SIMPLY IN THEIR WORDS (Installment Dos)
Interview conducted by Tom Sękowski
This is the second of a regular series of "simply in their words" series interviews with some of the musicians from the improvised, jazz and new music genres that are making a real mark on the landscape. I don't want to add any additional text to these musicians' responses, as my words would only clutter what it is they're trying to convey to the readers.
John Butcher needs no introduction whatsoever. Over the past two decades, he has made music that is true: true to himself, and true to his audience. Though the jazz community at large (many will argue, that's not where he belongs anyhow) has shunned him, he persists. John survives as he knows what he has to say through his music is needed in this day and age of boredom and complacency. Maybe he's not a new face anymore, but the statements made through his mouthpiece are relevant and fresh.
This is an e-mail interview I'd conducted with John Butcher in March of 2003.
Tom Sękowski: You've had several opportunities to document your solo saxophone work to date. I'm wondering if you can tell us what is the approach to preparing and producing such a recording? Do you have any "strategies" for playing solo gigs?
John Butcher: The recordings span a bit over 10 years now, so the approaches have obviously evolved and changed over that time. The first, Thirteen Friendly Numbers (Acta), was a studio recording - and at a time when I only had a few releases - and my solo work wasn't well known. So I wanted it to capture convincingly the ways I had been working in concert. But I found this very difficult (playing to just a microphone and an engineer), - the way I like to improvise solo needs an audience and the sense of a one-off event where you can't stop and start and choose (as in a studio) but have to battle through a unique playing situation. As a consequence the eventual pieces were partly planned (structurally, if not in details) and the multitracks (a response to my dislike of most saxophone quartets) were thought through, but done in real time without editing, to try to keep the freshness of improvising.
London and Cologne (Rastascan), and Fixations (Emanem) come (except for one multitrack) from concerts in Europe and the USA. I found this approach made more sense. The pieces have the sense of occasion of live music evolving in front of people, with all the different acoustics and geographies - but I could program it for CD, a different listening experience.
The newest, Invisible Ear (Fringes), takes a different approach - digging more deeply into some ideas I used to work with back in the early 80s. Amplification and feedback. I'd been developing this a little more in concerts recently - especially when playing with the increasing number of electronic/laptop players around - and wanted to push it further for a solo voice. It's mainly a studio recording - solos and multitracks. Two of the multitracks are acoustic and I never try to sound like a saxophone 'group'. "What Remain", for instance, works with tape derived ideas of synthesis through layering - superposition to create new sounds, and should sound like a giant imaginary instrument.
One thing in general, - I try to avoid playing preplanned routines, the curse of solo improvising. It's terrible when solos sound like they're trying to demonstrate some instrumental discovery. I like searching out new connections and hearing reasons for a piece to develop the way it does.
TS: Is the Durrant / Russell / Butcher trio still a functioning one? Can you tell us a little bit about the beginnings of this infamous trio?
JB: It's came to an end - mainly because Phil Durrant's violin playing interests are now almost exclusively with ultra minimalism. I met Phil around '85 at a workshop run by Phil Wachsmann. He'd be playing with John Russell for a few years, and invited me to play with them. It went well. Somehow the three 'melody' instruments found ways of getting inside each other's sounds and keeping their space at the same time. We rehearsed weekly at John's house for about a year, doing a few local concerts - and it grew from there. It was with them, and, earlier, with Chris Burn, that I started developing a language away from most conventional saxophone styles. Something flexible that I could work with. I think it was influential that they were all string players (Chris only played directly on the piano strings). A vibrating string has so many colours that can be brought out by different bow pressures, attacks etc, and I tried to find ways of manipulating saxophone colour with the something like the subtlety they could bring to it.
TS: Acta - Your own label that you've been running now for over 15 years. Why did you start it? Was it simply to have your recordings made available to the public? Why are the releases so sparse recently? Is it officially dormant? Have you laid it to rest?
JB: It was started to put out the LP "Conceits" by Butcher/Durrant/Russell. Pre-CD it was a major undertaking to release material, and also more of a special event; (there's a discussion worth having about ease of CD production versus quality control). Anyway, we were only just beginning to play outside of England and it was a way for more people to hear what we were doing. I just don't have the time now, so Acta's over.
