Carlos Zíngaro/Dominique Regef/Wilbert De Joode String Trio

Spectrum
Clean Feed CF 110CD

ZPF Quartet

Ulrichsberg München Musik

Bruce’s Fingers BF 67

T.E.C.K. String Quartet

T.E.C.K. String Quartet

Clean Feed CF 089CD

Three plus one times two or two plus one times one. These may seem like ambiguous mathematical formulae, but they’re actually the personnel make-up of these exceptional string-informed CDs.

The “one” here, is Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro. His associates include three different bassists: American Ken Filiano (on T.E.C.K.), Englishman Simon H Fell (on Ulrichsberg) and on Spectrum, Wilbert De Joode from the Netherlands; two different cellists: London-based Marcio Mattos (on Ulrichsberg) and New York’s Tomas Ulrich (on T.E.C.K.); plus odd-ball instruments – for string groups – of drums (London’s Mark Sanders on Ulrichsberg); acoustic guitar (New York’s Elliott Sharp on Spectrum); and hurdy-gurdy (France’s Dominique Regef on Spectrum).

Divorced from the conventions of even modern chamber-music ensembles, the three CDs realize a variety of propositions, Each confirms that sophisticated, string compositions are still being crafted – even if the genesis involves instant composition; that profound string-oriented chamber pieces don’t have to be limited to the standard quartet instrumentation that has remained unchanged since the 18th century: first and second violin, viola, and cello; and that Zingaro’s inventiveness is unfazed by numerous situations.

The Lisbon-based fiddler, who has had lengthy or briefer associations with fellow sound explorers such as French bassist Joëlle Léandre and American composer Richard Teitelbaum plus developed scores for theatre, dance and film projects, adapts without strain to the presence of unconventional chamber music instruments.

Of course the percussive asides from Sanders are rather individual themselves, considering that the drummer usually makes a point finding a place for himself within other advanced settings, such as in saxophonist Evan Parker’s bands. Furthermore, on Ulrichsberg, the other three players use extended techniques and electronics to expose and alter the tessitura of the strings, exposing partials and overtones as well as the expected timbres and dynamics.

That frequently means that wood block pops, resonating configurations of bells and gongs plus cymbal clattering and the gentle patting of stretched skin tops replaces steady beat patterns on the percussionist’s part. This dovetails harmonically with the others’ output which includes angled spiccato from Zingaro; sul ponticello lines from Mattos – whose background includes work with dance companies and electronic ensembles – and low-pitched slaps and cumulative adagio sweeps from Fell, who has also composed notated works and is a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

The resulting striated polytones and abrasive string action provide intermittent thematic alteration to the sometimes chiaroscuro interface. Eventually though, as the strings’ timbres veer towards higher pitches and become more fragmented, the bassist’s pedal-point stopping leads to a harmonic convergence of four-way, multi-part affiliation.

Similar bonding strategies appear from the different cast on T.E.C.K., although the non-chamber quartet instruments are played by Sharp, a guitarist with extensive immersion in contemporary New music as well as blues and jazz; plus bassist Filiano, who not only plays in improvising groups with Zingaro and Portuguese reedist Rodrigo Amado but is bassist of choice for a number of American jazz men. Additionally, cellist Ulrich, the other string-slinger, holds his own in bands including the likes of Léandre and Zingaro.

T.E.C.K.’s nine selections provide additional wave form scope for everyone, especially the violinist, whose sounds often take on the trilling character of woodwinds. For his part Sharp’s protracted bottleneck-like rasps and chromatic rasgueado prove more rhythmic than anything Sanders projected on the preceding CD, while the larger stringed instruments pile on sul tasto strokes, thick and striated pitch-slides and tough, focused passing chords. The results range from discordant double-and-triple-stopping to a striated intermezzo of grinding oscillations, colored by splintered clinks and pinched, fortissimo runs.

When the four simultaneously decide to investigate the pizzicato mode, the resulting mash-up metaphorically at least suggests the sounds those swollen, 100-instrument balalaika or mandolin philharmonics of the late 19th or early 20th Century made. However the harsh resolution, broken octaves, down-stroked frail and snapped ricochets are definitely post-modern and 21st Century.

Highly rhythmic and rife with fiery cries that are equally POMO are the interludes from Regef’s hurdy-gurdy on Spectrum. Still when the chordophone instrument isn’t producing peeping spetrofluctuation as if Regef was playing a reed, or sounding organ-grinder-like tremolo drones, the hurdy-gurdy’s history as a vertical viola is evident. Regef, who has used the hurdy-gurdy to accompany singers as well as improvise with saxophonist Michel Doneda among others, impressively – and singularly – adapts the ratcheting recoils of his medieval-styled cranked instrument to modern times.

Here the hurdy-gurdy’s harsh whirring both contrasts and complements Zingaro’s sometimes sweetly legato pulses, while De Joode – who imperturbably plays with everyone from pianist Michiel Braam to saxophonist Ab Baars – merely digs into his instrument’s thick tones to keep the other two on an even keel. Regef’s almost oonomatopoeic impulses frequently swell to become both intense and opaque, which leads the others to create antipodal thumps and strokes.

With the hurdy-gurdy squeezes as pressured as they are buzzing, new strategies emerge. At one point Zingaro triple-stops a protracted pressured line that is as dense and staccato as Regef’s output, while De Joode thumps and walks his bass. These basso chords echo long enough so that they adhere to the cumulative sounds from the others.

Later, as constant chordophone drones reverberate on hard surface, creating a blurry, neo-primitive electro-acoustic texture, the response from the fiddler is lyrical and gently pitched to break up the nearly ceaseless continuum. Then the bassist responds with plucked jazz inflections including finger-tip taps and harmonically advanced bent notes. At the climax the hurdy gurdy’s reverberating overtones first resemble electronically-triggered oscillations, then dissolve into familiar organ-grinder tones, and are finally subsumed by the harmonic union of the real strings.

Whether modern chamber music or Zingaro’s advances are your chief interest, there is much to impress and edify listeners on these discs.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Spectrum: 1. Spectra 01 2. Spectra 02 3. Spectra 03

Personnel: Spectrum: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Dominique Regef (hurdy gurdy [or sanfona or vielle à roue]) and Wilbert De Joode (bass)

Track Listing: T.E.C.K.: 1. Levitation 2. Intuitive reduction 3. If not now, when 4. Ripples 5. Swapfield 6. Memory hanging 7. Hard evolution 8. Still not easy 9. As hard as it comes...

Personnel: T.E.C.K.: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Elliott Sharp (National Tricone guitar); Tomas Ulrich (cello) and Ken Filiano (bass)

Track Listing: Ulrichsberg: 1. Ulrichsberg 1 2. München 3. Ulrichsberg 2

Personnel: Ulrichsberg: Carlos Zingaro (violin and electronics); Marcio Mattos (cello and electronics); Simon H. Fell (bass) and Mark Sanders (drums and percussion)

October 18, 2008

T.E.C.K. String Quartet

T.E.C.K. String Quartet
Clean Feed CF 089CD

Carlos Zíngaro/Dominique Regef/Wilbert De Joode String Trio

Spectrum

Clean Feed CF 110CD

ZPF Quartet

Ulrichsberg München Musik

Bruce’s Fingers BF 67

Three plus one times two or two plus one times one. These may seem like ambiguous mathematical formulae, but they’re actually the personnel make-up of these exceptional string-informed CDs.

The “one” here, is Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro. His associates include three different bassists: American Ken Filiano (on T.E.C.K.), Englishman Simon H Fell (on Ulrichsberg) and on Spectrum, Wilbert De Joode from the Netherlands; two different cellists: London-based Marcio Mattos (on Ulrichsberg) and New York’s Tomas Ulrich (on T.E.C.K.); plus odd-ball instruments – for string groups – of drums (London’s Mark Sanders on Ulrichsberg); acoustic guitar (New York’s Elliott Sharp on Spectrum); and hurdy-gurdy (France’s Dominique Regef on Spectrum).

Divorced from the conventions of even modern chamber-music ensembles, the three CDs realize a variety of propositions, Each confirms that sophisticated, string compositions are still being crafted – even if the genesis involves instant composition; that profound string-oriented chamber pieces don’t have to be limited to the standard quartet instrumentation that has remained unchanged since the 18th century: first and second violin, viola, and cello; and that Zingaro’s inventiveness is unfazed by numerous situations.

The Lisbon-based fiddler, who has had lengthy or briefer associations with fellow sound explorers such as French bassist Joëlle Léandre and American composer Richard Teitelbaum plus developed scores for theatre, dance and film projects, adapts without strain to the presence of unconventional chamber music instruments.

Of course the percussive asides from Sanders are rather individual themselves, considering that the drummer usually makes a point finding a place for himself within other advanced settings, such as in saxophonist Evan Parker’s bands. Furthermore, on Ulrichsberg, the other three players use extended techniques and electronics to expose and alter the tessitura of the strings, exposing partials and overtones as well as the expected timbres and dynamics.

That frequently means that wood block pops, resonating configurations of bells and gongs plus cymbal clattering and the gentle patting of stretched skin tops replaces steady beat patterns on the percussionist’s part. This dovetails harmonically with the others’ output which includes angled spiccato from Zingaro; sul ponticello lines from Mattos – whose background includes work with dance companies and electronic ensembles – and low-pitched slaps and cumulative adagio sweeps from Fell, who has also composed notated works and is a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

The resulting striated polytones and abrasive string action provide intermittent thematic alteration to the sometimes chiaroscuro interface. Eventually though, as the strings’ timbres veer towards higher pitches and become more fragmented, the bassist’s pedal-point stopping leads to a harmonic convergence of four-way, multi-part affiliation.

Similar bonding strategies appear from the different cast on T.E.C.K., although the non-chamber quartet instruments are played by Sharp, a guitarist with extensive immersion in contemporary New music as well as blues and jazz; plus bassist Filiano, who not only plays in improvising groups with Zingaro and Portuguese reedist Rodrigo Amado but is bassist of choice for a number of American jazz men. Additionally, cellist Ulrich, the other string-slinger, holds his own in bands including the likes of Léandre and Zingaro.

T.E.C.K.’s nine selections provide additional wave form scope for everyone, especially the violinist, whose sounds often take on the trilling character of woodwinds. For his part Sharp’s protracted bottleneck-like rasps and chromatic rasgueado prove more rhythmic than anything Sanders projected on the preceding CD, while the larger stringed instruments pile on sul tasto strokes, thick and striated pitch-slides and tough, focused passing chords. The results range from discordant double-and-triple-stopping to a striated intermezzo of grinding oscillations, colored by splintered clinks and pinched, fortissimo runs.

When the four simultaneously decide to investigate the pizzicato mode, the resulting mash-up metaphorically at least suggests the sounds those swollen, 100-instrument balalaika or mandolin philharmonics of the late 19th or early 20th Century made. However the harsh resolution, broken octaves, down-stroked frail and snapped ricochets are definitely post-modern and 21st Century.

Highly rhythmic and rife with fiery cries that are equally POMO are the interludes from Regef’s hurdy-gurdy on Spectrum. Still when the chordophone instrument isn’t producing peeping spetrofluctuation as if Regef was playing a reed, or sounding organ-grinder-like tremolo drones, the hurdy-gurdy’s history as a vertical viola is evident. Regef, who has used the hurdy-gurdy to accompany singers as well as improvise with saxophonist Michel Doneda among others, impressively – and singularly – adapts the ratcheting recoils of his medieval-styled cranked instrument to modern times.

Here the hurdy-gurdy’s harsh whirring both contrasts and complements Zingaro’s sometimes sweetly legato pulses, while De Joode – who imperturbably plays with everyone from pianist Michiel Braam to saxophonist Ab Baars – merely digs into his instrument’s thick tones to keep the other two on an even keel. Regef’s almost oonomatopoeic impulses frequently swell to become both intense and opaque, which leads the others to create antipodal thumps and strokes.

With the hurdy-gurdy squeezes as pressured as they are buzzing, new strategies emerge. At one point Zingaro triple-stops a protracted pressured line that is as dense and staccato as Regef’s output, while De Joode thumps and walks his bass. These basso chords echo long enough so that they adhere to the cumulative sounds from the others.

Later, as constant chordophone drones reverberate on hard surface, creating a blurry, neo-primitive electro-acoustic texture, the response from the fiddler is lyrical and gently pitched to break up the nearly ceaseless continuum. Then the bassist responds with plucked jazz inflections including finger-tip taps and harmonically advanced bent notes. At the climax the hurdy gurdy’s reverberating overtones first resemble electronically-triggered oscillations, then dissolve into familiar organ-grinder tones, and are finally subsumed by the harmonic union of the real strings.

