Iskra 1903
Paul Rutherford formed Iskra 1903 in 1970 with Derek Bailey and Barry Guy. All three musicians had worked together in larger groups, starting off with the 1966/7 edition of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. However, they had a strong desire to work as a percussionless trio. It's not that they were or are anti-percussion - each of them have subsequently worked in various settings with numerous percussionists - it’s just that they felt a need for this sort of instrumentation. Rutherford named the group after 'Iskra' (the Russian word for spark) which was the paper that Lenin edited before the Russian Revolution. The '19' indicates 20th century music, and the '03' is the number of performers.
Paul Rutherford formed Iskra 1903 in 1970 with Derek Bailey and Barry Guy. All three musicians had worked together in larger groups, starting off with the 1966/7 edition of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. However, they had a strong desire to work as a percussionless trio. It's not that they were or are anti-percussion - each of them have subsequently worked in various settings with numerous percussionists - it’s just that they felt a need for this sort of instrumentation. Rutherford named the group after 'Iskra' (the Russian word for spark) which was the paper that Lenin edited before the Russian Revolution. The '19' indicates 20th century music, and the '03' is the number of performers.
Music & Dance
Legendary guitarist derek bailey has plied his wholly original brand of free improvisation for over three decades. these live recordings of bailey's 1980 'accompaniment' to japanese dancer min tanaka, previously available only on a privately-released cassette, amply document bailey's command of a highly individualized atonal language. "rain dance" is the work of a remarkable ensemble: bailey's ringing tones, tanaka's percussive movements, rumbling thunder, a downpour, and the patter of rain drip…
Tetralogy (1978-1982)
'A 2-CD set containing four very different settings all featuring Paul Rutherford (trombone & euphonium): two festival solos - one with electronics and the other without; a festival brass quartet with George Lewis (trombone), Martin Mayes (french horn) & Melvyn Poore (tuba); and a studio trio with Paul Rogers (double bass) & Nigel Morris (drum set). The electronically enhanced solo and the brass quartet are unlike anything else in Rutherford's discography. All previously unissued.'
Out of the past
'Featuring Derek Bailey on electric guitar and Steve Noble on drums & cymbals. Recorded in a London studio in February of 1999 and not released until now.'
A Silent Dance
Live concert recording May 2005. Derek Bailey, electric guitar. Agusti Fernandez, piano. Derek's final public performance was a duo with Agusti Fernandez as part of a series of concerts 'De Prop' which took place in one of Gaudi's magnificent edifices 'La Pedrera' on Passeig de Gracia.
All Thumbs
Barcelona Chronicles N°02. Derek Bailey (solo electric guitar). A solo concert filmed in July 2004 on a hot summer afternoon on a rooftop of a private apartment somewhere in the narrow streets of the Ribera district. Directed by Andy Davies. DVD - PAL Format - All Zones - Worldwide Play. Running time 23:03.
Live at G\'s Club
Barcelona Chronicles N°01, Live at G's Club. Solo concert recorded February 2004. Derek Bailey, solo electric guitar. Directed by Josef M. Jordana. DVD - PAL Format - All Zones - Worldwide Play. Running time 56:00. Previously issued on Incus 2004 “From the Store” CD-R solo guitar series. The complete solo concert is now available on DVD.
Lot 74
Originally released on vinyl Incus Lp 12. Engineered into digital format by Robin Prater. Derek Bailey (electric and acoustic guitars, voice). All recordings spring 1974 except one track. Recording by Bob Woolford and Martin Davidson.