TS: How did you begin your working relationship with Polwechsel? Did you approach them or did they approach you? What's in the works for the quartet?
JB: In '97 I got a phone call from Werner Dafeldecker. Radu Malfatti had just left the group and Werner asked me to come to Vienna to record what became Polwechsel 2 (HatHut). I didn't know any of them at the time, although I knew the first CD. In Vienna we played a mixture of compositions and improvisation. I like working on compositions for recordings, but am not so interested in going out and playing them in concerts, so I'm pleased to say that recent Polwechsel concerts have been largely improvisation. (The first time we worked like this was on a Polish tour in 2001). Recently we have been playing with Christian Fennesz, and have a US tour later in the year.
TS: Will News from the Shed ever be resurrected or do all four musicians see it as a short-lived experience?
JB: We played together from '89 to '94. Radu Malfatti - for similar reasons to Phil Durrant, (his interest in ultra minimalism) - is not interested in working with this kind of improvisation any more. I still play with Lovens whenever possible, most recently in trio with Steve Beresford. The 1989 LP News from the Shed (Acta) will soon be re-issued on John Corbett's 'Unheard Music' label. There will be 20 minutes of additional music from the original session.
TS: Can you tell us a little bit about your musical history with Chris Burn?
JB: We met at Surrey University, where he was studying music. I was doing physics. Initially we played various types of jazz together, from quartets to big-bands (somehow picking up a BBC award for the latter along the way). But both of us knew it was a student activity, to do with learning about past music, and we had to find a way forward that was not so second-hand. We evolved towards free improvisation - which involved a period of trying to completely discard the ways we had previously been playing our instruments. Chris worked only directly on the piano strings, and I would avoid anything that sounded like traditional saxophone notes and try to work without creating 'lines' which seems to be the natural saxophone language. We rehearsed privately for about a year before really giving any concerts and released an LP Fonetiks (Bead) in ‘84. By this time we'd re-introduced some more conventional musical language back into our playing, but had managed to re-think their significance (for us) - to break away from the more jazz derived instrumental clichés.
From then on we've played together in many settings - and in the late '80s formed the large group Ensemble - with the aim of developing a more chamber approach to large group improvising. Trying to improvise, where everyone has a voice - but no-one leads the music.
TS: What effect did playing with John Stevens and Spontaneous Music Ensemble had on your life as an improviser, as a musician?
JB: Strangely, I knew very little about the history of the SME when I started playing with John. But their approach had had such an influence on the London scene over the years that it had rubbed-off on many things I had been listening to - so it felt very natural to work with him.
Just before this was at a time when I wasn't very interested in playing with drummers (too continuous and dominating) - so it was a revelation to me how incredibly transparent John could make his playing, but still give it great drive and propulsion. And I always felt the direction could be changed by quite small musical movements from me or Roger, as John was listening on a very close and detailed level, prepared to change his own playing in a split second (which is a quality I like in most improvising). Another thing, is that he generated a sense of the importance of each, specific concert - as a never to be repeated, special event - even if the actual circumstances were less than ideal.
TS: Can you pin-point one of your recordings, which in your opinion, encompasses every aspect of John Butcher? Or perhaps, do you not subscribe to this theory, that one recording is able to capture "all" of you?
JB: Well, it's a mistake to try to put everything into each performance. Improvising means choosing, excluding, and inventing according to whom you're with. And, a recording is often a way of moving on. After making it you think "that's done now - so what next." I have favourite recordings - but they're all attached to circumstances and particular times rather than being all-encompassing.
TS: Do you have a favourite duo / trio / ensemble formation that was regrettably too short-lived, that you'd like to resurface again?
JB: Groups usually live the right length life for their musical possibilities.
TS: At this point in your musical journey, is there anyone with whom you've not yet had the chance to play with?
JB: It's important to have a proportion of new encounters each year, both players you know and those you haven't heard. A new venture that almost happened this summer, with Keith Rowe, is one I'd like soon, and there's plenty more.