Whether modern chamber music or Zingaro’s advances are your chief interest, there is much to impress and edify listeners on these discs.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Spectrum: 1. Spectra 01 2. Spectra 02 3. Spectra 03

Personnel: Spectrum: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Dominique Regef (hurdy gurdy [or sanfona or vielle à roue]) and Wilbert De Joode (bass)

Track Listing: T.E.C.K.: 1. Levitation 2. Intuitive reduction 3. If not now, when 4. Ripples 5. Swapfield 6. Memory hanging 7. Hard evolution 8. Still not easy 9. As hard as it comes...

Personnel: T.E.C.K.: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Elliott Sharp (National Tricone guitar); Tomas Ulrich (cello) and Ken Filiano (bass)

Track Listing: Ulrichsberg: 1. Ulrichsberg 1 2. München 3. Ulrichsberg 2

Personnel: Ulrichsberg: Carlos Zingaro (violin and electronics); Marcio Mattos (cello and electronics); Simon H. Fell (bass) and Mark Sanders (drums and percussion)

October 18, 2008

ZPF Quartet

Ulrichsberg München Musik
Bruce’s Fingers BF 67

T.E.C.K. String Quartet

T.E.C.K. String Quartet

Clean Feed CF 089CD

Carlos Zíngaro/Dominique Regef/Wilbert De Joode String Trio

Spectrum

Clean Feed CF 110CD

Three plus one times two or two plus one times one. These may seem like ambiguous mathematical formulae, but they’re actually the personnel make-up of these exceptional string-informed CDs.

The “one” here, is Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro. His associates include three different bassists: American Ken Filiano (on T.E.C.K.), Englishman Simon H Fell (on Ulrichsberg) and on Spectrum, Wilbert De Joode from the Netherlands; two different cellists: London-based Marcio Mattos (on Ulrichsberg) and New York’s Tomas Ulrich (on T.E.C.K.); plus odd-ball instruments – for string groups – of drums (London’s Mark Sanders on Ulrichsberg); acoustic guitar (New York’s Elliott Sharp on Spectrum); and hurdy-gurdy (France’s Dominique Regef on Spectrum).

Divorced from the conventions of even modern chamber-music ensembles, the three CDs realize a variety of propositions, Each confirms that sophisticated, string compositions are still being crafted – even if the genesis involves instant composition; that profound string-oriented chamber pieces don’t have to be limited to the standard quartet instrumentation that has remained unchanged since the 18th century: first and second violin, viola, and cello; and that Zingaro’s inventiveness is unfazed by numerous situations.

The Lisbon-based fiddler, who has had lengthy or briefer associations with fellow sound explorers such as French bassist Joëlle Léandre and American composer Richard Teitelbaum plus developed scores for theatre, dance and film projects, adapts without strain to the presence of unconventional chamber music instruments.

Of course the percussive asides from Sanders are rather individual themselves, considering that the drummer usually makes a point finding a place for himself within other advanced settings, such as in saxophonist Evan Parker’s bands. Furthermore, on Ulrichsberg, the other three players use extended techniques and electronics to expose and alter the tessitura of the strings, exposing partials and overtones as well as the expected timbres and dynamics.

That frequently means that wood block pops, resonating configurations of bells and gongs plus cymbal clattering and the gentle patting of stretched skin tops replaces steady beat patterns on the percussionist’s part. This dovetails harmonically with the others’ output which includes angled spiccato from Zingaro; sul ponticello lines from Mattos – whose background includes work with dance companies and electronic ensembles – and low-pitched slaps and cumulative adagio sweeps from Fell, who has also composed notated works and is a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

The resulting striated polytones and abrasive string action provide intermittent thematic alteration to the sometimes chiaroscuro interface. Eventually though, as the strings’ timbres veer towards higher pitches and become more fragmented, the bassist’s pedal-point stopping leads to a harmonic convergence of four-way, multi-part affiliation.

Similar bonding strategies appear from the different cast on T.E.C.K., although the non-chamber quartet instruments are played by Sharp, a guitarist with extensive immersion in contemporary New music as well as blues and jazz; plus bassist Filiano, who not only plays in improvising groups with Zingaro and Portuguese reedist Rodrigo Amado but is bassist of choice for a number of American jazz men. Additionally, cellist Ulrich, the other string-slinger, holds his own in bands including the likes of Léandre and Zingaro.

T.E.C.K.’s nine selections provide additional wave form scope for everyone, especially the violinist, whose sounds often take on the trilling character of woodwinds. For his part Sharp’s protracted bottleneck-like rasps and chromatic rasgueado prove more rhythmic than anything Sanders projected on the preceding CD, while the larger stringed instruments pile on sul tasto strokes, thick and striated pitch-slides and tough, focused passing chords. The results range from discordant double-and-triple-stopping to a striated intermezzo of grinding oscillations, colored by splintered clinks and pinched, fortissimo runs.

When the four simultaneously decide to investigate the pizzicato mode, the resulting mash-up metaphorically at least suggests the sounds those swollen, 100-instrument balalaika or mandolin philharmonics of the late 19th or early 20th Century made. However the harsh resolution, broken octaves, down-stroked frail and snapped ricochets are definitely post-modern and 21st Century.

Highly rhythmic and rife with fiery cries that are equally POMO are the interludes from Regef’s hurdy-gurdy on Spectrum. Still when the chordophone instrument isn’t producing peeping spetrofluctuation as if Regef was playing a reed, or sounding organ-grinder-like tremolo drones, the hurdy-gurdy’s history as a vertical viola is evident. Regef, who has used the hurdy-gurdy to accompany singers as well as improvise with saxophonist Michel Doneda among others, impressively – and singularly – adapts the ratcheting recoils of his medieval-styled cranked instrument to modern times.

Here the hurdy-gurdy’s harsh whirring both contrasts and complements Zingaro’s sometimes sweetly legato pulses, while De Joode – who imperturbably plays with everyone from pianist Michiel Braam to saxophonist Ab Baars – merely digs into his instrument’s thick tones to keep the other two on an even keel. Regef’s almost oonomatopoeic impulses frequently swell to become both intense and opaque, which leads the others to create antipodal thumps and strokes.

With the hurdy-gurdy squeezes as pressured as they are buzzing, new strategies emerge. At one point Zingaro triple-stops a protracted pressured line that is as dense and staccato as Regef’s output, while De Joode thumps and walks his bass. These basso chords echo long enough so that they adhere to the cumulative sounds from the others.

Later, as constant chordophone drones reverberate on hard surface, creating a blurry, neo-primitive electro-acoustic texture, the response from the fiddler is lyrical and gently pitched to break up the nearly ceaseless continuum. Then the bassist responds with plucked jazz inflections including finger-tip taps and harmonically advanced bent notes. At the climax the hurdy gurdy’s reverberating overtones first resemble electronically-triggered oscillations, then dissolve into familiar organ-grinder tones, and are finally subsumed by the harmonic union of the real strings.

Whether modern chamber music or Zingaro’s advances are your chief interest, there is much to impress and edify listeners on these discs.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Spectrum: 1. Spectra 01 2. Spectra 02 3. Spectra 03

Personnel: Spectrum: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Dominique Regef (hurdy gurdy [or sanfona or vielle à roue]) and Wilbert De Joode (bass)

Track Listing: T.E.C.K.: 1. Levitation 2. Intuitive reduction 3. If not now, when 4. Ripples 5. Swapfield 6. Memory hanging 7. Hard evolution 8. Still not easy 9. As hard as it comes...

Personnel: T.E.C.K.: Carlos Zíngaro (violin); Elliott Sharp (National Tricone guitar); Tomas Ulrich (cello) and Ken Filiano (bass)

Track Listing: Ulrichsberg: 1. Ulrichsberg 1 2. München 3. Ulrichsberg 2

Personnel: Ulrichsberg: Carlos Zingaro (violin and electronics); Marcio Mattos (cello and electronics); Simon H. Fell (bass) and Mark Sanders (drums and percussion)

October 18, 2008

BADLAND

The Society of the Spectacle
EMANEM 4120

HESSION/WILKINSON/FELL (HWF)
Bogey’s
Bruce’s Fingers BF 31

Chapters in what could be termed the parallel life of Simon H. Fell, these CDs expose the free improvisational side of the British bassist, whose usual renown is for partially notated compositions for massive orchestras plus electronically oriented music for strings and percussion.

BOGEY’S recorded in 1991, and THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE captured nearly 12 years later, are significant wedges of instant composition, performed by two different trios. With Fell’s double bass the only constant, BOGEY’S features his longtime playing partners, Alan Wilkinson on alto and baritone saxophones and wilkophone (sic) plus Paul Hession on drums. Described elsewhere as HWF, this band contrasts with the 10-year-old Badland trio that is filled out by alto saxophonist Simon Rose and percussionist Steve Noble. Coincidentally Noble recently recorded a trio CD with Wilkinson and veteran bassist Marcio Mattos.

Significant for the calibre of improvisation that exists on each disc, scrutinizing the two side by side is even more fascinating. It proves that during those dozen years Free Improvisation has changed immeasurably. Back in 1991, the HWF trio was pouring out maximal energy music conversant with the vocabulary of Free Jazz. By 2003, the catchphrase is minimalism, as the first part of the CD’s program is rife with measured gestures. But, similarities exist as well. For while SOCIETY’s first four tracks relate to microtonal New Music and near-silent, reductionism, the final four re-introduce dynamic go-for-broke soloing – related to how bands improvised in the early 1990s.

Consisting of two half-hour-plus tracks and a seven minute interlude BOGEY’S was originally recorded on a Walkman and released on cassette. Rehabilitated for CD, the trio’s sound is fine, although a few surreal moments occur when the boisterous crowd at this Huddersfield gig carries on conversations at the same volume as the improvisers, and when one punter decides that his – her ? – rhythmic clapping is the perfect accompaniment to trio interface that gets unexpectedly quiet.

Not that quiet is the first adjective you would associate with this disc. Comfortably slotted in the school of emotional glossolalia, Wilkinson never seems to neglect an opportunity to scream multiphonics through his horn; compound altissimo squeals with falsetto or phrase-stuttering; or triple-tongue any note in his immediate vicinity. Rumbling and banging on his kit, Hession – who knows a thing or two about unbridled sax playing having recorded with Mick Beck and George Haslam in his time – gives as good as he gets. Plus Fell can slap and vibrate his strings as well as any jazzbo.

If Wilkinson is the Free Jazz Frankenstein monster constructed out of equal parts of Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann – and that’s a compliment – then Rose is both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Calmer, slower-paced and with the Onkyo-like patterns seemingly produced with minimal effort, the first figure lulls the listener – and his band mates who respond with distracted accompaniment – until transformation occurs at mid-point. Coarse Mr. Hyde is in ascendancy after that. Heavily-breathed multiphonics, frantic altissimo trills and split-tone exertion demand equal brawn from the other two. Noble’s John Henry-like pounding on “Snipe” easily matches Hession’s on the other CD.

Back in 1991, the saxophonist’s lung-scraping blows and stuttering reed pressure is expressed at pitches ranging from yakity-sax falsetto to pedal point bow resonation and at different tempos as well. On “First Bogey” for instance, half-way through, after it appears the trio’s output couldn’t get any more forceful, this false climax is revealed for what it is, and the tempo picks up once again. Wilkinson’s irregular vibrations are turned into double-tonguing and looping patterns, while Hession contributes ruffs and pops from his snares, and rattles and scratches from the cymbals, while Fell sounds col legno squeaks and shrill sul ponticello motions. Finally, when it seems as if his instrument isn’t tough enough to express his mounting agitation, Wilkinson begins spewing verbal nonsense syllables. Combing forces, the other two’s display of power chording gradually reduces the interface to moderato.

More of the same – but longer – “Second Bogey” finds the trio burying audience members’ out-of-tempo scattered clapping and guttural cat-calling with a few minutes of hocketing rooster-crowing cackles from the saxophonist and a double-stopping interlude of sul ponticello double bass lines. Interestingly enough, two-thirds of the way through, a calmer double-stopping interlude of slower-paced bass notes and lower-pitched growls from the saxophonist suggest what Badland would be involved with 15 years later.

This sound-and-silence predilection is showcased at the top of SPECTACLE. Here the warbles and tongue stops of Rose’s sax, mixed with woody echoes from Fell’s bass and irregular staccato pulses from Noble’s kit, are as languid and unforced as WHF’s timbres are intense. The key track is “Nissa” where all the splayed and singular individual patterns polyphonically expressed earlier on seems to fuse and harden. Having already emphasized pause and silences within extended improvisations, Rose withdraws to such an extent that he appears to be merely expelling whispered timbres underneath flanging cymbal whooshes from Noble and sul tasto sweeps from Fell.

