, he backs off, with the track drifting to the end with some more textural play.

_ By David Dupont (Cadence Magazine)



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SPRING HEEL JACK – AMaSSED (2002)

Label: Thirsty Ear – THI57123.2
Series: The Blue Series – (Artistic Director of Blue Series: Matthew Shipp)
Format: CD, Album; Country: US - Released: 2002
Style: Free Jazz + Electronics
Recorded upstairs at the Strongroom, London & Gateway Studio, Kingston, 2001 
Mastered at Abbey Road
Design, Photography – Cynthia Fetty
Executive-producer – Peter Gordon;  Producer – Ashley Wales, John Coxon

Review:

John Coxon and Ashley Wales are back with their second installment of "Free Jazz plus Electronics" for Thirsty Ear's Blue Series. The Blue Series has, over the past couple of years, been a much-needed shot in the arm for recorded Jazz, presenting different approaches and ideas than the saccharine parade of dusty reissues and nostalgia acts still being churned out by most of the Major labels. Thirsty Ear has, effectively, thrown down a gauntlet by depicting Jazz as a living, thriving, and still-evolving musical genre. Moreover, while their releases depict the incorporation of such controversial material as electronics, dance-hall beats and DJ- ing, the focus is never on mere novelty, but is backed up by strong and committed performances from the participating musicians. AMaSSED is no exception.

AMaSSED brings back a few of the players from last year's Masses, but also features collaborations with several new musicians. Returning are pianist Matthew Shipp (curator of the Blue Series), saxophonist Evan Parker, bassist George Trebar and violinist Ed Coxon. The fresh faces are drummer Han Bennink, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, trombonist Paul Rutherford and bassist John Edwards. In addition to jazz musicians, AMaSSED is graced by a prominent figure from the Indie Rock community -- Billed as J Spaceman, Spiritualized's Jason Pierce contributes guitar work to the recording. No interloper, Pierce is clearly at home in this musical environment.

AMaSSED does not present itself simply as a sequel -- Son of Masses, as it were. Instead, the combination of players new to the project and continuing participants allows SHJ to both invent entirely new compositions and to reinvestigate some of the material from Masses. The most notable example of the latter is the recycling of George Trebar's ostinato, open-string, one-note bass groove, first used on the Masses track "Chiaroscuro", on the even-more frenetic AMaSSED cut "Obscured". Gotta love the alliteration, by the way. Comparing the two pieces, one hears different sets of musicians, many accustomed to a more atonal atmosphere than the one-note ground provides them, seeking to obliterate its insistent low E with increasing violence. They create a pair of berserk yet inspired jams (for lack of a better word). There seems to be some resonance in these pieces with the effect achieved on Radiohead's Kid A by the horn section that plays on "National Anthem".

Another inspired effort is "Maroc"'s duet between Pierce and Parker. Parker plays his characteristic cascades of notes, while Pierce interjects both judicious feedback and spare textural playing. Despite the resultant flurry, neither seems to get in the other's way. Kenny Wheeler's always affecting playing is nicely featured, particularly his negotiation of the most stratospheric register trumpet will allow, on "Lit". "Double Cross" finds string players Edwards and Coxon playing with Parker and Wales on an ethereal composition that presents itself with the intimacy of chamber music.

Han Bennink and Ed Coxon tear it up on "Duel"; this cut is also an excellent demonstration of SHJ's more overt contributions. Throughout, the electronic duo are never heavy-handed with their interjections of beats and sound material. Turning this music into some kind of raver's bad trip by loading it with heavy, pulsing backgrounds would be a tragedy, given the flexibility of rhythm found in Avant-Jazz in general and especially when considering the sensitive playing found here. SHJ instead react appropriately to the sounds created by their collaborators, with flexible and fleeting beats and well-spaced dabs of synthetic sound.

In addition to the aforementioned "Obscured", "100 Years Before", "Wormwood" and the title track all feature larger cross-sections of the participants. One might suppose that the danger in these ensemble efforts, especially once electronics are added to the mix, is that the result will be dense and cluttered. However, this never appears to be a problem. Whether due to judicious editing, sensitive interaction, or some combination of the two, the music on AMaSSED is possessed of both clarity of texture and narrative flow.

Will the innovations and trends depicted in the Blue Series prove enduring? Only time will tell. However, the rapprochement between two wings of experimental music (Avant-Jazz and Electronica) indicated by AMaSSED and other recent recordings, seems to hold out the promise of much fertile musical creation in the future. Unlike many other recordings released this past year, Spring Heel Jack's latest seems to speak to the here and now instead of the past, all the while keeping an eye on what comes next.

_ By Christian Carey, 5 November 2002



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SPRING HEEL JACK – The Sweetness Of The Water (2004)

Label: Thirsty Ear – THI 57146.2
Series: The Blue Series – Format: CD, Album
Country: US; Released: 08 June 2004
Performer: Spring Heel Jack, Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker, John Edwards, Mark Sanders
Album: The Sweetness Of The Water
Style: avant-garde, free improvisation, Contemporary Jazz, Free Jazz
Recording information: Gateway Studios, Kingston, Jamaica.