TS: You've played with quite a few vocalists - Vanessa Mackness and Phil Minton among them. The question remains what do they add or take away from your playing? What challenges are your faced with?
JB: Voice and sax - well, we're both breathers and the process of making sound is very physical, so it's very intimate. The combination can be claustrophobic, and people tend to interpret voice sounds in very direct, emotional ways. I suppose we're programmed to - but vocalists are often working quite abstractly with sound - it is the listener creating associations that may or may not be there. I like this ambiguity.
TS: When I saw you last at FIMAV (Victoriaville) in May 2002, shortly afterwards, you were headed for a Polish new music festival. Was this your first time playing in Poland? Do you have any plans for future concerts there?
JB: I've had three trips to play in Poland. Solo in 2000, with Polwechsel in 2001 and then this Festival with Ensemble (Musica Genera Festival in Szczecin, Poland). Robert Piotrowicz has done great things in bringing many improvising musicians to Poland. No current plans to revisit - unfortunately.
TS: Many people that have interviewed you in the past make a lot of noise about your university background (physics degree and a PhD in theoretical physics). Did you (do you) in fact tie in your educational background to your improvisations in any way? Can you expand more on the dilemma of playing with your gut vs. over-analytical improvisations.
JB: I think that most of the analytical work is done in preparation for improvising (listening, practicing, thinking), and the actual performance works at a much more intuitive, almost sub-conscious level. I try to enter an improvisation with something close to an empty mind.
Over the years I've done quite a lot of work on learning to control aspects of the saxophone that are on the edge of instability - and this has led to discoveries and surprises which I've correlated and partly systematized. Maybe this has some connection with a temperament that led to me doing physics research - but I think the actual musical concerns and performance practices have almost no tie-in. In science, imagination and inventiveness mean nothing if they don't agree with physical reality - in music you can create your own reality, a subjective world that might contradict and challenge many others.
TS: Who was the most significant model for you when you first took up playing?
JB: Everyone's playing history goes through all kinds of changes and developments, and there's a mammoth, and expanding list of musicians I've enjoyed and admired over the years. But I never know what to say when people ask about influences - everything, perhaps - positively and negatively. (Deciding that you don't want to play like certain people is pretty important).
In terms of free improvising, the most direct influence has come from the practical business of playing with people. Being able to experiment, in the 70s/80s, with musicians of my generation (Burn, Russell, Durrant etc) rather than playing with more established people was important. We could try to find our own way (even if it meant re-inventing the odd wheel here and there).
TS: Since you'd started playing, have you seen opportunities to play live and to put out your recordings increase or dwindle?
JB: Increase, definitely. In my early free improvising days there was very little interest or support, apart from other musicians (which was vital for sustaining the work). And the 80s were a terrible time for non-commercially motivated activities.
TS: What does the future hold for you in terms of new recorded works?
JB: Out March: Invisible Ear (Fringes) - solo, amplified, feedback and multitracked saxes; Thermal (Unsounds) - with Thomas Lehn (synth), Andy Moor (guitarist from the EX); Optic (Emanem) - with John Edwards (double bass); Tincture (Musica Genera) - with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Michael Zerang (percussion)
Out May: Chris Burn Ensemble - Live in Szczecin (Musica Genera)
For more detailed info on John Butcher's discography, tour information and article links, go to the Butcher page at European Improv
Recent or selected recommended John Butcher's recordings:
News From The Shed (Acta, 1989)
Frisque Concordance Spellings (Random Acoustics, 1993)
Butcher/Durrant/Russell Concert Moves (Random Acoustics, 1993)
Spontaneous Music Ensemble A New Distance (Acta, 1994)
John Butcher/Vanessa Mackness Respiritus (Incus, 1995)
John Butcher London and Cologne - Saxophone Solos (Rastascan, 1996)
Fred Van Hove t'Nonet Suite for B... City (FMP, 1997)
Chris Burn's Ensemble Navigations (Acta, 1997)
Polwechsel Polwechsel 2 (HatHut, 1999)
John Butcher / Gerry Hemingway Shooters and Bowlers (Red Toucan, 2001)
John Butcher Fixations (14) Solo Saxophone Improvisations 1997-2000 (Emanem, 2001)
John Butcher / Derek Bailey / Rhodri Davies Vortices and Angels (Emanem, 2001)
Polwechsel Polwechsel 3 (Durian, 2001)
John Butcher / Phil Durrant / Peggy Lee Intentions (Nuscope, 2001)
Chris Burn's Ensemble Horizontals White (Emanem, 2002)
Andy Moor / Thomas Lehn / John Butcher Thermal (Unsounds 2002)
John Butcher / Mike Hansen / Tomasz Krakowiak Equation (Spool, 2003)
John Butcher Invisible Ear (Fringes, 2003)
Derek, can't you put a picture of John on the home page instead of that silly cartoon?
