SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ENSEMBLE — Withdrawal 1966-7 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Sometimes, unearthed documents can leave you cold, even though the intellect appreciates the historical gap being filled. With Withdrawal, history doesn't matter and the "archival document" ends up superseding the legit material by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. This is gold -- pure artistic beauty. The year is 1966. John Stevens' group records the soundtrack for a movie (now lost) by George Paul Solomos. The continuous performance is edited into two parts for a total of 30 minutes of music. A slow piece dominated by a glockenspiel leitmotif, "Withdrawal Soundtrack" features beautiful trumpet work by a Kenny Wheeler who was just beginning to play free music. Other players are Stevens (drums), Paul Rutherford (trombone), Trevor Watts (saxophone, oboe), Barry Guy (bass, limited to sustained drones), and a very young and discreet Evan Parker (saxophone). A few months later, in early 1967, the same lineup, plus Derek Bailey on amplified guitar, recorded a reworked version of the soundtrack in three sequences, plus a suite called "Seeing Sounds & Hearing Colours," both intended for an LP release that never materialized. Watts plays some beautiful flute on "Withdrawal Sequence 2." Actually, the whole CD contains fantastic free music, almost completely detached from jazz -- very atmospheric, delicate, and highly organic with a strong sense of discovery. These are the earliest available recordings by Barry Guy and Evan Parker (even though the latter doesn't play much), and one of Bailey's earliest sessions playing free music (even though he is buried in the mix). Historical significance notwithstanding, Withdrawal is simply a great album, still very relevant and "new" today. François Couture    Tracklist :
Credits :
Double Bass, Piano – Barry Guy
Drums, Cymbal [Cymbals], Percussion, Composed By – John Stevens
Guitar [Amplified] – Derek Bailey (tracks: 5 to 11)
Oboe, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Voice, Percussion – Trevor Watts
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Percussion – Evan Parker
Trombone, Percussion – Paul Rutherford
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Percussion – Kenny Wheeler

EVAN PARKER with PAUL LYTTON, PAUL RUTHERFORD & HANS SCHNEIDER — Waterloo 1985 (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Evan Parker is a household name -- that is, if your household is occupied by aficionados of the British improvised music scene. Otherwise, you might not have heard of him. But no matter. If freely improvised music is your bag, this disc is for you: it documents a 1985 concert by Parker (soprano and tenor saxophones) and trombonist Paul Rutherford, bassist Hans Schneider and percussionist Paul Lytton. As is often the case with this sort of thing, the instrumentation will mislead the unwary: not only is this not jazz, unless you listen closely you might not even believe that the instruments listed are the ones being used. That's because Schneider and Parker, in particular, employ extended techniques that produce lots of sounds not normally associated with their instruments -- whistling overtones from the bass, grunts and mutters from the sax, random skitterings from the percussion. The program consists of one hour-long track (titled "Dark Interior," for what that's worth), but its texture varies significantly as players drop in and out or turn temporarily to more lyrical approaches before returning to the skronky mayhem that prevails at the beginning and end. No, it's not for everyone. But then, lots of great music isn't for everyone. Take a chance. Rick Anderson
Tracklist :
1    Dark Interior    1:00:50
Credits :
Double Bass – Hans Schneider
Illustration – Kris Vanderstraeten
Music By – Evan Parker, Hans Schneider, Paul Lytton, Paul Rutherford
Percussion, Electronics [Live] – Paul Lytton
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker
Trombone – Paul Rutherford

EVAN PARKER | PAUL RUTHERFORD | BARRY GUY | JOHN STEVENS - 4, 4, 4, (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This was one of the stranger recordings issued by Konnex at the time, in that the band listed as playing 4,4,4 (in five parts) isn't the only band on the record. After the quartet's five selections are played through, a new band consisting of Stevens with violinist Nigel Coombes and guitarist Roger Smith improvises "Surfaces" for over 23 minutes! There is no information on the front cover to denote such a thing. Oh well, those Brits. As for the seasoned quartet on "4,4,4," strange, haunting, and beautiful are the words that describe the result of their latest collaboration. Rutherford and Parker have by now developed a language and syntax to speak to one another in every time they play together. Parker isn't forced into his conical ribbons of sound improvisational technique once here, as there is so much dialogue going on with Rutherford, who plays almost always at the same time or in alternating lines with Parker. They tonally challenge each other not to go further out, but further inside a particular timbral dimension, or tonal variant created by angular reed and bell mechanics. As for Guy and Stevens, they are more than support as a rhythm section -- they are the guys making stuff happen, with shifting accents staccato firebrands in the high registers, shimmering rim shots and electronic treatments that keep the horn players closed to one another. As for the S.M.E. piece, "Surfaces," that's what it is: a textural study of the interaction between two differing string tensions with percussion. Coming as it does after the wild, dynamic roar of "4,4,4," it accomplishes little in the way of excitement or even keeping a listener's interest.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     1, 4, 4, 4:33
Barry Guy / Evan Parker
2     2,4,4, 11:05
Barry Guy / Evan Parker
3     3,4,4, 7:45
Barry Guy / Evan Parker
4     4, 4, 4, 18:25
Barry Guy / Evan Parker
5     5,4,4, 1:42
Barry Guy / Evan Parker
6     Surfaces 23:10
Acoustic Guitar – Roger Smith
Drums, Composed By – John Stevens
Recorded By – Richie Stevens
Violin – Nigel Coombes
Credits :
Bass, Electronics – Barry Guy (pistas: 1 to 5)
Percussion, Voice – John Stevens (pistas: 1 to 5)
Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker (pistas: 1 to 5)
Trombone, Euphonium – Paul Rutherford (pistas: 1 to 5)

