-──────────────── ▄██▄ ────────
▀█████▄
-── ███ ███ ─ ▄██▄ ▀█████▄ ────
▐███ ███▌ ▀██▀ ▄██████▄
-─ ████ ████ ▄▄▄ ▄██████████▄
▐█████████▌ ███▌▐████▀ ▀████▀
███████████ ████ ██▀ ─── ▀▀
▐█████ █████▌▐███ ▀
██████ ██████ ▀██ ──────────
███████ ███████▄ █ -.2ooo.-
─────── ▄▄▄ ────────────────
"HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS"
_______________________________________________________________________
a r t i s t : VA
t i t l e : Freedom Of The City 2003 - Small Groups
d a t e : 2004
l a b e l : Emanem 4212
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Jan/2005
t r a c k s : 08
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 275,3 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
ALAN TOMLINSON trombone
STEVE BERESFORD electronics & objects
ROGER TURNER drum set & percussion
A1 - WC1R 4RL - 17:53
STEFAN KEUNE sopranino saxophone
JOHN RUSSELL guitar
A2 - MAMA YI SAYS HELLO - 21:20
VIV CORRINGHAM voice
ANGHARAD DAVIES violin
A3 - BETA PLEAT - 14:05
FREE BASE:
ALAN WILKINSON alto & baritone saxophones, voice
MARCIO MATTOS double bass
STEVE NOBLE drum set & percussion
A4 - THE LIVER IS THE COCK'S COMB - 22:53
MILO FINE clarinets, piano, drum set
HUGH DAVIES invented instruments
PAUL SHEARSMITH pocket trumpet, baliphone, hand flute
TONY WREN double bass
B1 - TONPSYCHOLOGIE - 25:17
JOHN BUTCHER soprano & tenor saxophones
JOHN EDWARDS double bass
B2 - SPOKES - 18:55
IST:
RHODRI DAVIES harp
MARK WASTELL cello
SIMON H FELL double bass
B3 - DYNEIDDIWR - 10:51
LUNGE:
GAIL BRAND trombone
PHIL DURRANT laptop electronics
MARK SANDERS drum set & percussion
PAT THOMAS keyboard electronics
B4 - RELATIVE POVERTY - 23:57
Digital concert recordings made in London
at the Conway Hall by Paul Brogden - 2003 May 5
Total time 156:05
This album features some of the very varied small groups that I
asked to perform on the third day of the third FREEDOM OF THE
CITY festival - are there really people who think that all
improvised music sounds the same? Long-standing groups appeared
alongside one-off get-togethers - loud, dense groups alongside
quiet, sparse ones - and plenty in between.
As in previous years, the main problem in organising this
festival was not who to invite, but who to leave out - there
being so many fine improvising musicians based in London (and
elsewhere). Several people who had not previously appeared at
the festival were featured this time, including two visitors.
(A clarification about the three people called Davies: Angharad
and Rhodri are sister and brother, while Hugh is unrelated.)
Alan Tomlinson, Steve Beresford and Roger Turner all started
making themselves felt (and heard) in the 1970s. Although they
were 'second generation' improvisers, they all found routes not
taken by their predecessors. They have been working with
numerous people ever since, but only recently formed this trio.
John Russell and Stefan Keune met in 1994 in a quartet called
Beware of Art. Since 1997 they have often visited each other's
countries (and elsewhere) to work as a duo.
This was only the second time that Viv Corringham and Angharad
Davies had worked as a duo - their first appearance was a few
months earlier in the tiny basement of Sound 323. So this is
their initial duo appearance on record, although both have
appeared over the years in other contexts.
The trio, FREE BASE - Alan Wilkinson, Marcio Mattos and Steve
Noble - have been performing since the mid-1990s. Wilkinson is
actually one of the quietest and most gentle people I know -
that is, until he gets behind a saxophone.
Milo Fine has been the mainstay of the Minneapolis improvising
scene for over three decades. He paid an extended visit to
London in 2003, but put together this quartet before arriving.
The other three members are all veterans of the London scene -
electronic instrument-maker Hugh Davies first appeared in the
1960s, while Paul Shearsmith and Tony Wren go back to the early
1970s.
John Butcher and John Edwards have been working as a
closely-knit duo since 1999, as well as meeting in larger
groups.
The improvising string trio, IST, was formed in 1995. Initially
convened by Simon H Fell, it was the first group in which
Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell played together.
LUNGE was formed late in 1997 by the quartet of Gail Brand,
Phil Durrant, Mark Sanders and Pat Thomas. Durrant and Thomas
have at times used violin and piano respectively, but on this
occasion they just used electronics.
The Conway Hall is owned by a group whose ethic is morality
without religion, and belief in human potential. The motto
above the stage - 'To thine own self be true' - seems equally
appropriate to the world of improvised music.
MARTIN DAVIDSON (2004)
AMG review:
Big names like Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Paul Rutherford and
Trevor Watts having taken part to the event the previous year,
this album may seem to lack panache at first glance, but don╣t
be fooled: it is filled to the rim with fascinating music,
mostly from musicians that don't get enough exposure outside
the London scene. The trio of Alan Tomlinson, Steve Beresford
and Roger Turner has a CD out on Emanem. Their 18-minute
performance explores the same kind of abstract playfulness.
Stefan Keune and John Russell's duet runs longer than anything
they have previously released and hits higher peaks than their
album FREQUENCY OF USE. Singer Viv Corringham and violinist
Angharad Davies make their duo recording debut with Beta Pleat,
a gripping piece revealing a deep understanding between the two
improvisers. Disc 1 concludes with a vehement and eventful
piece by Free Base (Steve Noble, Marcio Mattos and the towering
Alan Wilkinson). Compared to this muscular finale, the opening
track on disc 2, courtesy of Milo Fine, Hugh Davies, Paul
Shearsmith and Tony Wren, sounds slightly thin and uneven. John
Butcher and John Edwards deliver another strong improvisation
(do they ever have a bad day?), while IST offers one of the
most immersive and challenging moments of the album. The
quartet Lunge (Gail Brand, Phil Durrant, Mark Sanders and Pat
Thomas) concludes the album with a piece in the vein of the
most electronic material presented on their album STRONG
LANGUAGE."
FRANCOIS COUTURE - ALL-MUSIC GUIDE 2004
_______________________________________________________________________
CD1
01-Tomlinson Beresford Turner--WC 1R 4RL [18:01]
02-Keune Russell--Mama Yi Says Hello [21:28]
03-Corringham Davies--Beta Pleat [14:14]
04-Free Base--The liver Is The Cock's Comb [22:54]
CD2
01-Fine Davies Shearsmith Wren--Tonpsychologie [25:25]
02-Butcher Edwards--Spokes [19:03]
03-IST--Dyneiddiwr [11:00]
04-Lunge--Relative Poverty [23:57]
-------
156:0
_______________________________________________________________________