Posted by: jon abbey at December 19, 2005 9:01 PMAgreed. And the article is as pointless as the image. This is WAY out of date - NFTS will be reissued on Emanem, not UMS, the discography stops ages ago. I don't see any point running old news, sorry. Unprofessional, lads, unprofessional. I expected better.
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 19, 2005 10:59 PMI like the cartoon as part of the great offbeat visual style Derek brings to the site.
I don't think the article is pointless and it's always worth hearing the thoughts of someone as brilliant as John Butcher, but even while enjoying the quick read my first reaction was simply "this adds nothing to the magnificent interview Dan has up in PT and seems somewhat of a formality for Butcher". It's nice to have these things in the archives.
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at December 19, 2005 11:42 PMI'm not out to plug the PT article as such (though it does give John a bit of extra room to expand on his ideas - I'm not normally a fan of soundbite interviews but Tom tends to do them quite well); my complaint is more that it's old news.. If someone posted an interview here with Jon Abbey dating from 2003 you can imagine how out of date it would read to seasoned Baganauts. It seems clear to me that Butcher's work has moved on quite a bit since this was penned (not that that invalidates what he has to say in general): his own Weight Of Wax label and the duo with Toshi Nakamura on it are major developments. My point is that Bagatellen is, admirably, one of the sites where "you hear it first!" thanks to dedicated new music hounds like Brian O and Derek (many's the time I've thumped the table here - "damn, Olewnick got his review out before mine over at the other site!" :)) - especially true of free improv (this also connects to my comments on your review of Jack's Clang elsewhere, Mike). There's room for archive material - in the archives! Meanwhile, I'm still with Jon regarding the jolly butcher (and I can imagine what JB himself might say about it)
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 20, 2005 12:44 AMWow, this is a bit of a surprise. The interview clearly states “March 2003” both in title and preamble. I suppose I can empathize with the complaints regarding its relative datedness, but the charge of “unprofessional”? C’mon, are you serious? I agreed to publish all of Tom’s archive essentially as is (w/ only minor structural edits) & I intend to honor that pact. The Shipp conversation that’s slated for sometime next week is also from ’03 & a lot’s changed in his career as well. I think the discerning reader can pretty easily bring his or herself up to speed on the subject’s doings over whatever interim we’re talking about (ie. PT’s more thorough & recent confab). Far as the lead image, fixed to coincide with Butcher’s supposed serious-mindedness.
Posted by: derek at December 20, 2005 2:30 AM"but the charge of “unprofessional”? "
Of course it is not an up to date interview, but it deserves reading. I am sure that a lot of Bagatellen readers can get some information from it.
BTW, JB is more recognizable in the new drawing :-)
Posted by: Jacques Oger at December 20, 2005 3:49 AMYeah OK I'll withdraw the "unprofessional" bit - it was breakfast time and I hadn't had my Cheerios yet
BTW I'm trying to post a comment on the Scherf piece but I don't seem to be able to find the "Post A Comment" box at the foot of the article
I think Cliff disabled the Comments function on the Scherf. I'm off to spend quality time with my bowl of Rice Chex & raspberry yogurt ;)
Posted by: derek at December 20, 2005 5:11 AMAt five o clock in the morning? You one sick puppy, bro.