While it may appear that Rose’s background in World Music, specifically Nigeria, Asian and South American, and Noble’s experience with combos featuring pianist Alex Maguire and guitarist Derek Bailey may have caused this volte face from Energy Music, the band surprises in the first seconds of the next track, “Society of the Spectacle (Part 1)”, where a press roll bombardment from Noble’s kit and pressured bass slices can make you jump. Suddenly altissimo, Rose is honking and snorting with vibrating metal from inside the body tube, as Noble doubles his impulses with marimba-like reflecting pulses.

Reinforced and toughened vibrations characterize the remainder of the disc as Rose’s timbres sway and curve with squealing multiphonics, Fell swipes and pitchslides, and Noble not only exercises the regular parts of his kit, but strikes miniature bells for additional textures.

Fell fans, those who yearn for the glory days of Energy Music and those interested to see how Free Music has evolved in a decade-and-a-half will be attracted to these discs.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Badland: 1. Kittiwake 2. Elka 3. Society of the Spectacle (Part 2) 4. Nissa 5. Society of the Spectacle (Part 1) 6. Mia 7. Snipe 8. Reeds in the Western World

Personnel: Badland: Simon Rose (alto saxophone); Simon H. Fell (bass); Steve Noble (percussion)

Track Listing: Bogey: 1. First Bogey 2. The Assumption 3. Second Bogey

Personnel: Bogey: Alan Wilkinson (alto and baritone saxophones, wilkophone); Simon H. Fell (bass); Paul Hession (drums)

May 1, 2006

IAN SMITH/SIMON H. FELL/HARRIS EISENSTADT

K3
Bruce’s Fingers BF 58

HARRIS EISENSTADT
Ahimsa Orchestra
Nine Winds NWCD0237

Having established himself with hard work as an in-demand percussionist and band leader in Los Angeles, Toronto-born Harris Eisenstadt is branching out. He’s traveling to the East Coast, Europe and Africa to match wits with his improvising contemporaries and writing more involved compositions for larger ensembles.

K3 is an example of the former, where he hooks up with British-born bassist Simon H. Fell, who now lives in France, and Dublin-born, London-based trumpeter Ian Smith. Conversely the Ahimsa Orchestra is a local project, featuring the percussionist, conductor Omid Zoufonoun and two differently constituted, 12-piece ensembles running through two of Eisenstadt’s compositions, the three-part “Non-Violence” and the four-section “Relief”. Kudos must go to the young drummer for attempting different projects. However, while he fits comfortably with Smith and Fell, his reach seems to have exceeded his grasp with the 67-minute CD by the band named with Mahatma Gandhi’s word for enemy-loving non-violence.

Throughout the parts are greater than their sum, since some of the West Coast’s most accomplished, outsides players – including trumpeters Dan Clucas and Kris Tiner, tubaist Mark Weaver, reedists Vinny Golia, Kyle Bruckmann and Sara Schoenbeck, guitarist Noah Phillips, and trapsmen Alex Cline and Eisenstadt himself

– get to show off their skills.

Unfortunately, the surrounding through-composed passages are non-connective and nearly threadbare. Orphan riffs are one thing, but when they resemble intermezzos and leitmotifs that can’t decide whether to be impressionistic or early 20th century classical, chutzpah takes the place of coherence.

Probably the best playing comes in the last section of the second suite when several countermelodies featuring Ellen Barr’s flute, Clucas’ muted trumpet and Bill Casale’s pulsating bass give way to an undulating stentorian tuba solo from Weaver that’s perfectly backed by bounces and flams from Eisenstadt. When the drummer turns to a more conventional rhythm, the trumpeter’s tremolo trills shine, suggesting that “Relief IV” may be a postlude rather than a proper climax.

Earlier in the same suite, driven by the rattles and rims shots from the understated percussion of the composer and Cline, massed orchestral harmonies give way to a squirming clarinet solo from Brain Walsh and a glottal lower register bassoon line from Schoenbeck that precede an conclusive crescendo. Splayed, cross-sawed textures from guitarist Phillips’ follow bell resonation from the percussionists, with both players rolling and rumbling through the penultimate thematic variation as sputtered split tones and pitch-sliding vibrations courtesy of Walsh and Golia produce diffuse harmonies. Still, despite Weaver’s obbligato and a horn crescendo, the overall impression is cold because the compositional glue holding the piece together seems to be lacking.

It’s the same story with “Non-Violence” despite some harmonic coloration created by a piccolo-trumpet tremor, valve twisting plunger work from trombonist Toyoji Tomita, reed squeaks and aviary twitters and sophisticated bass drum spots and reverberating cymbal parts from Eisenstadt. Here the connective material appears even more prettified than on the subsequent composition. Simultaneously though, there’s too little of it as well, often exposing the disconnected motifs among the yowling, rubato reed and brass timbres.

The situation was more balanced a year earlier at London’s Klinker club during the trio meeting. A memento of the drummer’s visit to the United Kingdom, Eisenstadt’s apparently more relaxed in the improvisational role on the four instant compositions here. Fell, who is has been a consummate combo player for years – as well as being an ambitious composer – is an asset in any circumstances, but the biggest surprise is Smith.

A far cry from his tentative work from three years previous when he recorded alongside some BritImprov veterans, his confident soloing in all registers of the horn easily allows him to hold up his part of the triangular equation. Perhaps consistent work with the London Improvisers Orchestra, consisting of some of the city’s most accomplished improvisers has toughened his chops.

No matter the cause, the spurts of resolute brass timbres with which he decorates his solo on the last three minutes of “Voiceless Velar Stop” are some of the most impressive trumpeting anywhere. Smith appends a few bent notes as a coda, having been hectored along by steady bowing from Fell and blunt ratamacues from Eisenstadt. Prior to that, the trumpeter moves from audacious mouthpiece tongue kisses to wah-wah buzzes plus clenched teeth slurs; he’s so in step with the drummer, that often a tone could be as much brass as percussion.

Imbued with the sprit of older British rhythm makers like Tony Oxley and Roger Turner, Eisenstadt sleekly works his way through his kit, matching heavy knocking on the rims with split-second whispering reverberation, and clanging chains on top of the heads as often as he attacks them full force. Someone who has studied with the griots in Africa, he brings darbuka and djembe hand-drum resonations to other sections, such as an extended work-out on the final track which contrasts nicely with Fell’s legato, Europeanized bowed notes.

Able to express spiccato vibrations with the same ease as walking, the bassist’s string organization encompasses buzzing sul tasto excursions and sections where he moves the tonal centre with polyrhythmic scratches and reverb. Strumming and sometimes nearly in slap bass territory, Fell is never at a loss as to how to rebound the pulse back and forth to the others. Plus the trumpeter is there to let loose with anything including sonorous pedal tones, purring valve whistling, fowl-like quacks, speedy brass bites and plunger whines.

Maybe one day Eisenstadt can translate his impressive performing and compositional talent from small combos to larger ones. Perhaps working with a more compact group would have benefited his conception for the AHIMSA ORCHESTRA. As it stands now though, K3 is a keeper, with the other CD of most interest to those who want to preserve every marker in the drummer’s accelerating career.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: K3: 1. Potassium 2. 1024 Words 3. Voiceless Velar Stop 4. The Unit Vector Along the Z-Axis

Personnel: K3: Ian Smith (trumpet); Simon H. Fell (bass); Harris Eisenstadt (percussion)

Track Listing: Ahimsa: Non-Violence: 1. I 2. II 3. III Relief: 4. I 5. II 6. III 7. IV

Personnel: Ahimsa:

Tracks 1-3: Liz Allbee and Kris Tiner (trumpet); Toyoji Tomita (trombone); Phillip Greenlief (b-flat clarinet); Kyle Bruckmann (oboe); Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon); Steve Adams (C flute); Bill Horvitz and Noah Phillips (guitars); George Cremaschi (bass); David Branddt (vibraphone); Harris Eisenstadt (percussion); Omid Zoufonoun (conductor) Tracks 4-7: Dan Clucas (trumpet); George McMullen (trombone); Mark Weaver (tuba); Brian Walsh (b-flat clarinet); Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon); Vinny Golia (bass clarinet); Ellen Burr (C flute); Phillips (guitar); Jessica Catron (cello); Bill Casale (bass); Eisenstadt and Alex Cline (percussion); Omid Zoufonoun (conductor)

January 30, 2006

Ward/Barlow/Fell/Noble

Help Point
Copepod Records

RARA Ensemble
Ora!
Zrec/Rara

By Ken Waxman
December 5, 2005

Superficially similar, these two unusual quartets are built around the talents of clarinetists – an instrumentation more common in 1945 than 2005. Yet while both the Italian RARA ensemble and the British band led by Alex Ward feature piano, double bass and drums as well, the results on these debut CDs herald an intriguingly individual identity for each.

Each of the Italians comes to RARA with impressive fluency and education in the jazz, New music and classical fields. Milan-based Bb, alto and bass clarinettist Giancarlo Locatelli and pianist Alberto Braida from Lodi both recorded with German bassist Peter Kowald and played with reed stylists ranging from American Steve Lacy to Wolfgang Fuchs from Berlin. Bassist Gianfranco Tedeschi, one of the curators of Rome’s improvised music festival, also composes for theatre as does Locatelli, while Braida teaches piano, harmony and improvisation as well. Drummer Fabrizio Spera is member of a variety of working bands with the likes of Fuchs and British saxophonist John Butcher.

Similarly the Ward Four can’t be undervalued. They includes bassist Simon Fell, whose large scale compositions have been as well received as his work with classic Energy Music trios, and drummer Steve Noble who started his career in jazz-funk bands and was involved in a few of guitarist Derek Bailey’s Company Weeks. Another participant in Company Weeks at an incredibly young age was Ward, yet unlike the others, he also played in a number of unabashed rock bands. So did and does keyboardist Luke Barlow, although he also composes so-called classical music.

Help Point identifies the brand of Barlow’s axes in the booklet – Rhodes, Oberheim OB3-2 – yet one of the most impressive constructs of his playing is that the rank electrical impulses aren’t exploited on the disc. His keyboard expertise allows him to imply samples that elsewhere would come from electric guitar or bass, organ or synthesizer, without also attaching the pernicious bluster of the fusion Visigoths.

Similarly comprehensive in their world of improvised new music, the RARAs bend their collective backgrounds to the eight instant compositions on Ora! While a soupçon of serial techniques appear – as they did on Braida and Locatelli’s trio CD with Kowald – the glowering intensity all four bring to the disc shield it from affectation.

“Antehac”, for instance the nearly 15½-minute lead-off track, quickly shakes off residual sonata or chamber music inflections and speedily takes on Free Music characteristics. Although the bassist and drummer limit themselves here – and many other places – to an accessory role, the snarling resonation from the clarinetist and the contrapuntal tipped dynamics of the pianist establish the quartet’s bona fides. With Locatelli’s dominance over the woodwinds as its crux, many of the tunes suggest a melding and augmentation of two of the best-integrated ensembles featuring British reedist Evan Parker – his trio with bassist Barry Guy and drummer Paul Lytton and another trio with pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach and drummer Paul Lovens.

Here, as Spera produces some colorful cross sticking and Tedeschi measured pulsations, the clarinet lines become more irregular and the piano voicing more metronomic. Eventually legato chalumeau reed lines contract into individual bites before morphing into squawking altissimo, while in broken counterpoint, Braida first pummels the left- handed keys of the piano, then polyrhythmically constructs a double-timed complementary line to Locatelli’s tongue slaps and reed mastication.

Tedeschi and Spera get their due elsewhere, however. On “Adhuc”, Locatelli’s atonal cawing and bird of prey snarling is interrupted by a bass solo of regulated plucks. Meanwhile on “Per Via”, Spera’s rattles, stamps and occasional bass-drum rumble serves as a counterweight to Braida’s low-pitched palmed clusters and piercing false-register twittering from Locatelli, which materialize like the intermittent beeps of a clock radio. Pan-tonal allusions, concentrated patterns and note clusters bring to mind “Chopsticks” as much as Chopin; and Eric Dolphy as much as diatonic scales. By the finale, RARA’s swirling interface is distilled into characteristic voicing and dynamics.

Transcending their influences the band members create something uniquely their own, as do Ward, Barlow, Fell and Noble on their nine outlandishly titled selections.