Incus tap
long deleted, very few availabe...Many if not most of Derek Bailey's fans (I was going to write "hardcore fans," but aren't we all?) will be surprised at the existence of these extremely early solo recordings, originally issued by Incus back in 1973. Even for a label as unorthodox as Incus, the TAPS represented a unique but very short-lived experiment in "marketing"; basically, Derek decided that it would be interesting, cheaper, and "less formal" to issue some of his favorite recent solo improv…
Portraits
Portraits is a sprawling, ambitious work composed by bassist Barry Guy that brings together musicians from across the British jazz/improv spectrum, from free music luminaries Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, and Phil Wachsmann to somewhat more jazz-based players such as Paul Dunmall and Trevor Watts. The album contains seven main "portraits," each distinct from the next, which are tailored to spotlight the various soloists as well as the different smaller working units contained within the larger 1…
Solo in Berlin 1975
Recorded a year after his acclaimed masterpiece, The gentle harm of the bourgeoisie, these three festival sets are at least as good. They find Rutherford at his most original and inventive, making wild music by enhancing his trombone with his voice, with mutes and other objects, as well as using his awesome speed and stunning range. No-one else has made the trombone sound like this, before or since. Five minutes originally on an FMP sampler - the rest is previously unissued."
Derek Bailey and the story of free improvisation
443 pages of Derek Bailey viewed partly through the eyes of Ben Watson but also verbatim through detailed interviews with Bailey, Tony Oxley and Gavin Bryars and shorter contributions from other musicians such as Steve Lacy and Eugene Chadbourne. There's a great amount that's extremely enjoyable, particularly taking in the early days in Sheffield, the explorations of Joseph Holbrooke, interludes in the Channel Islands, and Bailey talking about close friends, musicians or non-musicians.Over 100 …
Fish
This is Bailey's first record with Japanese powerhouse drummer Shoji Hano, recorded at Moat Studios in London in June 2000. Hano is best known outside of Japan for his brief tenure as drummer in speedfreak rock band High Rise.
Neuph (1978-80)
Compositions for Euphonium and Trombone, recorded 1978-80. To make his third solo album, Rutherford went into a studio with both trombone and euphonium and used over-dubbing techniques to create unique pieces involving up to four brass instruments. The only completely solo performance features the euphonium. A couple of short tracks feature the trombone played back at double speed -- one of them accompanied by a howling dog (the only other performer involved). This CD also includes two superb so…
The gentle harm of the bourgeoisie
Reissue of the definitive solo trombone album, from 1974, with additional material from the same sessions. His first album of this sort, it has been described by Derek Bailey (rather famously) as still the best record of solo free improvising you are likely to find. Maybe it's the only one... if you're thinking of buying a record of solo improvisation you should try and get this one. It's the genuine article.
One Time
John Stevens, drums and mini trumpet; Kent Carter, bass; Derek Bailey, electric guitar. track list: 1. One time (11.560) 2. U Kent & I (14.15) 3. Without warning (14.43) 4. Along the coast (10.00) 5. Not a dry glass in the house (06.24) 6. Cheers/tears (03.29) Recorded in Leicester, England in November 1992. Cover art (reproduced above) 'Self portrait' by John Stevens; CD booklet design by Karen Brookman.
Chapter Two 1981-83
PAUL RUTHERFORD (trombone, euphonium & electronics), PHILIPP WACHSMANN (violin & electronics), and BARRY GUY (double bass & electronics). The first time some early recordings of this trio have been issued. The bulk of the music in this set comes from a late 1983 tour of England - 4 concerts in 6 days - during which this trio used more electronics than before or since. The music in each concert moved in a different direction, so it all had to be included. There are also two slightly earlier perfo…
Buzz soundtrack
One of my Iskra's favourite album " The slow motion unfolding of these pieces isolates the beautiful sounds embedded in even their most cantankerous outbursts. The luminosity of Rutherford's long tones, Guy's glissandos and Bailey's pedal-enveloped chords are undiminished despite a marginal mono recording. At times, the music is almost too inviting and too accessible, given Iskra 1903's revolutionary aura. Buzz Soundtrack will force enthusiasts who thought they knew this trio inside out to liste…
Frankfurt 1991
Outside of Peter Brotzmann and Derek Bailey, I am not certain there are many players, European or otherwise, that maintain such sustained reverence from their peers as Paul Rutherford. And deservedly so, since I know of very few musicians as uncompromising as the British trombonist.While the trombone has languished in mediocrity over the past three decades, with the exception of a select number, on American shores, the European improvisers who call the trombone their home have continued its forw…