Spring Heel Jack:
Ashley Wales - acoustic guitar, trumpet, congas, samples, electronics
John Coxon - guitar, organ, harmonica, vibraphone, samples, electronics

                    Spring Heel Jack

Review:

When the U.K. hard drum 'n bass "duo" Spring Heel Jack began collaborating with Thirsty Ear and their Blue Series curator Matthew Shipp, one doubts they had any idea that their own sense of proportion and direction would shift so far away from their source material as it has. Sweetness of the Water is the band's fourth outing in the Blue Series, and as such, it is their most provocative, challenging, and beautiful yet. John Coxon and Ashley Wales have become musicians in the old-fashioned sense of the word on this completely improvisational outing. Their guitars, vibes, keyboards, trumpet, and hand-percussion chores equal and even surpass their sampling and electronic contributions. In realizing this project, the "duo" once again turned to saxophonist Evan Parker (who has been a fixture since 2000) and brought together a rhythm section consisting of Mark Sanders on drums and John Edwards on bass. In addition, trumpeter and vanguard composer Wadada Leo Smith is present this time out. There are eight pieces on the set, none longer than eight minutes, the shortest of which is just under three. Sweetness of the Water exists in a far less controlled environment this time out, and since the language is free improv, Smith and Parker dialogue with one another uninhibited, and often, in unhurried, non-confrontational language. There are no intense flurries of engagement, but the lyrical communication is stunningly intuitive. Coxon's electric guitar on "Track Four" that opens the set walks slowly through the center as a bridge between the rhythm section and Smith's gorgeously long lines. Harsh feedback and improvisational elements are underneath the two main instruments, but they simply fill space with texture and layers of dynamic possibility. On "Quintet," Parker and Smith begin the first of their dialogues, with Coxon again creating an edge for them to walk along. Pace, tension, and texture are the points of congress here, and they come together seamlessly as Sanders and Edwards dance around the edges, bringing them into sharper focus. Harsh electronic sounds, drones, and an organ usher in "Lata," as Parker solos in the middle register. Pulse is the language of rhythm, though drums are absent. Think My Bloody Valentine meeting Gavin Bryars with Evan Parker soloing and you have it. The intricate guitar and drum encounter on "Duo" is a wooly and thoroughly engaging exercise in control and listening. But the recording's grandest piece, "Autumn," closes the set. Coxon's church organ blares out a majestic series of open chords as electric guitars, shimmering drums, and a confluence of lines by Parker and Smith punctuate the Wall of Sound. It's eerie, strange, and crystalline in its strange elegance and shifting dynamics where elements of drone and pulse are woven with multi-dimensional sonics and tight, restrained harmonics. The sonorities as they mutate and change shape are so haunting and pervasive they become their own esthetic.
Sweetness of the Water is not for everybody, but for those who like their free improvisation drenched in beauty, this is your album.

By Thom Jurek

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FRODE GJERSTAD with John Edwards & Mark Sanders - The Welsh Chapel (2003)

Label: Cadence Jazz Records – CJR 1161
Format: CD, Album; Country: US - Released: May 13, 2003
Producer by Frode Gjerstad, Bob Rusch; Engineer by Frode Gjerstad Recording
Barcode: 0786497524921 
Recorded in London's Welsh Chapel, August 4, 2002, England
Liner Note Author: Frode Gjerstad
Recording information: London, England (08/04/2002); Arrangers: Frode Gjerstad; John Edwards ; Mark Sanders; Audio Mixer: Frode Gjerstad

Review:

This one has all the trappings of an impromptu performance. After meeting British heavyweights bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders in the spring of 2002, Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad called them in advance of a trip to London that summer, and they decided to record a set in London's Welsh Chapel, with which they used Gjerstad's recording gear that he brought with him. The session clicks on almost every level for a variety of reasons. The saxophonist is clearly inspired by his rhythm section (who wouldn't be?), as they prod him to near-Elysian heights. Whether exploring the altissimo range on "The Welsh Chapel, Pt. 3" or just pounding away ferociously there and on every track, Gjerstad soars with the swiftness of an eagle readying to strike its prey. While a full hour of crushing pebbles sometimes makes for difficult listening, impressive solos by both Edwards and Sanders offer some respite, and Gjerstad's quieter sonorities on clarinet lessen the bite, though not the artistic value. By the time of this recording, Gjerstad had fully demonstrated his connection to the take-no-prisoners approach of, say, a Peter Brötzmann (with whom Gjerstad has recorded with usually outstanding results), but often the key to success lies in the vagaries of the moment and the compatibility of the sidemen. Here is an example of Gjerstad at his finest, blowing hard and firm, but connecting in mysterious ways with his hosts. For those wanting to be introduced to this exciting player, this album may be the place to start.

by Steve Loewy




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