“The Cronk” and “The Mumbles”, for instance integrate electronic imagery into a mostly acoustic output. On the former, Barlow quickly moves from guitar-like strumming to triggering jittery waveforms, after Ward first growls a straight line that turns to curlicue trills. As the clarinetist continues to sound out contralto staccato lines, tremolo fills and buzzing synthesized runs appear from the keys along with cymbal slaps and floor tom bounces from Noble.

More restrained, “The Mumbles”, features crossed pulsations and sine-wave flutters and signals from Barlow that eventually evolve into piano-style comping. Fell’s col legno jettes and the drummer’s cowbell raps and patterned rim shots help Ward moderate his speed-of-sound bird-like chirps that ultimately moderate to back-of-the-throat screeches and young animal squeaks.

Minimalist impulses are added to “The Noup” as Noble’s barely perceptible cymbal clanging make common cause with Fell’s arco continuum, until a looping synapse from Barlow develops into a duet of rubato resonation with the clarinetist. Ward twitters in a straight line then accedes to staccato multiphonics to meet the keyboard pulses. As the reed man flashes double tonguing, the drummer introduces powerful press rolls and the bassist concentrated sul tasto swipes that meld with Barlow’s pedal point. Summation involves Ward rotating intricate grace notes.

Contrast that group performance with “The Devil’s Head” and “Help Point Shut”. Organized around Ward’s skills on the wooden single reed – he has also recorded as a guitarist – the former begins with a vocalized tone on his part that slithers to chalumeau register, the better to mix with Barlow’s pulsating oscillations. As the plugged-in keys spew polyphonic rhythms, the clarinet turns to legato coloratura timbres. When the keyboardist rides the changes with harmonic fills, Ward overblows a more pressured passage that almost sounds like tots giggling. With the reed trills taking on a Klezmer-like tinge, Barlow’s wave frails reach guitar-like quality, Noble accents his rim shots and Fell strokes his strings. High-pitched reed whistles from Ward and sine-wave rasps from Barlow combine into a throbbing pulse that serves as the finale.

Fell, almost conventionally walking and Noble cuffing his cymbals are more upfront on “Help Point Shut”, as Barlow provide near-acoustic piano swirls and jabs. Attaining a measure of thwarted emotionalism, Ward structures a meandering melody of trills and vibrations as the drummer backs him with rumbling ruffs. Similar textures from the lower reaches of the clarinet added to mid-range bass pulses make up the coda.

Jarring when they deem it necessary and pliable when the music needs it, both quartets concentrate their influences into characteristic sound tracks. Both deserve a listen.

December 12, 2005

LONDON IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA

Responses, Reproduction & Reality
EMANEM 4110

Outgrowth of a Butch Morris-led conduction that took place in London a few years ago, the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) has evolved into a once-a-month gig where some of the British capital’s best improvisers get together to try out new ideas.

Involving a revolving cast of 30-plus players as well as different conductors and composers, the LIO has taken on an identity far beyond that of a BritImprov kicks band. However as these seven tracks, recorded at 2003’s and 2004’s Freedom of the City festivals demonstrate, the outcome is still inconsistent.

Corralling three dozen top players into a somewhat regimented atmosphere to play exacting compositions as well as improvisations can be a struggle – ask pioneers like Alexander von Schlippenbach or Carla Bley who did so in the past. So while six conducted-compositions and a free improvisation are featured here, in truth the pieces that are most notable are those which revolve around a strong soloist or soloists rather than rigid, non-developmental leitmotifs. This concept may be anathema to the collectivist impulse that has traditionally characterized BritImprov, but larger groups call for different strategies.

“Ism”, for example, conducted by electronic manipulator Pat Thomas, could almost be Free Jazz. Here the creative shape revolves around tenor saxophonist John Butcher’s winnowing slurs and smears plus trombonist Alan Tomlinson’s pedal-point plunger blasts and snorts, rather than the agitato overtones from the massed instruments around them. Including hyper-kinetic piano cadences at the finale, polyphonic string crescendos as well as triple counterpoint from the drums, the orchestra’s most important function is as a framing device.

“Wit’s End,” conducted by Dave Tucker – which in many ways begins as a concerto for Paul Rutherford’s trombone – develops in a similar fashion. Moving among harsh vamps from the horns and percussion, the trombonist shuffles and smears his timbres, later vocalizing to match the oscillations from B. J. Cole’s pedal steel guitar. Other influences surface as the almost-12½-minute composition develops, most noticeably the avant spin Orphy Robinson gives the traditional steel pan and the wave forms bouncing from interference to accompaniment from Adam Bohman’s so-called amplified objects. More conventionally, the LIO here includes legato orchestral string parts that only touch on dissonance and some call-and-response riffs from soprano saxophonist Tom Chant and trumpeter Roland Ramanan.

By replicating writ large the gullet gymnastics of guest vocalist Jaap Blonk, from the Netherlands, “Hearing Reproduction 5 – conducted by Caroline Kraabel – impresses as well. Spiccato string stops, hocketing irregular horn lines, aviary squeaks from the flutes and blacksmith-like thumps from the percussionists match if not mirror the retching, growling, barking and throat gurgles that characterize Blonk’s sound.

Elsewhere, compositions designed to showcase the smallest fraction of a musical idea in one case or elongate a non-linear, so-called script of timbres rather than thematic development really only come alive when the strictures are ignored. Developing almost rococo detailing of various orchestral tones after the swaying, slapping and scraping of plunger trombone and shivering electronics helps one. Pizzicato violin strums, low-frequency tremolo patterns from both pianists and a crescendo of pitch-sliding semitones from the brass liven things up for the other. But until a fade, most LIOers appear to be patterning rather than playing.

These and other tunes capture some fine playing, but singularly, rather than as part of a larger grouping. Hunting horn–like harmonies from the trombones, reverb from two guitarists and portamento chording from dual pianos were no doubt exciting to play and convincingly exciting for the live audience. But minus visuals some of the sounds come across as a cross between polytonal advancement from dedicated free players and a parody of a symphony orchestra at rehearsal.

A valuable listen for those curious about how analytical musicians labor to solve the conundrum of multi-person improvisation RESPONSES, REPRODUCTION & REALITY offers practical evidence of what does and doesn’t work.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Wit’s End 2. Improvisation Panels (1) 3. Hearing Reproduction 5* 4. Proceeding 6 5. Responses 6. Ism 7. Fantasy and Reality

Personnel: [tracks 1 & 7]: Harry Becket and Roland Ramanan (trumpets);

Robert Jarvis and Paul Rutherford (trombones); Neil Metcalfe (flute); Catherine Pluygers (oboe); Terry Day (bamboo pipes); John Rangecroft (clarinet); Jacques Foschia and Harrison Smith (bass clarinets); Tom Chant, Lol Coxhill and Adrian Northover (soprano saxophones); Caroline Kraabel (alto saxophone); Evan Parker (tenor saxophone); Susanna Ferrar, Sylvia Hallett and Phil Wachsmann (violins); Charlotte Hug (viola); Marcio Mattos (cello); B. J. Cole (pedal steel guitar); Dave Tucker (guitar); David Leahy, John Edwards and Simon H. Fell (basses); Tony Marsh and Louis Moholo-Moholo (drums); Orphy Robinson (steel pan); Adam Bohman (amplified objects) [tracks 2 - 6]: Harry Becket, Ian Smith and Roland Ramanan (trumpets); Robert Jarvis and Alan Tomlinson (trombones); John Rangecroft (clarinet); Jacques Foschia and Harrison Smith (bass clarinets); Tom Chant, Lol Coxhill and Adrian Northover (soprano saxophones); Caroline Kraabel (alto saxophone); John Butcher (tenor saxophone); Susanna Ferrar, Sylvia Hallett and Phil Wachsmann (violins); Charlotte Hug (viola); Marcio Mattos (cello); Dave Tucker and Keith Rowe (guitars); Steve Beresford and Veryan Weston (pianos); David Leahy, John Edwards and Simon H. Fell (basses); Tony Marsh, Mark Sanders and Louis Moholo-Moholo (drums); Pat Thomas (electronics); Jaap Blonk (voice)*

September 26, 2005

SFQ [SIMON FELL QUARTET/QUINTET]

Four Compositions
Red Toucan RT 9376

Over the past 20 years, Yorkshire bassist Simon H. Fell has segmented his work between writing large scale compositions for massive orchestras of horns, strings, brass, percussion and electronics and playing bass as part of turbulent improv combos -- usually in trios with a saxophonist and drummer

Four Compositions, a two-CD set, appears to be an almost wholly successful attempt to reconcile the formal and audacious parts of his musically schizophrenic personality. As a matter-of-fact, while the first disc, subtitled “Three Quintets” shows how far he has evolved in creating for his by then-established quintet, “Liverpool Quartet”, for an even smaller group confirms that accomplished creations can result from an even-more-relaxed milieu first time out.

Most impressive is the work of French hornist Guy Llewellyn. A specialist in contemporary classical performance, who has also worked with such Fell associates as drummer Paul Hession and saxist Alan Wilkinson, he brings the flexibility and colors of a slide trombone to his work here. Sharing the front line is clarinetist Alex Ward, who often works in duo with drummer Steve Noble, featured on the other disc. Ward whose playing partners have ranged from Britimprov godfather guitarist Derek Bailey to Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore is capable of pulling as many twisted notes from his ebony stick as Llewellyn can muster from his horn’s tubing. Drummer and electronics manipulator Mark Sanders is first call for many Britimprov situations, in combos led by saxists such as Paul Dunmal, for instance, or as part of the band Lunge, with trombonist Gail Brand, who also plays on CD1.

Oddly enough, while Fell in the notes maintains that the pieces written for the concert in Liverpool captured on the second CD, reflect a move away from jazz to connect with contemporary classical and experimental music, some of the tracks appear more overtly jazzy than the pieces on disc one. Especially obvious is the transparently titled “GM2 Blues” which floats on a Mingusaian bass line from its composer. Taken staccatissimo it’s most notable for a near-gutbucket solo from Llewellyn that somehow polyphonically intermingles the influences of Kid Ory and George Lewis. Ward’s high-pitched trilling often in harmony with curt, mellow horn lines, only adds to this, as do Sanders’ snare drum and hollow hand percussion accents. Most audible here than anywhere else, Fell contributes pedal point action to fling the piece forward.

“GM3 Rhythm” also reflects its title, as horn lines coalesce into a jaunty air that features steady rhythmic accompaniment from the drummer’s rumble and bounces plus a walking line from the bass. Although the harmonies break apart as the tune unrolls, neither the hornist’s twisted triplets and buzzes nor the clarinetist’s double-tongued, stray cat-like yowl detract from its unhurried pace and connection.

Notwithstanding sequenced fluttering from Sander’s electronics, this jazz/improv disposition remains throughout the second two-thirds of the disc in pieces like “Quartet” and “Liverpool 2”. The latter features reverberations distorting bass drum pedal pressure and hi-hat volleys with doorstopper resonation. Yet these and subsequent polyrhythmic snaps and taps from rims and cymbals conform easily with the others’ output. Ward shrills chirped notes, Llewellyn’s thunderous lower-pitched one and Fell’s ponticello sweeps fit it all together. Finally, there’s a coda of mewling smears from the clarinet, lip-buzzing police siren obbligatos from the horn and the drummer melds the textures with nearly weightless pings on his cymbals, likely produced by striking with the telescoped wire strands of brush handles. “Quartet”, with its whistling breaths and bleats from the French horn, reed-biting, purring whines and wiggles from the clarinet and ringing buoy approximations from the drummer works into a finale that’s all intermittent reed vibratos.

“Kandinsky Lines”, the final track also has much more to do with the timbres produced by the pizzicato and arco bass then the brush strokes of a painting. With the virtuosity you associate with jazzers, Fell bends spiccato playing and jettes to his purposes, creating tones from the four-string reminiscent of those you’d get from an upended guitar. Turning to the bow, his theme variations become more serene, finally mixing it up with elongated clarinet glissandi and plunger horn textures. With Sanders staying very much in the background, Fell’s echoing sul tasto and sul ponticello rhythms define the closing, with a coda made up of reed trilling, French horn vibrations and drum set tapping and popping.

His working group up until then, the quintet featured on CD1 intensifies the favorable impression it had already made with 2001’s THIRTEEN RECTANGLES on Bruce’s Fingers. Fell -- obviously -- and Ward are both present, along with trombonist Brand and drummer Noble. A prime addition is a pianist Alex Maguire, a longtime mate of Noble’s, whose other associations include Netherlands-based bands led by reedists Michael Moore and Sean Bergin.