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 20, 2005 5:28 AMDan - I'm not sure if pointless and/or unprofessional are correct terms. I would simply say, the article is somewhat outdated [just over 2 years old, at that] but as Derek pointed out, that's clearly indicated in the heading somewhere. [I guess, lucky for me I didn't pull a truly old, mid 90's Butcher piece...that would've raised one too many eyebrows!] Likewise, discography is outdated and it's not meant to represent a complete of Butcher's work. It's simply a pick of my personal highlights from Butcher's past.
Derek - I love the cartoon. Truly timeless!
FWIW, many of the interviews that appear here (and many that appear elsewhere as well) don't see the light of day until long after they took place. That's life in the publishing biz.
But, as it's come up, I want to go back before 2003 for the Jon Abbey interview. I don't think readers should miss the part where he and Tilbury just laughed and laughed at my now ancient comments about the piano being limiting and my suggestion that investigating electronics might make sense for him.
Hey, change is good! ;>}
Posted by: walto at December 20, 2005 7:56 AMthe cartoon still seems totally inapproapriate to me, no idea why you can't simply use a picture of John. by that logic, an interview of me would have a picture of a church on the home page? that just seems unnecessarily cutesy, and will keep some people from reading it who otherwise might (who won't even notice it on the home page).
Walt, your comment came right after what ended up being the strongest AMM set of the 10 or 12 I saw, and was specifically regarding what you regarded as an unfair balance in musical possibilities between the three musicians, saying that John should play keyboards like you. to me, it totally missed the point of the perfect balance of those three at their best, and yep, I'm still chuckling a little recalling it now.
Posted by: jon abbey at December 20, 2005 9:00 AMWe look forward to cracking photos of a forest fire (for Chris Burn), a rhinoceros (for Walter Horn), a bottle of Belgian beer (for Dominic Duval), a terrier (for John Russell), a bowl of fruit (for Don Cherry), a blizzard (for Michael Snow), a housepainter (for Gustav Mahler), a brush (for Johannes Brahms), a stream (for JS Bach), a pullover (for Nate Wooley), a florist's (for Jon Rose, or come to think of it, Jack Rose), a swamp (for Warne Marsh), a medieval lord (for Joey Baron), a passionate embrace (for Charlotte Hug), a zoo (for John Cage), a Japanese car (for Aki Onda), a ferret (for Weasel Walter), a worm (for David Grubbs), a barren hillside (for Andy or Thurston Moor(e) or Simon Fell), and a shot from the Nuremberg Trials (for Heiner Goebbels)
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 20, 2005 9:22 AM"a shot from the Nuremberg Trials (for Heiner Goebbels)"
nice! :)
Posted by: jon abbey at December 20, 2005 9:30 AMDan - I think a more appropriate photo for Michael Snow would be a set of Canadian geese.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at December 20, 2005 9:36 AM"to me, it totally missed the point of the perfect balance of those three at their best, and yep, I'm still chuckling a little recalling it now."
As I continue to chuckle at your opacity on this matter. Tilbury (sensibly) played no more than about 1/5 of that set, as acoustic piano would have been a distraction. (Unless sitting in silence is now considered playing. Ah well, c'est la guerre.)
Anyhow, my point was only that your comments back then, whether laughable or right as rain, would certainly continue to be welcome here today!
"Tilbury (sensibly) played no more than about 1/5 of that set, as acoustic piano would have been a distraction."
he didn't just play piano during that specific set, he spent some time walking around on the side of the stage, scratching a metal box on the wall with a stick among other things. your "1/5" seems like a vast overstatement, which I suppose I could check against my recording of that set, but I don't think either of us really cares.
Posted by: jon abbey at December 20, 2005 9:48 AMI meant "played the piano." But yeah, as I said, it's all ancient history now.
I'm right, though. I'm always right. ;>}
Posted by: walto at December 20, 2005 9:59 AM“the cartoon still seems totally inapproapriate to me, no idea why you can't simply use a picture of John.”
Here’s a plain & simple idea/reason for you: I didn’t want to. ‘Sides there’s a perfectly fine picture of John at the top of the interview page proper.
