For the SME, improvisation wasn't just a musical outlet; it was also a guiding dictate of ensemble design. John Stevens’ imagination had few, if any, parameters when it came to instrument and musician combinations. The three groups documented on this new Emanem archival release illustrate the breadth of his creativity while also highlighting some of his more formalized approaches to group improvisation. At over a half hour in duration, "Familie Sequence" from the summer of '68, is a challenging proposition at face value. A small horn chorale of Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutherford and Trevor Watts joins Stevens, on drum kit, and vocalist Norma Winstone for a foray with a few pre-performance prescriptions. The piece starts with a series of overlapping tones from Winstone and the horns, bracketed by arrhythmic and sometimes muffled beats from Stevens' pared down drum kit. Winstone's wordless vocals work well in collusion with the horns and are often quite beautiful. The first third of the piece stays largely free of any discordant features and the floating effect produced by the absence of a consistent grounding element is at once liberating and somewhat disconcerting. A second section moves into more familiar free improv territory, but the final third is given over to what Stevens called "Sustained" and "Click" pieces, the recipes for which are described by Stevens' in the disc's notes, but are also explained by the shorthand of their names. Clipped drones of varying durations and timbres ferry the piece to conclusion.
Also hovering around a half hour, "Quartet Sequence," from the spring of '71, builds from a more familiar free improv framework with Stevens and Watts joining bassist Ron Hermann and Julie Tippett on guitar and vocals. Herman's busy strident bass and Stevens more prominent percussion give the piece a stronger rhythmic root than its predecessor and also reveal audible free jazz influences. These elements are especially prominent in the middle section where the four engage in an incendiary Aylerian blowout. Tippett’s vocals make for another surprising fit with the instruments, though her approach is quite apart from and more assertive than that of Winstone. "Flower" features Stevens and Watts in a duo that is given over mainly to minimalist, spatially gauged taps and pops. It's only in the final minutes that the musicians expand the palette beyond metronomic repetition and into more populous and aggressive free playing. while I can appreciate the rubric behind Stevens’ intent, its application works better in the service of five instruments rather than two. Martin Davidson's accompanying notes do a thorough though succinct job of relaying the history behind the music and the disc is definitely a learning experience, one that I would strong encourage any student of the SME to invest.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on April 9, 2007 5:08 AM"it's application"
Watch dem stray apostrophes, bro :)
I actually only got round to listening to this for the first time yesterday sitting in a park behind the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre, and thought it sounded beautiful mixed with the sound of kids in the sandpit. I was also impressed by Hermann's bass - a musician I know nothing about. Maybe Graham can enlighten us - did you run in Ron back then Graham?
Dan:
The two Rons - Herman and Mathewson - were stalwarts of the London scene in the late 60's and the 70's. Much respected sidemen, competent in a wide range of settings and styles, but not as widely known as they should be. Ron Herman played regularly with John Stevens throughout this period.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogres at April 10, 2007 3:58 AMWhoops, that should be Rogers. Had to get up at 6:30 this morning ... three hours earlier than usual.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at April 10, 2007 4:03 AMYou know it's hard out here for a pimp. Thanks, Dan. Bags self-editing policy has always been a bitch, but that's no excuse for the simple apostrophical gaffe. Fixed.
Thanks also for sparking some activity. Things have been mighty quiet since that brief Huey Lewis confab last week.
And gratitude to Graham for the info on Hermann. His bass is a monster on the middle track, full of resounding thwacks and snaps.
Posted by: derek at April 10, 2007 5:02 AMJust listened to this again today, all through once and the Quartet Sequence twice - it's terrific. I know I raved about Quintessence a while back, and not without good reason, but I'm enjoying this just as much. Julie T's simultaneous guitar & voice on QS is fabulous. And Watts is awesome throughout.
Yeah, sorry to moan about apostrophes D - but that's the beauty of Internet journalism.. you can correct mistakes right away! And, as you know, if you spot any bloopers over at the other place, just tell me (that said, Eagle Eye Dorward usually catches most of my cockups before they hit cyberspace :)
OK, I am sold, I am going to pick this up today. So Dan, in your Mengelberg/Delius review in the Wire was "Ludwig Van" a refference to Kagel's FIlm, Kagel's compositon or the German Composer?
I saw the ICP last night. They were great, Delius was incredible what a great musician.
This is indeed an excellent disc, but im surprised and rather disappointed that nobody has picked up on the wonderful cover art. Even by Emanem standards, this is awe inspiring.
Posted by: fred at April 10, 2007 1:16 PMZing!