“Gruppen Modulor 2” in five sections, is the core of this performance, with Fell likening this “nearer to modern jazz”, 24-minute plus composition influenced by Stockhausen, George Russell and architect Le Corbusier.

Architecturally, this sound edifice seems to have been reconfigured out of many already existing structures. Beginning in the house of jazz, the first few minutes are vaguely reminiscent of Mingus’ “Boogie Stop Shuffle” with walking bass, extended flams and snare beats from the drums and carefully voiced, unison horn slurs and trills. As the clarinetist double tongues in the altissimo register, pedal pressure emphasis from the piano and metronome-like time keeping from percussion keep things on an even keel.

One third of the way through the variations take the form of ascending plunger notes from Brand and tap-dancing-like timbres from Noble’s brushes and snares. Soon sharp slurs and growls deliberately twirl in a form of brassy resonation from the ’bone, as Ward’s low-key, but polyphonic obbligatos suggest a double horn blend more related to Classic than so-called modern, jazz.

As the drummer maintains a uniform pulse, non-jazz, but still syncopated movements appear, as Maguire’s earlier comping takes on denser overtones causing Brand to relax into longer lines as well. Fell’s contribution takes the form of oscillating pedal point bowing, producing enough further theme variations that recapitulation of the initial theme almost passes by unnoticed. Finale features unforced piano keyboard dusting and lightly propelling trombone tones.

“Composition No. 40.5d: Trapped By Formalism 2” the almost 12½-minute piece with its mouthful of a title that precedes “Gruppen Modular” is called “probably the most notation-intensive piece in the quintet’s repertoire”. But even here the band’s familiarity with improv and jazz forms prevents it from being “trapped by formalism”.

Although the episodic first few minutes may relate to New music, a few bars after that the piece has opened up into semi-swinging calls-and-responses from the horns, high intensity piano tinkling, walking bass and downshifting drum beats. And it continues this way.

Showy, 19th century style piano cadenzas lead to whizzing contralto reed lines and modified plunger marching-band cadences as rattled and snapped clave notes rebound from the drum kit. Can it be cowbell rapping that’s heard as well? Should the trombone buzz and snicker, then the piano reverts to semi-romantic cadenzas. Further on, hard and heavy low-pitched brass grace notes mesh with the drummer’s backbeat, while a languid trombone line precede a loping section from all concerned -- although Noble does sound as if he’s playing kettle drums. Brief single-note keyboard accents and vibrated horn harmonies make up the coda.

Putting aside rhetoric, these five and four-person aggregations appear to give composer Fell the perfect vehicles for his neither-fish-nor-fowl compositions that call on more than the jazz and improv traditions. On these CDs of exhilarating writing and performance, the quartet has a slight edge. Secondly, the creations also whet the appetite for further large-scale works from the composer.

-- Ken Waxman

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Track Listing: Disc one: SFQ1 - Three Quintets 1. Composition No. 50: Köln Klang 2. Composition No. 40.5d: Trapped By Formalism 2 3. Composition No. 62b: Gruppen Modulor 2: 3.1 Statement 1 3.2 Statement 2 3.3 Interlude 3. 4 Blues (Statement 3) 3.5 Coda Disc two: Composition No. 70: Liverpool Quartet 1. Liverpool 1a 2. Liverpool 1b 3. GM2 Blues 4. Quartet 5. Liverpool 2 6. GM3 Rhythm 7. Kandinsky Lines

Personnel: Disc one: Gail Brand (trombone); Alex Ward (clarinet); Alex Maguire (piano): Simon H. Fell (bass); Steve Noble (drums) Disc two: Guy Llewellyn (French horn); Alex Ward (clarinet); Simon H. Fell (bass); Mark Sanders (drums and electronics)

January 31, 2005

ASK

The formulary of curses
Discus

By Ken Waxman

September 1, 2004

Five years into the 21st century, British composer/saxophonist Martin Archer must occasionally allow himself the odd smile of satisfaction.

Beginning his career in the early 1980s as a improv saxophonist, by the mid-1990s the Sheffield-based musician immersed himself in creating relationships between electronics, technology and improvisation. Integrating random events and sound material into his recorded work before that idea become generally accepted, early on his partially notated/partially improvised sound collages showed the sort of musical maturity that it would take others years to attain.

The formulary of curses is the newest chapter in his ongoing saga, and it’s particularly noteworthy for several reasons. For a start, the 13 tracks, which feature up to seven musicians and a variety of multi-tracking and electronic extensions, now fit comfortably within the electro-acoustic improv genre -- one of the defining styles of this century. Furthermore, by reintroducing his reed playing into the mix on several pieces, Archer gives the CD the kind of jazz-like lilt that many more ponderous experiments lack.

Centre of the program is Archer on sopranino and alto saxophones, bass clarinet, recorders, keyboards and electronics, plus his longtime associate John Jasnoch on electric and acoustic guitars, ud, mandolin, lap steel, tenor banjo and “field recordings”. Added on various tracks are Derek Saw on tenor and baritone saxophones, fluegelhorn and cornet; Simon Pugsley on trombone and trumpet; Simon H. Fell on bass; Rob Dainton on drums; and Charlie Collins -- who is part of a long-standing duo with Jasnoch -- on flute, clarinet and sound processing. Additional sound processing comes from Collins, Chris Meloche and Chris Bywater.

Probably the most perceptible view of how Archer operates is on “Pier Groups”, which only involves Archer and Jasnoch, and “Song for Roscoe Mitchell” which features all the instrumentalists.

Built upon a field recording of a train arriving on a Southend pier, the former track features an urban pulse that is soon intercut with the bucolic tone of Archer on recorders and Jasnoch on acoustic guitar. The effect is as if a couple of medieval minstrels had wandered out of Sherwood Forest to concertize on a grimy concrete street. As the tune continues, repetitive note clusters from a legato bass clarinet meet up with the delayed pulsation and snap of electric guitar lines. As citified and rural tones succeed and often mask one another, the aural picture created is of Eric Dolphy circular breathing in the midst of a Masque performance.

For its part, “Song for Roscoe Mitchell” suggests what would happen if an organ trio and a riffing Stax-Volt horn section were added to one of Mitchell’s more funk- oriented composition. Usually known for more cerebral work, here bassist Fell keeps the groove going, while Jasnoch’s flayed guitar timbres move through standard blues changes into ringing distortions. With the guitar soon trading licks with the vamping horn section as it reprises the theme, Dainton lays on a shuffle beat, as space is made for an artesian well-deep ‘bone solo from Pugsley, plus Archer duetting with himself on sopranino and alto. Without pause, the piece finally melts into the pure noise essay of “A Senseless Act of Beauty” which is the final track.

Other compositions cycle through a panoply of references from rock music, traditional British folk ballads, modern and earlier chance music, atonal interpolations and outer space chants. That means Jasnoch especially, is charged with creating the fragmented finger picking of folkie Davy Graham at one point or the tortured, whining lines of bluesman Freddie King elsewhere. Archer meanwhile, can produce a West Coast sax line so cool that it nearly freezes the laser on one track, yet use the delay properties of processing elsewhere to output calliope-like tones.

Off-kilter percussion sounds, jazz shakes from the brass, wild animal chirrups from the reeds, a re-imagining of distinctive improvisation on the ud -- or oud as most spell it -- and all sorts of shifting electronics also make an appearance

The plectrumist’s background playing bluegrass and country music also means that a track like “Strawberry Blues” is only blues if the songs of mountain banjoists like Dock Boggs are included in the canon. Featuring the deep pitches of synthesized sound processing, it’s what would result if a WSM Barn Dance was held at IRCAM, a European centre of electronic research.

Also illustrative is the aptly named “Pod” where stacked, multi-layered sopranino overblowing faces the watery pre-recorded sounds of French conversations. Archer calls this “the most technically complex piece on the record”, yet like good software the end result works well without having to know how the radically structured piece was created.

This session and Archer’s other CDs are only available online at www.discus-music.co.uk. Making the extra effort to find it will allow you to experience the music of someone who has created an unique soundworld though concept and experimentation.

September 1, 2004

AVRAM FEFER

Shades of the Muse
CIMP #286

ROLAND RAMANAN
Shaken
EMANEM 4081

Matching a horn with a chordal instrument, bass and drums has long been an accepted jazz strategy. But as Free Jazz has muted into Free Music, fresh front lines have replaced the horn-and-guitar or horn-and-piano set up. Case in point these two CDs, one British, and one American, both of which feature a cellist upfront.

Firmly in the new tradition that welcomes new sounds, SHADES OF THE MUSE, the Yank disc is the fourth recent session lead by multi-reedist Avram Fefer. Here he’s partnered by cellist Tomas Ulrich plus Ken Filiano on bass and Jay Rosen on drums, all experienced in the karma of exploratory playing. Across the pond, SHAKEN is the debut disc for trumpeter Roland Ramanan, a full-time educator as well as a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO). His crew of veterans and fellow LIO members is made up of Marcio Mattos on cello and electronics, Simon H. Fell on bass and percussionist Mark Sanders.

Especially when it comes to the understated virtuosity exhibited by the trap men, both sessions are impressive examples of current group improvisation. Fefer’s crew is slightly more palatable though, since its shorter CD has fewer arid spots than Ramanan’s virgin effort.

Unlike some tyros the trumpeter doesn’t try to pack everything he knows into the disc, changing chameleon-like from track to track. Distinctively part of the BritImprov subset, SHAKEN is above all a group effort, with the leader careful to give full scope to the others’ talents. Improvising in different combinations, the disc probably could have been tightened by dropping the one track that features wooden flutes throughout.

One track that’s welcome for its inclusion, though, is literally called “Worth Remembering”. Highlighting a meeting of comparable musical minds, the piece starts with expertly vocalized brassy smears and stresses that meld with solid back up from the plucked cello. Purring brass trills then set up the momentum that welcomes the bass and drums playing an advanced version of jazz time. Soon buzzed rubato output from Ramanan meets long-lined string accompaniment that moves from pizz to arco and back again in split seconds. Finally after he searches his embouchure for le note juste, the brassman ends with high-in-the-valves note scraping mirrored by scratched bird-like whistles from the cello. The triumph here is that it’s often difficult to tell which note arises from the string set and which from the brass bell.

Other all-hands-on-deck pieces don’t reach those heights, as they’re allowed to go on far too long. “Before”, for instance, clocks in at nearly 11 minutes, with part of the space given over to Ramanan’s Amazonian flute intonation, a let down after you hear his brassy, chromatic trumpet lines that are seconded by wiggling drum bits and bell pealing plus legato cello slashes. When the trumpeter introduces half-squealing breaks, cello sutures become more diffuse and dissonant. Like Mikes Davis in the mid-1970s Ramanan holds onto his grace notes as the accompanying undertow from the others becomes wider and more diffuse -- Fell drones out the continuum as electronics apparently extend Mattos’ cello tone.

Experienced in group situations such as pianist Chris Burn’s Ensemble and drummer Eddie Prévost’s quartet, the cellist easily adapts to the unpretentious, jazz-like beat from Sanders, speedily triple-stopping and sounding out short, melodic fills. The trumpeter responds in kind, letting himself go by arching out a brazen, high-pitched solo that includes a screaming, descending pitchslide. There’s no egg shell walking here.

Here and on “The that’s that”, where Ramanan’s instructions direct the number of notes played in a set sequence and how many times the sequence is repeated. Sanders, who has backed up soloists like reedists John Butcher and Evan Parker, shows that he can create polyrhythms as easily from the sides and rims of his kit as the tops. He also colors the proceedings by popping sudden shattering tones from tiny unmatched cymbals, not unlike what Rosen does on the other CD.

On this and other pieces, Ramanan offers up matchless open horned tones, while the others construct irregular pulses around him. Elsewhere his idea pool includes fluttering rubato lines, strangled cries, mouthpiece French kisses and extended Harmon muted tones doubled with arco bass color Of all the musicians, Fell, whose writing includes extended compositions and who has played with most of the major BritImprov stylists, seems the least assertive.

You wouldn’t say that about Filiano on Fefer’s CD. But at the same time SHADES OF THE MUSE is also a group effort, with each man contributing to the overall sound picture. The bassist, whose longtime association has been with California multi-reedist Vinny Golia, easily adapts himself to Fefer’s four horns, providing a jazz-like pulse when needed and more obtuse timbres where they fit. More of a melodist than Ramanan, the reedman has the knack of composing pieces whose themes stay in your head for a while after you’re heard them. He does so in a variety of styles as well, without compromising his playing.