“… and will keep some people from reading it who otherwise might (who won't even notice it on the home page).”
This is ridiculous.
Dan, you get crackin’ conducting/locatin those interviews & I’ll get crackin’ on the slew of image searches necessary to fill the slots :)
Posted by: derek at December 20, 2005 12:44 PMDerek - I'm with you on this. There are plenty of head shots of J. Butcher, while not enough cartoons of other [real] butchers. I think it's a great idea to continue with these sorts of images for upcoming installments.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at December 20, 2005 1:59 PMI like this game....
Maybe we can also have a picture of Skegness in February for Bhob Rainey, a couple of motorbikes for Utah Kawasaki and Akio Suzuki, The inside of an ear for Kevin Drumm, a row of farm buildings for Tim Barnes, a piece of Indian bread for Pita, a chocolate coated peanut for Sachiko and Erik M, another shot of the Nuremberg trials for Jeph Jerman and a still from Lassie Come Home for Joe Colley? :)
FWIW I quite like the pic on the front page. I feel I know the illustrator but cant pin a name on it. Its a daft pic maybe, but really not worth the worry.
Posted by: Richard Pinnell at December 20, 2005 4:11 PMLondoner Walter Dorin.
Posted by: derek at December 20, 2005 4:54 PMI was just at my local butcher shop earlier this evening on a social visit and I must say I enjoy looking at Derek's picture because it reminds me of the wonderful aromas of smoking and aging meats I was just whiffing. A good clean old-fashioned butcher shop is a really uplifting environment and I think the illustration really captures the charm in a way that resonates with me. I like it better than the previous illustration Derek had up because the newer one has more personality in the guy's expression. It's a very peaceful feeling of a craftsperson in their native element. You know, call me crazy, but the guy in this picture actually even looks a little bit like, um, er, nevermind...
I had another point to make about Dan's list (besides acknowledging its great cleverness and entertainment value), something about how "butcher" is a more evocative word than the others and hence more suited to this kind of wordplay, but instead of trying to dredge that thought up and wrap it nicely for the Commentellen, all these thoughts about red juicy slabs of flesh from healthy ruminant/grazing animals is making me hungry, so I think I'll go treat myself to a little beef sashimi right now from the freezer stash and move on to other Bags threads I've been neglecting...
A crystal goblet for Phil Glass, a map of Germany ca 1933 for Steve Reich, a packet of washing powder for Henry Purcell, a hedge of brambles for Gavin Bryars, and for our friends from the GRM how about a sports car for Luc Ferrari, a packet of grated cheese for Bernard Parmegiani, a bowl of watercress for Francois Bernard Mache, a selection of fresh herbs for Messrs Ellis, Pomerory, Alpert, Robertson and Bushler, not to mention Stefan Dill, Phil Minton a shot of Morrissey, Marr, Rourke and Joyce for the (four) Smiths: Roger, Jimmy, Stuff and Patti (what a fuckin ace band THAT'd be)
MAP: "A good clean old-fashioned butcher shop is a really uplifting environment"
Hell, I'm not even a vegetarian, but I beg to differ.
Posted by: Brian Marley at December 21, 2005 6:37 AMI lived in the States for two years and never saw anything remotely resembling "a good clean old-fashioned butcher shop". A good clean supermarket aisle, more like. Enjoy your sashimi - get chowin' on them growth hormones! GMOs! GMOs! Moooooo mooooo moooooooooooooo
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 21, 2005 9:50 PM"I lived in the States for two years and never saw anything remotely resembling 'a good clean old-fashioned butcher shop.'"
They're all over New York, Mr. Gratuitous Holier-Than Thou Insult-Meister, or at least they used to be--Kurowycki's in the East Village, for example...
Be honest: have you ever been in a butcher shop? I suspect most of your shopping is done at Safeway.
Posted by: Meat Puppet at December 22, 2005 6:27 AMHey Brian and Dan, if you're ever across the pond around Pennsylvania, I'll show you in person that the good stuff still survives in today's industrially-corrupted world and that, yes, they can be inspiring and feel like a proper part of the cycle of life... Hidden away and rare such places are, but they do exist...
