Music from United Kingdom

Stromatolites 1 & 2 are lamination pieces which were mixed in the studio by superimposing tracks of sepaately recorded instrumental material. Some of the constituent tracks were recorded in several different locations. There is no sinchronisation to the layers. Each work exists in several different versions, in which individual tracks are prominent to greater or lesser degrees. In Stromatolites 1 Sutherland is heard on two tracks (gongs and springs respectively), Bohman on one track (prepared vi…

Like Volume 1, this CD also contains excerpts from three concerts (all in London this time) and a studio piece. Morphogenesis plays a few concerts a year, almost always in London. Concerts have always yielded their most varied material, but until now, their CDs have mainly documented their studio work. Both volumes of In Streams redress this. Of the concerts; one is a whole piece from the Spitz concert organized by Eddie Prévost, then there is a short extract from the Red Rose which has an omino…

This is the fifth CD release by Morphogenesis, and the first since 1998. Although Morphogenesis do not play live very often, it is certainly their preferred working situation, where the interaction between the space, the people present and the available equipment create a variety of different situations. Substantial extracts from nearly all of their recent concerts appear on this, and a second volume. There is also the inclusion of one studio recording per CD. Perhaps one reason for their infreq…

This third full-length by London improv collective Morphogenesis was released in 1996. Formed in 1985, Morphogenesis consisted of seven people at the time of recording, but for all the sessions, except the live track, the line-ups are amalgams of various members and instrumentation. All tracks are free improvisations that were recorded direct to two channels and later edited with no other post production. Recorded between 1993-1996. "Shorepoints" was recorded live at the LMC Festival 1994. Featu…

A staggering achievement, one is tempted to call The Hands of Caravaggio the first great piano concerto of the 21st century. The work is the brainchild of Keith Rowe, eminence grise of MIMEO and co-founder of AMM who, inspired by the recently discovered painting The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio, imagined a piece combining the mighty forces of MIMEO's electronics with the pure, gorgeous sound of John Tilbury's piano. Technically, therefore, the work is not really freely improvised, as the music…

Mike Cooper: For the past 40 has been an international musical explorer, performing and recording, solo and in a number of inspired groupings and a variety of genres. Initially a folk-blues guitarist and singer songwriter his work has diversified to include improvised and electronic music, live music for silent films, radio art and sound installations. He is also a music journalist, writing features for magazines, particularly on Pacific music and musicians, a visual artist, film and video maker…

"the piano's harmonic figures meet with computer sounds unexpectedly within a slowly changing acoustic environment. piano pixies sing and dance serenely in a virtual space while the noises from the instrument insitage dialogues with the computer. the music is tranquil, never aggressive and is at almost every moment polyphonic in the good old sense of the word. pretty often, the two musicians play on two different planes so that in spite of the slowness of the whole thing, the resulting complex r…

Extended concert recordings from Rotterdam and Brussels provide a contrast to their equally fine previous soprano saxophone & piano duo CD Boundless (Emanem 2021). There is also a short track on which Weston switches to chamber organ. 79 minutes -- previously unissued.

A fine sequence of shortish soprano saxophone and piano duos reflecting the moods of two exceptional improvisers on a winter's day. The first time they have appeared as a duo on record since 1978, revealing their playing to be more adventurous than ever. 70 minutes.

Soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill always sounds good regardless of what area he is playing in and who he is playing with. This present collection just features his free improvising, but with a variety of partners. The late Hugh Davies was a master instrument inventor. Guitarist John Russell is one of the major stalwarts of the London improvising scene (like Coxhill). Henry Lowther has been a much sought-after jazz trumpeter since the 1960s, but has always kept a toe in free waters. Pat Thomas is a…

This retrospective double CD gives examples of Coxhill's early to recent work involving elements of improvisation including R & B, formally structured jazz, electronics, spontaneous music, an open rendition of an old play, and the odd bit of singing. An enormous variety of music ranging from straight-ahead jazz, to a concerto performance with the London Improvisers Orchestra, to an underwater slide saxophone solo recorded using a microphone in a condom. 135 minutes -- mostly previously unissued.

Two complete solo soprano saxophone concerts, from Chicago and London, show that Coxhill is as inventive as ever some four decades after his first solo performances. In between there is a 10-minute improvisation by an impromptu 13-piece orchestra. 77 minutes -- previously unissued.

The 39 minute duet with Simon Emmerson is an early example of interactive saxophone and electronics, wherein Emmerson modifies Coxhill's sound, and Coxhill reacts accordingly, etc. The 34 minute duet with pianist Veryan Weston is an early example of their very compatible duo, which is still going strong. Reissue of Random Radar RRR 005 with extra material from the same sessions. 73 minutes.

Improvised unaccompanied soprano and sopranino saxophone solos of the usual high standard, plus duets with STEVIE WISHART (violin & hurdy gurdy) and MARCIO MATTOS (cello & electronics). All recorded in concert. 70 minutes - previously unissued.

This word - improvisation - no longer seems adequate to describe the forms that emerge from playing without a score or pre-determined structure. These categories are invidious anyway, but improvised music history, or that part has its roots in communality and spontaneity, raises certain expectations in the listener that may have become anachronistic or simply naive. Take Duos For Doris, dedicated to Tilbury's mother, who died two days before this recording was made. A double CD containing three …

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost and John Tilbury recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston-upon-Thames, England on the 6th of January, 2004. The album includes eight tracks performed by John Tilbury - piano, prepared piano and organ and Eddie Prévost - stringled barrel, tam-tam, percussion. "Some of their music is delicate and pointillistic with wide spaces between sounds, but there are also rich, thick webs and, as indicated, Cage/Kleeube Goldberg thunkity-thunk machin…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Evan Parker and John Tilbury recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston-upon-Thames, England on Monday 3rd August 1998. The album includes three tracks performed by Evan Parker - tenor & soprano saxophones and John Tilbury - piano. "These musicians have chosen to eschew the given media of jazz, from whence Evan Parker received much of his initial inspiration, and the classical world from which John Tilbury received his early and formative training, in o…

With Christina Jones and Sebastian Lexer. Features the following pieces: Cascando (a radio piece for music and voice). Voices by John Tilbury. Music composed and performed by John Tilbury with electronic modulations by Sebastian Lexer. Rough for Radio 1 (for music and voices). Voices: Christina Jones and John Tilbury. Music composed and performed by Sebastian Lexer, Eddie Prévost and John Tilbury. Studio recordings from 2004-5.

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.