“Gates of Baghdad”, for example, an improvised piece with group notation, relies on the natural mournfulness produced by the arco cello and bass to suggest uncertainty, with the downcast mood commented upon with an irregular pulse and short bell peals from Rosen. As Fefer’s reed intermittently squeals and squawks turn to spetrofluctuation, ghost note vibrations and body tube trills, the percussionist does some of his best work on the CD, with cymbal crashes aimed with the precision of smart bombs and short, swift flams and ruffs. Working with other advanced woodwind players like Joe McPhee and Ivo Perelman has given Rosen a second sense in how to complement such reed flurries.

Ulrich, whose background includes time with Perelman, as well as the likes of drummer Kevin Norton and frequent Rosen partner, bassist Dominic Duval, works in perfect counterpoint to the horn man. By the end his complementary lines ease Fefer’s trills and double tonguing into one intense, elongated note.

“Shepp in Wolves’ Clothing”, honoring saxophonist/educator Archie Shepp, with whom Fefer recorded in Paris, is a buoyant tune linked as much to Shepp’s appreciation of Classic Jazz as his New Thing advances. A nearly 14-minute foot tapper carried on the walking bass and drum’s shuffle rhythm, it features a polyphonic tenor line and blue notes from the cello. Sounding more like Rahsaan Roland Kirk then Shepp at one point, the reedist solos on both his saxophones at once, creating a growly semi-atonal tone from one and a strained, vibrated split tone buzz from the other. With the tempo halved for a sliding bass solo backed by tingles from bells and unselected cymbals, the head is reprised just before the end with the piece going out with a final sax honk.

Cello and reeds voiced together means that a couple of the other tunes resemble the sort of bouncy West Coast pieces turned out in the mid-1950s by drummer Chico Hamilton’s band, the first to feature a cello in the front line. “Oblique Departures” is most notable for Filiano’s solo in a traditional Paul Chambers mode, while the balladic “Love Crept In (Again)” showcases Fefer’s smooth, liquid tone on the clarinet.

Finally Fefer’s versatility comes to the fore on “Brother Ibrahim”, a reminiscence of his trip to Morocco. Mixing Arabic and Eastern European influences, it exhibits a pinched reed tone that could come from a musette that expands to squealing and triple tonguing. It’s as if Booker Ervin had traveled to the Middle East. While Rosen plays a fast shuffle and Filiano navigates the beat, the strings appear to move from oud-like bowed lines to jaunty, freylach-like melodies. Ulrich skims across the strings with a high-pitched whine reminiscent of what Billy Bang can do with a fiddle, and his variations prepare the way for a reprise of the theme.

A fine effort, Fefer is definitely fashioning an unshakable identity. Meanwhile Ramanan’s CD is strong enough to suggest that just a little tweaking and shaping is needed in his concept to turn out as memorable a disc as the other.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Shaken: 1. Before 2. The next 3. Showers 4. Break 5. A kiss 6. Promised 7. The that’s that 8. Of a handshake 9. Worth remembering 10. Forgotten

Personnel: Shaken: Roland Ramanan (trumpet, wooden flutes); Marcio Mattos (cello and electronics); Simon H. Fell (bass); Mark Sanders (percussion)

Track Listing: Shades: 1. Shepp in Wolves’ Clothing 2. Love Crept In (Again) 3. Gates of Baghdad 4. Oblique Departures 5. Brother Ibrahim 6. BC Reverie 7. Sacred Passage (for Syma)

Personnel: Shades: Avram Fefer (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet); Tomas Ulrich (cello); Ken Filiano (bass); Jay Rosen (drums)

March 8, 2004

HESSION, WHARF & FELL

Improvabilly
Bruce’s Fingers BF 44-CD

Described as by the musicians involved as “manic free jazz”, IMPROVABILITY is the first recording in 10 years by the power trio of Charles Wharf on woodwinds, bassist Simon H. Fell and drummer Paul Hession.

Yet while it doesn’t detract from the pile- driver authority of the session -- or the trio members -- by also asking: “is it just like the old days?” the response is what they probably wouldn’t expect. Yes, not only does the sound compare favorably to other Fell- Hession trios like the one with saxophonist Alan Wilkinson, it also suggests the gut-wrenching eruptions of even earlier free jazz bands such as those led by saxophonists Albert Ayler, Frank Wright and Peter Brötzmann and the heyday of the New Thing.

Bringing that same heft to his solos on soprano and tenor saxophones and bass clarinet Wharf, whose association with Fell goes back to 1981, unquestionably makes his presence felt. But the bassist and drummer, who together and alone have faced off with such frenzied improvisers as Brötzmann, George Haslam and Paul Dunmall aren’t fazed in the least.

The only folks who make be shocked, though, are those who know Fell merely from his large compositional works or minimalist combos such as VHF. His playing and that of the others is as rip snorting here as it is restrained elsewhere.

A strong example of this occurs on “Self portrait with burning cigarette”, an instant composition like the rest of the material. Here Wharf’s Aylerian honks and R&B style intensity vibrato are met by speed-of-light bowed bass reflections with its share of yelps and a deep ostinato midway between Jimmy Garrison and Ronnie Boykins. Hession’s steady rumble and roll sometimes takes in Sunny Murray-like outright banging. Ultimately the whole confection of raw excitement dissipates in a final nephritic squeak from the tenor saxophonist.

Not that rawness is the end-all and be-all for the three. “The interior of sight”, for instance, begins with about one minute of restrained bare hands drum skin and cymbal undulation, succeeded by the definitely non-Western cast of a snake charmer’s plaint from Wharf’s soprano sax. As the saxist moves into penny whistle territory, Hession introduces double stick manipulations and sounds as if he’s playing a conga or doumbek. Fell’s quick shift from shrieking high pitches to resonant lower tones keeps the rhythm steady leading to a mini duet with Wharf irregular vibrato matching his percussive rumbling.

Then there’s the more than 18 minute “The angel of hearth and home” which shows off Wharf’s sideslipping bass clarinet approach. Quickly accelerating from proper BritImprov mode built around tiny gestures, he’s soon sounding out a full-fledged theme from mid-range enlivened with the occasional chirp for emphasis. The rhythm section’s shifting accents also give way to an approximation of walking bass from Fell, who braces the beat with guitar-like strokes. Bass clarinet twittering becomes more aviary as the tempo accelerates as Hession’s press rolls and Fell’s unvarying basso pattern encourage Wharf’s dissonant playing to such an extent that between his tiptop high and basement low notes it sounds as if two horns are playing at once. Eventually you have a mental picture of him that resembles those photos of John Coltrane bending from the waist and blowing, as Wharf squeezes constricted notes from his solar plexus and you wonder when and where it will all end. Where it does is when he shifts back to mid range tones so you’ll recognize the bass clarinet, before climaxing in repeated mystical squeals and painful sounding smears.

“Is it just like the old days?” Well, perhaps with a decade of varied musicianship internalized by all three, “it’s” actually better. Hession Wharf and Fell prove that there’s still plenty of effective forceful music that can be produced in a Free Jazz setting sounding a horn, beating a drum and plucking a bass.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Between the clock and the bed 2. Enter, leave 3. The interior of sight 4. Self portrait with burning cigarette 5. The angel of hearth and home

Personnel: Charles Wharf (soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet); Simon H. Fell (bass); Paul Hession (drums)

March 10, 2003

IMPROVISERS 1988-1998

By Jo Fell
Bruce’s Fingers 42

Lively arts of about the same vintage, photography and improvised music seem to have a potent relationship to one another. Think of how our view of early jazz and blues performers like King Oliver, Fats Waller and Blind Lemon Jefferson has been influenced by how they appear in their pictures. There are even a few, like the legendary New Orleans cornettist Buddy Bolden, who only exist in one snapshot and old-timers’ memories.

More recently, the moody introspective photos of Herman Leonard, all pinpoint details and curling cigarette smoke, defined Bebop for many people. The bright, outdoor portraits of William Claxton did the same for Cool Jazz.

New music calls for new photographic thinking, however, and that’s what Jo Fell presents in this short volume of 34 high-quality reproductions. Using only available light and non-intrusive techniques, Fell depicts a cross-section of British improvisers in performance from 1988 to 1998.

Along the way, she makes it a point to try to capture the creative process and the intersection of performer and instrument itself, rather than creating strict portraits of the players in these mostly black and white shots. Thus saxophonist Mick Beck is rendered as a giant hand filling the frame pressing on different keys. In the shadows, mouth open, hands on his hips, singer Koichi Makigami resembles an Inuit sculpture. In one color photo bassist Simon H. Fell’s upper body seems to be made of Plasticine as it’s captured in the act of movement; and one stark shot of violinist Phil Wachsmann emphasizes the illumination on his fiddle, his bow and his bald pate.

Fell isn’t the only photographer working this way of course. Toronto’s Susan O’Connor has also built up an impressive inventory of available-light performance photos; and obviously there are others. Still as Mao Tse-tung once stated, let a thousand flowers bloom. Let many photographers capture improvised music at its most free and preserve it as Fell has done. Certainly anyone interested in the look and feel of so-called BritImprov during that crucial decade would be wise to investigate her book.

-- Ken Waxman

January 27, 2003

Simon H. Fell

Composition No. 30.
Bruce’s Fingers BF 27

The compositions and performance of British bassist Simon H. Fell on this two-CD set may be the long-awaited physical flowering of Gunther Schuller’s and John Lewis’ ideas from the 1960s. Fell may also have taken those theories even further.

In the early 1960s, Schuller, a modern composer, French hornist and head of Boston’s New England Conservatory; and Lewis, pianist and music director of the Modern Jazz Quartet; conceived of Third Stream music that would combine elements of music’s first and second streams of classical music and jazz. They recorded a few albums and even put together a mixed jazz and classical ensemble called Orchestra USA.

Due to hostility from so-called serious musicians these experiments came to an abrupt end shortly afterwards. Faced with rock’s hegemony, non-pop music was occupied with survival for the next 20 or so years. So it wasn’t until composers like Anthony Braxton John Zorn and Muhal Richard Abrams on the American side and Barry Guy and Alexander von Schlippenbach at the European end started writing for larger ensembles that the Third Stream term again came into use.

More inter-genre contacts seemed to be possible in Europe, probably due to an interest in improvisation from younger musicians of both schools. But despite many attempts, the number of successful so-called Third Stream pieces remained small. At least that is until Fell came along. Although he would probably bristle at the Third Stream label, the bassist has for many years tried for, as he terms it, “a blurring of distinctions between jazz, improvised and classical musics”.

The more than two hours of studio-based assemblages that make up this session are his most exciting fusion yet. Not only do improvisers, a big band and a chamber ensemble interact, but considering that there are loud, speedy solos from at least three electric guitarists, elements of rock enter into the mix as well. Plus there’s also a bit of tape manipulation and transmutation.

With 42 players involved at various times the listener really does need the CD booklet, where Fell outlines his musical philosophy and how some parts of the composition, which is also subtitled Compilation III, came together. Especially valuable, due to the combinations and recombinations involved, is the jewel box insert which serves as a sort of scorecard, noting by exact time and position on each track, which musician is involved in which improvisation. Some of the improvisations are completely free; others are based on graphic or verbal suggestions. Most of the remaining music is notated.

Notated and manipulated, it should be added. For while all the parts were recorded live, the sessions took place during a four-month period in 1998 with not everyone assembled in the same place at the same time. Thus there will be portions where a musician will be soloing over the pre-recorded sounds from another section of the suite. Probably the most memorable example of this comes on “Part 3: Blues”, the creation of which Fell directly relates to the influence of Charles Ives, Charles Mingus and John Cage. With written sections suggesting Mingus’ gospel-oriented tunes, the duo improvisations were constructed in a unique fashion. Tenor saxophonist Mick Beck performed his solo while listening to a recording of the orchestra rhythm section through headphones. Synchronously Paul Hession produces a percussion program in reaction to Beck’s improvisations, but deliberately without headphones, can’t hear the rhythm section work to which the saxophonist is reacting.

Beck and Hession are merely two of Fell’s long time associates who add heft and highlights to the written composition. Another is contrabass clarinetist Charles Wharf. Often paired with a bassoonist and/or a contrabassoonist to fabricate a concrete-like bottom, when his tone isn’t subterranean, it screeches from the unwieldy instrument’s highest register. Other standouts include drummer Mark Saunders, whose solo section in “Part 4: Rhythm” with brass and string backing, allows him to ranges all over his kit, sounding crash cymbals, hi-hat, snare rims and a wood block and getting a bongo-like tone from one of his attached drums.