Dan, nothing but grass goes into my meat, so your silly remarks are N/A.
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at December 22, 2005 7:03 AMHumble butcher shops in industrial first-wave German boom cities (Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Chicago to a lesser extent) are fucking awesome. I could spend hours in a good one.
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at December 22, 2005 7:49 AM"They're all over New York, Mr. Gratuitous Holier-Than Thou Insult-Meister"
Yeah, well at least I'm not afraid to give my real name, tête de bite.
"Kurowycki's in the East Village, for example..."
Yes that's REAL fuckin Middle America isn't it? Try and find one in Spangler Pennsylvania, chum.
"Be honest: have you ever been in a butcher shop? I suspect most of your shopping is done at Safeway."
FYI, Mr Meat Muppet, I was in one about 15 minutes ago, and I do all my shopping at small places within easy walking distance of home. The Meat Puppets were a fucking great group too, so unless you're one of them yourself (in which case why hide the fact?) don't drag their reputation in the dirt by nicking their name as a cute pseudonym. Merry Christmas, enfoiré.
My, aren't we touchy today...
So "Dan Warburton" is your real name, huh? Like that means anything to anyone. For all you know, "Meat Puppet" is *my* real name.
Have a merry one yerself, loser...
Posted by: Meat Puppet at December 22, 2005 8:57 AMPeace on earth, goodwill to all men, eh? Well if Mom and Dad were dumb enough to choose Meat as a first name, there's not much I can say. Cheers, Meat!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at December 22, 2005 9:17 AMDan - agreed, Meat Puppets were a great band - from their debut as far as "Huevos". After that, I'm afraid they concked out.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at December 22, 2005 10:56 AMyes, agreed
the cartoon is just soooooooooo stupid
yes, agreed
the cartoon is just soooooooooo stupid
can't say it often enough..........
Posted by: cornelis at December 23, 2005 5:57 AMYou're wasting your breath, wingnut.
Posted by: narew ramsh at December 23, 2005 3:47 PMthat "wingnut" is cor fuhler, and having worked a fair amount with john b., he realizes how especially stupid that cartoon is to illustrate an interview with someone who takes their work as seriously as john does.
we should all be such wingnuts...
Posted by: jon abbey at December 23, 2005 3:54 PMHow about speaking for yourself, Jon, instead of presuming to speak for others. As I hope is clear, I’ve nothing against John, nor Cor either. Positing that the “cartoon” somehow undermines or insults the “seriousness” of Butcher’s work or person still strikes me as ridiculous. I’ve met him several times and on each occasion found him a friendly & congenial fellow. By the way, if we’re going to continue picking nits, technically, it’s not a cartoon, it’s a painting. I’m beginning to think Cliff has the right idea when it comes to turning off the “Comments” function on certain entries. :-)
Posted by: derek at December 23, 2005 4:28 PMSpeaking of totally inappropriate, silly, pointless, unprofessional and especially stupid, don't you think it's about fucking time to update the lemon-red link, DT? What would Chris think (and I can imagine what he himself might say about it)?
Derek, you're too good a guy and too talented a writer to have to deal with this. Life is too short; hand the keys to the first poor sap who'll take 'em, and walk away.
Posted by: Chris Kelsey at December 23, 2005 6:49 PMI don't think it's a big deal, I just don't agree. I had let it go, just pointing out who "Cornelis" was to the person who dismissed his input.
as for the link updating, that's the main reason I never added a link page, it's a pain in the ass to keep updated and not piss sites off that you don't add. why don't you volunteer to keep the list current instead of being a whiny bitch, Schaumann?
nice to see you again, Chris. will you be leaving this post intact?
Posted by: Jon Abbey at December 23, 2005 7:11 PMHard to believe sometimes the shit that's tossed around here. And hardly a word about the interview or Butcher himself. Buncha ninnies.
Posted by: al at December 23, 2005 10:27 PMWhy don't you volunteer to post your own interview with John B. from 3/03 and post your own picture atop it? Lighten up, Francis. Derek spends a lot of time with this site and I appreciate what he has to say yay or nay.