The wavy watermark looks like the wafting smoke column from a hooka pipe.
Posted by: Cheb Chelias at April 10, 2007 1:49 PMJust a quick bass-related/Dutch-related chime in, since Damon mentioned ICP...
My friend Andy caught ICP in NY and said George Lewis played with them most of the set and 'twas killer indeed. My bass-man Bill Hunsinger caught 'em in Atlanta.
The same Andy brought Wilbert de Joode to New Orleans yesterday for a terrific gig last night at the Dragon's Den with a quartet, then quintet of NOLA musicians (including frequent Dennis Gonzalez collaborator Tim Green on tenor)... Damn good playing and listening from all involved. Wilbert was just amazing as usual..one of my favorite bass players and GREAT to watch at work. In particular love that ripping/horsehair sound of his bowing.
This evening he plays duos with cellist Helen Gillet at a bookstore, then a quartet (with completely different musicians from last night) at the Hi Ho Lounge.
So it's a damn good week. Attendance was strong last night too, so it seems our audience situation is not bad for a half-depopulated city. Frank Gratkowski's week here was also a success.
This SME sounds intriguing, but CD purchases will have to wait 'til after I've paid the taxman.
Posted by: Rob Cambre at April 10, 2007 2:33 PMre: Herman, I bet so many folks from that time, like any other washed away into obscurity. Nigel Morris (while a decade+ later I guess) is one I've always wondered about. He kicked serious ass behind Rutherford. Thanks Graham for the history. And agreed this is some of the best cover art to come from Martin since Fixations 14. I'm going to use "cockups" at work tomorrow at least twice.
http://calyx.club.fr/mus/morris_nigel.html
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at April 10, 2007 4:21 PM"OK, I am sold, I am going to pick this up today."
Heh heh, mission accomplished. Yes Schau the cover art is FUCKING HORRIBLE but we'd better not upset Martin by dwelling on it (fwiw, the worst Emanem cover for me still remains the Chris Burn Ensemble disc Horizontals White). Why oh why couldn't he have used one of those great old Jak Kilby photos? Damn, there must be plenty of fine shots of Stevens up for grabs. Sigh, anyway, go buy and keep your eyes shut
"in your Mengelberg/Delius review in the Wire was "Ludwig Van" a refference to Kagel's FIlm, Kagel's compositon or the German Composer?"
The latter, unfortunately. But it's about time I heard the Kagel piece again, thanks for mentioning it.
Yep, Toby Delius swings! That quartet with Tristan, Han and Joe is a killer outfit.
An excerpt of Kagel's flim Ludwig Van plus some of his other films can be found here:
http://www.ubu.com/film/kagel.html
Yeah, sorry to moan about apostrophes D
Please, moan away, I appreciate it. All of my stuff here goes up with only mine own editorial comb running through the text and it’s a dime-store implement missing many tines.
Re: the cover art. I’m wondering why MD didn’t use any of the snapshots from inside the booklet. The one of Watts & Stevens gracing the back is a beaut: Watts is the spitting image of my pop as a post-doc psychology candidate circa ’67 (soprano added, of course).
Sounds like an excellent week in your neck of the woods, Rob.
Posted by: derek at April 11, 2007 5:52 AMI'd say that the cover art to this one & the Butcher disc is far better than that monstrosity on the Liebman/Bianco disc.............
Posted by: nd at April 11, 2007 9:00 AMDerek: Forgive me too for piping up about details, but I think the correct spelling of Ron Herman's name is just so ... the second "n" appears to be an intruder.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at April 11, 2007 9:30 AMMy mistake too Mr L! Just one N..
Gee, you didn't like "Flower", Derek? Was just listening to it last night before dropping off to sleep & thought it was absolutely stunning stuff. Like some of that very sparse music used for Noh plays... until it morphs into Face to Face-style interplay right at the end.
I'm amazed at Emanem's ability to keep pulling great music out of the archives (as opposed to certain labels that seem to release stuff just because it's lying around).
Posted by: nd at April 15, 2007 4:24 AMNope, Nate. It felt too much like an exercise to me, but I like your Noh comparison.
Speaking of archival Stevens, anyone know if Nick Stephens' Loose Torque label is still putting out stuff? I haven't heard word on any new releases for awhile.
Posted by: derek at April 15, 2007 6:00 PMND: My understanding is that MD's archive at Emanem is a vein far from fully mined. Praise the gods. By releasing this material sparsely and sporadically, he achieves a purpose - that of making it progressively evident how much musical terrain was covered by the 60's - 70's generation of improvisers.
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at April 16, 2007 12:32 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................