BARRY GUY | ANTHONY BRAXTON & THE LONDON JAZZ COMPOSER'S ORCHESTRA — Zurich Concerts (1988-1995) 2CD | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This double-CD outing of Barry Guy's London Jazz Composers' Orchestra features two compositions, one by Guy, which takes up disc one -- he also conducts and plays bass on it. The other disc is taken up with four works by Anthony Braxton with sundry others from his book augmenting them, as is his wont. Braxton directs but does not play on his own pieces. First up is the nearly 40-minute work by Guy, beginning with Steve Wick's tuba calling out a melodic frame for the rest of the band -- which includes but is not limited to Evan Parker, Trevor Watts, Phil Wachsman, Barre Phillips, Dave Holland, Paul Lytton, Tony Oxley, Radu Malfatti, Jon Corbett, and Paul Dunmall. There are 19 players in all. What is most notable about Guy's "Polyhymnia" is its insistence on the ostinato and elongation of tonal sequences that often move far beyond the duration of modes and intervals. These tonal sequences can be comprised of any number of instruments at a given time, and are charted only to follow the director's feeling for dynamic and duration. Their dramatalurgical and linguistic individuations are free for the manipulation by the given player. There are certainly crescendos over this long stretch, but more importantly there are silences that equate one instrument with another tonally -- especially microtonally -- rather than pit them against each other. Give a listen to the way the basses engage the tuba and the violin in intricate patterns of exchange and elucidation and you'll get the heart of the entire piece. And it has considerable heart. On Braxton's works, dynamic and drama are the order of the day. As is usual with a large group, he begins very quietly, establishing the tonal color palette at his disposal, and for the edification of the audience. He moves through the band in sections, directing them to utterance in small, parsed phrases before opening up the entire orchestra to a wellspring of sonic inquiry. The questioning happens on the level of linguistic possibility: How much can a group of instruments speak in unified freedom to one another without falling off into the abyss of ego and riffing? For nearly an hour, Braxton examines inside and outside the context of group interplay, how micro and polytonal universes examine and explain one another in the context of a musician's attack and phrasing as well as his improvisational ideas. In this sense, this is among Braxton's most fascinating larger-ensemble works, and will hopefully be one of his most enduring. Indeed, the attendees at these Zurich concerts were treated to the most intimate and prophetic of expressions in these two evenings. They were also given evidence of the very ground on which free improvisation and new composition stand linked to one another.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1-1    Polyhymnia 37:30
Composed By, Directed By [Director] – Barry Guy
2-1    Compositions 135 (+41,63,96), 136 (+96), 108B (+86,96),135 (+96) 56:47
Composed By, Directed By [Director] – Anthony Braxton
Credits :
Bass – Barre Phillips (pistas: 1-1), Barry Guy, Dave Holland (pistas: 2-1)
Cornet – Marc Charig
Drums – Paul Lytton, Tony Oxley (pistas: 2-1)
Piano – Howard Riley
Reeds – Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, Peter McPhail, Simon Picard, Trevor Watts
Trombone – Alan Tomlinson, Paul Rutherford, Radu Malfatti
Trumpet – Henry Lowther, Jon Corbett
Tuba – Steve Wick
Violin, Electronics – Phil Wachsmann

ANTHONY BRAXTON | EVAN PARKER | PAUL RUTHERFORD — Trio (London) 1993 (1994) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The lack of liner notes on this otherwise rewarding CD sometimes makes it difficult to know exactly what is going on. The unusual trio (comprised of trombonist Paul Rutherford and multireedists Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker) perform five adventurous group improvisations that are surprisingly concise (all but one clocks in between six and eleven minutes) and largely self-sufficient despite the lack of any rhythm instruments. Still, this is not a release for the beginner and it is most highly recommended to collectors already quite familiar with Anthony Braxton's explorative music. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    The Honker    18:04
2    Arkanther    10:37
3    Axtarkrut    8:23
4    Vanuthrax    9:49
5    The Breaker    6:38
Credits:
Alto Saxophone [Uncredited], Sopranino Saxophone [Uncredited] – Anthony Braxton
Music By – A. Braxton, E. Parker, P. Rutherford
Tenor Saxophone [Uncredited], Soprano Saxophone [Uncredited] – Evan Parker
Trombone [Uncredited] – Paul Rutherford