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at December 23, 2005 10:35 PMthere's not much to say about the interview, it's a bit perfunctory and pretty outdated at this point, as Dan said. it's a shame that John put the kibosh on the interview he did with Nick Cain for Opprobrium, as I'm guessing that got past the public persona he tends to put on for these things to the hard-hitting, opinionated artist he really is.
as for John's work, he remains my favorite sax player in the world, his solo set in the midst of a bunch of predominantly electronic quartets during AMPLIFY 2004 in Berlin was jawdropping, so impressive. he told me the other day he has a duo disc with Christof Kurzmann scheduled for April on Potlatch, and the first disc with the new Polwechsel personnel (Butcher/Dafeldecker/Moser/Beins/Brandlmayr) is also scheduled for April on Hat Art, really looking forward to both of those.
Posted by: jon abbey at December 23, 2005 10:38 PMJon, give it a rest.
Posted by: al at December 24, 2005 2:34 AM"and the first disc with the new Polwechsel personnel is also scheduled for April on Hat Art"
Hope it's true, but I remeber that the new (now rather old) Efzeg disc was scheduled for 2004 on HatOLOGY, and where is it ?
Posted by: tadk at December 24, 2005 2:41 AMi heard the bitcher (oops!) butcher/kurzmann duet here in berlin a few months back and of the four butcher performances i have witnessed (beyond those traditional tub outtings with the candlestick maker and the baker) i think of it as the least ineteresting. i should underscore that i hope no one will take it personally if i say i am weary of improv saxophone vocabulary "as such" and although he contributes some novel timbres--mostly in relation to the degree of sustain (in contradistinction to the grain of the sound) and is obviously "in control" (especially of feedback modulated by the horn) it is the more repressed aspect of said control that sent this concert careening headlong into a kind of doldrum is the only word that springs to mind for me. i think the g4 that night in particular was not putting out much vibe. and the musical interaction was hard to discern (and i was in the front). strangely enough, on the same bill, paul hubweber and a fellow who's name escapes now on electronics did a set i rather enjoyed, a more clattery type of turbulent improv (hubweber likes to clang his horn's bell with a mute occassionally) but certainly more musically engaged. if you ask anyone who knows me, you'd probably hear them say that i'd prefer the former over the latter but on this night it was just the opposite. --jg
Posted by: j.ff gb.r.k at December 24, 2005 4:20 AM"it is the more repressed aspect of said control"
This is one of my favorite facets of John's approach. I saw him last winter (+ feedback) w/Robair and it was kind of boring, but in '01 he played a bluegrass hall in rural Missouri solo tenor and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I couldn't move the entire time.
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at December 24, 2005 10:06 AMtadk - I presume Werner had other priorities in mind for this year. One of those was a re-issue of "One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye" - one of Taylor's glory moments from late 70's. Wasn't Pauline Oliveros put on the back-burner as well?
As for numerous occassions I had in seeing John play live over the years, there was nothing that I remember that even came close to beating News From The Shed. Taking into consideration numerous other performances - those solo, in Minton's quartet, various duos, trios, etc - NFTS puts everything else into another perspective. Bar none, one of the finer "super groups" in the world of improv.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at December 24, 2005 7:38 PM"a bluegrass hall in rural Missouri"
everything's better out in the sticks
but i've my share of musical "miracles" since retruning to berlin, not least of which was annette krebs in a rock band
maybe because i'm a guitarist and love glissandi i prefer the first polwechsel over the subsequents and interest dropped off for me with buthcer's entry despite i think he is a clever fellow. keep in my mind i tried my damndest to convince so-called "progressive" music organizers in albuquerque to bring the butcher polwechsel there during that now fateful tour when i heard they were hitting austin. and the failure to get that done kind of sealed the resolve to move on...
Posted by: j.ff gb.r.k at December 25, 2005 2:08 AMYou should release that broken tractor stuff. I loved that.
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at December 25, 2005 9:51 AMhttp://www.sounddogs.com/results.asp?Type=&CategoryID=1022&SubcategoryID=8
Posted by: gbrkjff at December 26, 2005 4:04 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................