There’s also vibist Orphry Robinson, who is usually found in less experimental contexts. On “Construct 3”, for instance he unveils some swinging mainstream style-bar vibrations which nicely contrast with the cymbal on drumstick screeching and irregular rhythms of both Hession and Sanders. But considering that Fell is noted as playing with both men at the same time you probably wonder which sounds are live and which are Memorex. “Interlude”, also featuring Robinson, is a subdued swinger whose vibes-and-bass lilt brings to mind Red Norvo’s trio with Mingus or George Shearing’s quintets. Fell writes, perhaps jokingly, that he wrote it by applying tone row to a chorale by J.S. Bach. Since Bach’s work was also a frequent inspiration for the MJQ’s Lewis, maybe Third Stream connections assert themselves without the composer realizing it.

When guitarists Colin Medlock and Stefan Jaworzyn are given their heads, however, the results differ. In the former case screaming solos often resemble the most high-octane fuzztone creations of arena rock heroes like Eric Clapton and Alvin Lee. For the later, while his Jimi Hendrix-like firepower is put to good use, as in the composition’s very first track, by the final number his frantic jazz-rock flat picking has been framed in a context of an orchestral free-jazz blowout, almost the way Larry Coryell was integrated into Jazz Composer’s Orchestra (JCO) pieces in 1968. Unlike the JCO piece though, all this happens in the background is one episode of pretty string and woodwind laden medieval sounding music is succeeded by frighteningly intense orchestral sounds that could easily have been the soundtrack for a Hollywood suspense film of the early 1950s.

Other times soloists will step out from the big band to play at various time -- in one trumpeter’s case -- bits reminiscent of mainstreamer Clark Terry, hard bopper Freddie Hubbard or impressionistic Kenny Wheeler, introducing either brassy fanfares or delicate half-valve trills depending on the section.

Fell who at various times also contributes a Cagean interlude on prepared piano and some eccentric New music-like harpsichord, doesn’t lose his jazz bone fides either. It’s his bass line that often shapes both the written and non-written parts of the suite, while on the “Trio” track his arco sweeps match the miscellaneous percussion soundings from Sanders and tenor saxophonist John Butcher’s phrase shifting and split tones.

With further notated and improvised techniques, including a synchronous tutti, variations on a chromatic scale, a six chord fanfare and many others in use during the session’s 125 minute playing time, musical examination and explanation could go on in a review three times this length.

However to fully understand the CDs, note another question Fell once asked in an interview. “Why can’t you have great jazz, great improvisation and great contemporary classical music all at the same time?”

Why not indeed? He has certainly proven that the theorem is possible with this impressive session.

-- Ken Waxman

Gary Farr, Tony Rees-Roberts, Joanne Baker (trumpets); Paul Wright, Carol Jarvis, Matthew Harrison (trombones); Andrew Oliver (tuba); David Tollington, Tim Page (French horns); Nikki Dyer (piccolo, flute); Sam Koczy (oboe); Becky Smith (clarinet); Charles Wharf (contrabass clarinet); John Butcher(soprano, tenor saxophones); Carl Raven (soprano saxophones, clarinet); Simon Willescroft (alto saxophone); Hayley Cornick (alto saxophone, flute); Mick Beck, Kathy Hird (tenor saxophones); Alan Wilkinson (baritone saxophone); Jo Luckhurst (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet); Irene Lifke (violin); Mark Wastell, Matthew Wilkes, Kate Hurst (cellos); Justin Quinn (acoustic guitar); Stefan Jaworzyn, Colin Medlock, Damien Bowskill, Andrew Stewart (guitars); Rhodri Davies (harp); Thanea Stevens (dulcichord); Fardijah Freedman (harpsichord); Guy Avern (piano, bass guitar); James Cuthill (prepared piano); Opry Robinson (vibes); John Preston (bass);Simon H. Fell (bass, prepared piano, harpsichord); Paul Hession, Mark Sanders (drums)

January 13, 2003

IST

Ghost Notes
Bruce’s Fingers BF 28

A string trio with a difference, IST explores both notated and improvised music with a line up of cello, double bass and harp. But considering its members -- cellist Mark Wastell, harpist Rhodri Davies and bassist Simon H. Fell -- have wide experience on both sides of the divide created by music paper, there’s no disconnect when it comes to the performances or instrumentation.

It’s often said in reviews that one can’t tell where the written music ends and the improvisations begin, but that isn’t a problem with this disc. The compositions by Phil Durrant, Stace Constantinou, Gusto Pryderi Puw, Carl Bergstrøm-Nielson, Wastell and Fell are clearly labeled, as are the four improvisations. What is more noteworthy, though, is that by using extended techniques and preparations, IST pushes its acoustic string instruments to the limit to create this thought-provoking CD, its third.

The temptation is also to write that this skill and experience has propelled the British trio into the top ranks of modern string ensembles. But considering that the booklet notes are -- out of respect for Davies -- in English and Welsh, IST should more properly be called an Welsh/English ensemble.

Davies’ arco and prepared harp techniques are used here and elsewhere to give the seven-pedaled Celtic instrument a new lease on life. He has exhibited it elsewhere in sessions featuring established British improvisers like guitarist Derek Bailey and saxophonists John Butcher and Evan Parker. Davies also labors in soprano Charlotte Church’s backup group, but one suspects few advanced techniques are on display there.

Wastell, who explores extreme frequencies and pitch, plus the textural and sonic possibilities of his instrument and bow, has also played with Bailey, Butcher and Parker, as well as extensively with electro-acoustic composer John Wall. Fell, the most jazz-oriented of three, divides his time between free improvisation, contemporary jazz and chamber music. He has worked with other experimenters like Bailey, Butcher, German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and American guitarist Joe Morris and is a founder member of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

Perhaps that’s why the improvisations here seem to have an edge over the written music. On “Fault Lines: Within Context”, for instance genuine harmonic counterpoint develops between the clicks, clanks, buzzes and pulls of the strings. Double and triple stopping are the just the beginning of the extended techniques. As each trio member seems to barrel lightening-quick from one side of his instrument to the other, new sounds are unearthed. Pizzicato movements appear to turn first into guitar flat picking then banjo frailing and finally -- from Fell -- what could arise from playing a steel-string Dobro. There are also aural suggestions that mice have taken up residence and are tearing the instruments apart from the inside.

Or take “Ust, Saif Nôs O’th Gylch” -- at more than 9½ minutes the longest piece -- and the one with the untranslated Welsh title. Almost completely inaudible in parts, even with your volume knob turned ‘way up, eventually the piece suggests ghostly sounds from far away. Soon, though, the instruments are transubstantiated into a menagerie of beasts, with mouse squeaks produced from fingers sliding down strings, aviary whistles arising from high-pitched strings and elephantine basso bellow escaping from the bass. Finally the bowed instruments begin buzzing together like the proverbial flock of bees.

Compositions call on both silence and noise as well. “Sowari for IST”, written by Durrant, is most concerned with the tension engendered by combining sine waves and thick clouds of noise. Here, the almost imperceptible timbres at the start of piece reappear throughout as sine waves intersecting with buzzes and squeaks that make up other textures. With so much happening just beyond the range of hearing, it’s almost no surprise when the track fades away to nothingness.

Fell’s “Composition No. 41 - Icons”, on the other hand, is described as an “ecstatic meditation on tonal and timbral relationship”, featuring Davies playing 77 jazz chords based on the key of C. Its genesis came in 1997, when the harpist expressed a desire to “learn to play jazz”. As Davies sounds chord positions with the regularity of a chiming clock here, the other two musicians provide eerie arco counterpoint. Mesmerizing up to the point, there’s also an unfinished feeling to the composition, as if the piece is building up to a denouement that never comes.

More challenging, plus bringing forth some of the most creative playing from Fell, is Gusto Pryderi Puw’s “X-ist”. Connected with a graphic score and written directions that certain notes and motifs must be followed, the trio is still allowed the freedom to exhibit its creativity. Words and phrases also act as creative stimuli. Here percussive tapping on the instruments characterize some of Wastell and Fell’s contributions, mixed with the two carefully plucking on each string as needed.

If the cello sometimes suggests a steel guitar, then the bass counters with straight pizzicato, while the harp supplies the underlying continuo. Often there are literal echoes of themes that have appeared before as well as tones that could be electronics-fuelled buzzes, if the presentation wasn’t completely acoustic. Finally after the bassist exhibits his highest-pitched notes, the coda features all three playing faster and looser.

IST may not fit the profile of the conventional string trio. But its performance here and the compositions it inspires, means that it definitely will be part of future of that trio grouping.

-- Ken Waxman

Mark Wastell (violin); Rhodri Davies (harp) and Simon H. Fell (bass)

January 13, 2003

BADLAND

Axis Of Cavity
Bruce’s Fingers BF 40

SFQ
Thirteen Rectangles
Bruce’s Fingers BF 43

Simon H. Fell doesn’t see consistency as a virtue. “My type of listener,” he once said, “would be someone who would pick up one of my records and say, ‘What the hell is he doing now? I’m intrigued … I’ll find out’.” Over the course of his 20-odd years of playing what he describes as “experimental music”, The Cambridge, England-based bassist and composer has involved himself in varied improv situations.

A participant in guitarist Derek Bailey’s Company Week, Fell has also worked with electroacoustic composer Martin Archer, been a members of the ethereal IST trio and backed up hard blowers like saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Alan Wilkinson and Mick Beck. In 1998 he garnered unprecedented praise for mixing and matching improvisers, a big band and a chamber ensemble in COMPOSITION NO. 30/COMPILATION III for (Bruce’s Fingers BF 27 CD), that also seemed to join many streams of sound together into an eclectic 20th century whole.

Yet anyone who thought he had figured out Fell’s modus operandi from any one of those earlier discs may be thrown for a pleasurable loop with these two new sessions. The Badland band featuring Fell, alto saxophonist Simon Rose and drummer Steve Noble working out on nine free improvisations, while SFQ joins Fell and Noble with trombonist Gail Brand, clarinetist Alex Ward and pianist Alex Maguire performing a more-than-70-minute suite of un-hyphenated jazz.

Akin to earlier power trios Fell was involved in with the likes of Wilkinson and drummer Paul Hession, Badland is a rip-snorting combo that on this disc struts its stuff on nine improvisations, or if you prefer, instant compositions. Ostensibly, the main difference between Rose and many of Fell’s other reed partners, is Rose’s background in so-called world music. However, except for some passages on the final track where he seems to be getting an Arabic tone in his repeated trills and smears plus his creation of a coda of recurrent phrases, free jazz informs the reedist’s work more than anything else. Oh, there is a point on “Arm of the Sea” where reverberated notes appear to be magnifying to such an extent that the sax sounds like a bagpipe. But Rose’s work with drummer Ken Hyder, who specializes in both jazz and Scottish music may account for that.

The altoist, who insists that he tries to experience music in other cultures, does create some unique hunter’s horn sounds from his axe on the quieter, more atmospheric “Groove For Deep Branch”. Here, using circular breathing to extend and multiply various notes fits perfectly with Noble’s cymbal work and Fell’s plucked bass. Elsewhere, though, it would seem that the saxist improvises at only one intensity -- high. That’s fine if his tongue slaps, reed kisses, whistles, exaggerated vibrato, screeches and whines in the shriek register fit with the bassist scratching out more and varied tones or Noble going at his kit full force. But there are times that the more low-key forays of the bassist and the drummer, whose past associations have included clarinetist Ward, conduction pioneer Butch Morris, and who can almost replicate the tone of a glass orchestra, have to struggle to be heard. On “The Temporal Bones”, for instance, if Rose didn’t appear to be confining himself to playing his mouthpiece, the sound of Fell’s minute bass scratches and Noble cannily spinning items on his drum tops would have been lost.

Luckily everything falls into place on “Surface For Talice”, AXIS’s more than 12-minute centrepiece. Here Rose’s mouse squeaks and repetitive trilling smears and honks submerge into irregular air vibrations as all three instruments mesh in near silence. Other times, when not cymbal scratching, Noble showcases some upfront flams, while Fell can be heard perfecting a peg and wooden body explorations of the bass, ricocheting his bow off his taunt strings and even indulging in the sort of semi-traditional walking that characterizes SFQ.

Performing 16 (sic) Fell compositions inspired by paintings by Wassily Kandisky, THIRTEEN combines notated and improvised material using the literal reading of color blocks to determine written material, pitch range use and tone colors. All recorded in one take, the excellence of the disc is as much a tribute to the cumulative talents of the five musicians as the bassist’s writing and arranging skills.

Frankly, the description of the compositional process makes the music on the CD appear to be more complex than it actually is. Notwithstanding the wordiness, it’s merely Fell coming to grips with what he calls the “‘classic’ jazz quartet/quintet arrangement …“an organic, flexible band” of “wind instrument(s), piano, bass and drums.”

This shouldn’t been confused with those attempts at jazz revivalism practiced by neo-cons however. No running through of standards with standard voicings, this music can be seen as the spiritual extension of, to coin a phrase, the sort of experimental hard bop that people like Gigi Gyrce, Benny Golson and Oliver Nelson created.

Another difference is the instrumental make up of the band. Tony Scott was probably the only (hard) bop clarinetist, but Ward, a long time associate of drummer Noble, welcomes POMO influences, having played with musicians as different as Bailey, Eugene Chadbourne and Morris. Trombonist Brand, one of the most impressive brass soloists of her generation, is part of the Lunge group with Phil Durrant on violin and electronics, Pat Thomas on keyboards and electronics plus percussionist Mark Sanders, another Fell associate. Maguire, another mate of Noble’s, studied with John Cage as well as jazz pianists, and now performs in jazz groups led by saxophonists like the American Michael Moore, the South African Sean Bergin and Briton Elton Dean.

Long-time Fell fans will probably note the prototypical chromatic passing tones in his walking bass lines. That’s because the quarter note rhythm is often needed to showcase the subtle historical jazz references in this almost-continuous piece. Early on, a Brand and Noble exchange come across as if they were a supersonic version of Curtis Fuller and Art Blakey. Much later, with her plunger mute -- and perhaps tongue -- firmly in place, a quasi-Trad section unrolls, with the trombonist in the Kid Ory role, Ward coming across like Jimmy Noone and Noble smashing out hard two beats like a reincarnated Baby Dodds.

While all this is going on, however, Fell produces metallic-sounding scratches from his bass, a sequel to his earlier nearly inaudible solo -- turn the volume knob way up to hear it -- where you can hear him bowing and scraping simultaneously. Not only does he explore the bass’s darker regions, but he also tortures the wood to get unexpected tones.

Historical parallelism isn’t all that’s on offer however. Midway through the suite, one track finds Ward dedicating one part of a solo that morphs from sparrow to cricket tones to a fast, clean, almost Benny Goodman-like light sound. Despite that, Noble appears to have decided that the perfect companion to this quasi-Swing is Sunny Murray-style percussion door knocking. Maguire adds steady, forward-moving piano chords, while Fell slides up and down his bass strings.

Other times when Maguire sounds out those familiar left-handed, jazz-chords, it appears that Fell is torn between walking like Paul Chambers or slapping the bass like Pops Foster. Eventually he decides to do both. Later, clarinet key pops are met with flowing arco bass swoops, which -- with the pianist suddenly presenting what sound like conventional romantic themes from his keys -- could for a short time be mistaken for a chamber recital as the clarinetist joins the piano and bass with his most legit-sounding tone on the disc. That lasts until basso smears from the trombone and differing percussion patterns fragment the piece into improvisation.

One could go on trying to describe further patterns, as when the low notes of the trombone’s theme move in counterpoint to squeaky clarinet lines, or when two or three instruments combine into small groupings, before breaking off, amoebae-like, into several other links. What’s most impressive is that Fell doesn’t draw attention to this musical legerdemain, but subtly allows things to change organically, so that the next section has begun almost before you remark upon the change.

All in all, it would seem obvious that Fell has solved the puzzle of how to successfully write an extended work for a classic jazz combo with THIRTEEN and produced remarkable sounds with that group. Plus when it comes to the so-called traditional free improv trio, AXIS shows that he doesn’t do that too badly either.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Axis: 1. Axis Of Cavity 2. Arm of the Sea 3. Groove for Deep Branch

4. Surface for Talice 5. The Temporal Bones 6. Birdie 7. The Scapula Angles 8. Spinous Prowess 9. Bow, Stick and Reed

Personnel: Axis: Simon Rose (alto saxophone); Simon H. Fell (bass); Steve Noble (drums)

Track Listing: Thirteen: 1. Start Frame + Soft Hard (Interpolation 1) 2. Rectangle 1 3. Rectangle 2 4. Rectangle 3 5. Rectangles 4 & 5 6. Rectangle 6 7. Rectangle 7 8. Soft Hard (Interpolation 2) 9. Rectangle 8 10. Rectangle 9 11. Rectangle 10 12. Rectangles 11 & 12 13. Rectangle 13. Soft Hard (Interpolation 3) + End Frame

Personnel: Thirteen: Gail Brand (trombone); Alex Ward (clarinet); Alex Maguire (piano); Simon H. Fell (bass); Steve Noble (drums)

September 30, 2002

COXHILL/HASLAM/HESSION/RUTHERFORD/FELL

Termite one
Bruce’s Fingers BF 32

Climb into a time machine and travel back 1989 in Yorkshire, England when the weather was autumnal cool, but enough heat was being generated from an ad hoc collection of improvisers to incinerate a block of council flats.

Souvenir of Leeds’ first Termite Festival, this CD should demolish the idea that all British improv is hushed and effete as completely as termites devour wood. As a matter of fact, there are times while listening to the almost 49-minute disc, that it sounds as if the two saxophonists, one trombonist, bassist and drummer are hungrily chomping through the music the way soft bodied white ants wreck havoc on a house’s structure.

Initially recorded on a Sony Pro Walkman cassette machine, the strength of the four pieces on this CD reissue is conspicuous enough to overcome any technical weaknesses, which would probably only perturb committed audiophiles. Additionally, the odd, numerical titles indicate how the running order of the original cassette-only release has been reordered on CD to return the tunes to chronological order.

Another reason TERMITE ONE is notable, is that it features two intersecting generations of British improvisers. Soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill and trombonist Paul Rutherford, were among the first generation of free players, associated with such mold-breakers as bassist Barry Guy, guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist/bandleader Chris McGregor. Much younger, bassist Simon H. Fell and drummer Paul Hession would soon go on to play together for a few years in a potent improvising trio. Fell is now involved with panoply of different groups and large ensembles as well as concentrating on composition; Hession has also been featured in solo drum recitals. Closer in age to the trombonist and soprano saxist, but a late starter, baritone saxophonist George Haslam played many times with Rutherford, as well as other first-generation musos such as saxophonist Evan Parker, as well as with Cuban, Argentinean and Eastern European jazzers.

Maneuvering their way through four lengthy instant compositions -- the shortest is a shade under 10 minutes -- go-for-broke improvisations from the five also evoke the intensity of 1960s’ Energy music. In fact, there are times when Haslam’s gamy baritone- saxophone expositions resemble the impassioned tenor saxophone work of Archie Shepp during that era. That is, except at one odd point, when the baritonist seems to be puffing out a version of the Woody Woodpecker song in the background.

With Haslam holding down the bottom end, there’s enough space left on top for Coxhill’s soprano vibrato to wiggle its way through some vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding permutations. Rutherford gets somewhat of a showcase for some fleet slide work, plus double and triple tonguing at the beginning of “Termite One Three”, sharing the spotlight with some cross sticking and press rolls from Hession. Elsewhere, the organized cacophony accumulates, then divides and subdivides as the horns use a variety of vibratos, overblowing and trilling effects. At one point Coxhill’s whine blends with Rutherford’s smears and spritzes, elsewhere it faces off against Haslam’s baritone rumble as motifs and counter motifs abound.

Fell, when he can be heard, confines himself to constant pizzicato plunking and some bow bashing on the strings, while the drummer uses the full extent of his powers to move things along.

In short, if you want to hear a one-off formation of northern instrumentalists at the height of their powers, performing spur-of-the-moment improvisations, then this CD will be for you.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Termite One One 2. Termite One Three 3.Termite One Four 4. Termite One Two

Personnel: Paul Rutherford (trombone); Lol Coxhill (soprano saxophone); George Haslam (baritone saxophone); Simon H. Fell (bass); Paul Hession (drums)

September 16, 2002

MARTIN ARCHER

Winter Pilgrim Arriving
DISCUS 12CD

Martin Archer/Simon H. Fell
Pure Water Construction
DISCUS 11CD

Some musicians who have already researched the outer limits of jazz and improv music are still looking for new areas to investigate. One bit of uncharted territory -- the intersection of improvisations, the mechanics of chance and electronic gadgetry -- fascinates Martin Archer. And these two quite different discs offer a glimpse into his thought processes.

Initially a free jazz saxophonist and composer, Sheffield, England-based Archer has spent most of the past decade immersing himself in the mechanics of electroacoustic music. Both these CDs involve music played by him and others in real time then twisted, turned, tweaked and mixed with other samples to create a new soundscape. When it succeeds it transports the adventurous listener who often can't identify the source of an individual tone; when it doesn't it becomes merely self-indulgent.

PILGRIM has been described as Archer's "rock" record, which is as fallacious as describing Tom Waits as a jazz singer because his backup instrumentation sometimes refers to swing. Thus this mixture of harsh electric guitars, hearty background rhythm and liner notes hommages to Nick Drake and the Soft Machine is supposed to suggest 1970s prog-rock.

King Crimson fans shouldn't get too excited though. Because if there's anything PILGRIM superficially resembles rather than a Robert Fripp epic, it's Miles Davis' post fusion period. Here Derek Shaw's ethereal cornet, snaking around unvarying synthesizer pulses, plays the Davis role. "River followers (for Nick Drake)", another rock red herring, relying more on what's probably sampled "classical" sounding piano played off against Archer's chalumeau register clarinet's then heavy guitar riffs or folksy acoustic strumming.

Not only that, but the salute to the Soft Machine, "Chemistry lock (Mike, Elton, Hugh, Robert)", doesn't seem as if it could get work at any rock festival, since it's built around electronic drums, with the melody carried on Mick Beck's bassoon.

The title track has cornettist Shaw in a more upfront mode, soling over South Asian-sounding samples. Plus the later part of "The eclipse farm heresies" could be heard as out-and-out contemporary jazz, with a cornet solo working in counterpart with Simon Fell's acoustic bass inventions, almost masking the electronic patterns that move in and out from background to foreground.

Fell's input is equally important to PURE WATER CONSTRUCTION, since this electroacoustic studio composition was created by both him and Archer. Echoing the work of Bob Ostertag and other tape cut-up composers, each track features additional music grafted onto reprocessed versions of the listed performers' solo improvisations.

Paradoxically, the result actually sounds more "live" than some concert performances. That can probably be attributed to the fact that experienced improvisers such as Fell, Davies and Collins are involved, and that Archer's processing seems more complimentary than intrusive.

Although there are points on the CD when it appears as if a radio is moving from a heavy metal station to a serious classical music program to a glimpse of experimental techno, overall the end product fits its agenda. The only harsh notes that are struck come, perhaps intentionally, from guitarist Jaworzyn, who manages to overpower the others every time he lets loose. This may be a minor quibble for guitar fanciers, though.

Another irritant is that the composition's first section is labeled "Part O", so your CD track number read out will reflect a higher number than the section that's actually playing.

With these discs (only available by mail order from www.discus.cwc.net) and his other work, Archer has managed to document his unique take on EuroImprov, which involves the studio more than other performers. Still it would be interesting to see him, sampler in hand, plus a cross section of top-flight improvisers present this music in real time to a live audience.

--Ken Waxman

Pilgrim -- Track Listing: 1. Angel words 2.The eclipse farm heresies 3.Beautiful city on the hill 4.A dream of broken and floating doors 5.Horn 6.Death-runes, death-rumours, ruins, rains of death 7.Chemistry lock (Mike, Elton, Hugh, Robert) 8.Winter pilgrims arriving 9.River followers (for Nick Drake) 10.Harbour town online

Personnel: Martin Archer (sonic dp synthesizers, sopranino saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet, consort of recorders, vioelectronics); Derek Shaw (cornet); Mick Beck (bassoon); Charles Collins (flute, sampling); Benjamin Bartholomew and Tim Cole (guitars); Derek Saw (cornet); Simon H. Fell (double bass); Gino Robair (percussion), James Archer (amplified objects); Sedayne (crwth)

Water--. Track Listing: 1.Part zero - Prelude 2.Part one - Robin Hayward ; 3.Part two - Chris Burn; 4.Part three - Rhodri Davies (harp) ; 5.Part four - Jenni Molloy; 6.Part five - Stefan Jaworzyn (guitar)

Personnel: Martin Archer (sound processing, bells, sopranino saxophone, electronics, organ, violin, drum machines); Charlie Collins (bass clarinet); Robin Hayward (tuba); Chris Burn (piano); Stefan Jaworzyn (guitar); Jenni Molloy (cello); Rhodri Davies (harp); Simon H. Fell (sampling, bass guitar, bass); Gino Robair (percussion

July 27, 2000