E tra le belle cose in calendario in questo periodo al Pannonica di Nantes (Francia) c'è anche un incontro pubblico domani sera con Aymeric Leroy sui temi più classici al centro del suo libro L'école de Canterbury (Le mot et le reste, 2016).

Dans une présentation émaillée d’extraits sonores et vidéo, Aymeric Leroy retrace les origines et l’âge d’or de ce courant particulièrement fécond et inclassable que fut l’école de Canterbury dont l’écho reste perceptible. Un panorama dans lequel on croise des figures tutélaires comme Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine ou Henry Cow. L’occasion de rappeler que certaines des musiques actuelles les plus passionnantes ont pris racine dans des expériences pionnières entreprises il y a maintenant un demi-siècle…

https://www.pannonica.com/programmation/ecole-de-canterbury
https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury
https://hibou-anemone-bear.blogspot.com/ouicentfoisoui
https://cfedit.flib.fr/lemot/pdf/feuille_3026.pdf

 

Per pochissimo non si incrociano di nuovo gli itinerari di John Greaves e Fred Frith, attualmente in terra francese negli stessi luoghi nello stesso periodo: a Nantes, presso Pannonica, il secondo suona questo fine settimana con Anil Eraslan e Tom Malmender, mentre il primo interviene domani assieme a Michel Edelin, Sophia Domancich, Simon Goubert, Sylvain Kassap e Stéphane Kerecki in Echoes of Henry Cow.

Ouvert à l’automne 1994 par l’association Nantes Jazz Action, Pannonica est la scène nantaise de jazz et de musiques improvisées. Elle fait le pari de la découverte et de l’émergence, qui contribuent à son rayonnement international. Venir au Pannonica, c’est d’abord descendre des escaliers et pénétrer dans une salle en sous-sol. Un air de New York fantasmé. Pannonica, c’est ce sol jaune et ces tables bleues, son bar et la baronne présente derrière le comptoir depuis plus de 25 ans. Pannonica, c’est une scène qui permet au public de regarder les artistes dans les yeux. Un lieu à dimension humaine ne rassemblant jamais plus de 200 personnes en version debout ou 140 en version cabaret. Un lieu chaleureux où il fait bon écouter et voir du jazz, en buvant un verre et pourquoi pas, en profitant d’une petite expo.

https://www.pannonica.com

 

E dello specialissimo concerto tenuto a Palermo la settimana scorsa da Tim Hodgkinson, Chris Cutler e John Greaves assieme ad alcuni musicisti impegnati nelle attività dell'associazione Curva Minore - propostisi come Curva Minore Youngsters, per l'occasione - c'è ora traccia su YT.

https://www.youtube.com/cmy

 

Concerto specialissimo - anche per il costo del biglietto, ahimè - dei Magma con l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo oggi pomeriggio nella lussuosa sede del Teatro dell'Opera appunto a Monte-Carlo. Per il gruppo è l'ultima uscita del 2022, ma KoSmik muZik già sa di qualche appuntamento tra non molto, nel nuovo anno. À suivre...

Depuis 1969, Magma s’est imposé avec une musique unique, à la croisée du rock, du jazz et de l’avant-garde. Fondé par le batteur démiurge Christian Vander, Magma se démarque très vite de ses contemporains avec une polyrythmie puissante et une langue inventée, le kobaïen. L’influence de Magma s’étend sur plusieurs décennies et à travers le monde, surprenant aussi bien le public chinois que celui du Hellfest, où il fit d’ailleurs un triomphe en 2016. Groupes et modes passent, peu restent et durent. Et pour cette soirée, Magma s’unit avec l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo pour une rencontre inédite.

https://www.magmamusic.org
http://kosmikmu.blogspot.com

 

Ospiti senza troppo preavviso al mini festival BBmix a Boulogne-Billancourt (Francia) ci sono questa sera i Pere Ubu in assetto Moon Unit, con Alex Ward, Keith Moliné e Gagarin assieme a David Thomas. A loro si unisce per l'occasione Rodolphe Burger. Anticipa l'evento una breve presentazione in podcast presso UbuDub. 

Mené par le chanteur David Thomas, Pere Ubu (Moon Unit) est un projet qui vise à remodeler les chansons du catalogue de Pere Ubu et à introduire de nouveaux matériaux et des travaux en cours. Groupe d’art rock avant-gardiste, Pere Ubu est actif depuis 1975 et fait partie des groupes de rock indépendants les plus innovateurs avec les Residents. Le Moon Unit, comme son prédécesseur conceptuel, David Thomas and the Two Pale Boys, s’appuie sur l’improvisation «sans l’indulgence plinky-plonk qui donne à l’improvisation une mauvaise réputation» pour étendre les possibilités du groupe. The Moon Unit est composé de David Thomas (chant), Keith Moliné (guitare), Gagarin (électronique), Alex Ward (clarinette, guitare) et occasionnellement de l’insaisissable Jack (thérémine). Nous nous réjouissons de cette immense surprise de dernière minute pour le BBmix 2022, la dernière venue du groupe en région parisienne à la Semaine du Bizarre datant de maintenant quelques années. Modern dance!

https://bbmix.org/programmation/pere-ubu-moon-unit
https://ubudub.podbean.com
https://vimeo.com/771646203

 

Le musiche di Jonathan Coe, magnificamente interpretate dall'Artchipel Orchestra guidata da Ferdinando Faraò, sono ora in un cd allegato al numero di novembre di Musica Jazz. I brani sono tratti dal concerto che Coe e l'Artchipel tennero insieme l'anno scorso a Milano, il 30 ottobre: I Would If I Could (But I Can't), Suspended Moment, Erbalunga, Looking For Cicely e Spring In My Step. Per risentirli dal vivo si dovrà aspettare il mese prossimo, nel frattempo è possibile incontrare l'autore alle presentazioni pubbliche del suo recentissimo Bournville (Feltrinelli, 2022) in programma in questi giorni.

https://www.musicajazz.it

 

Le musiche di Mike Westbrook interpretate da uno dei suoi più validi e fedeli collaboratori, partner in numerosissime occasioni in studio e in concerto nell'arco di oltre quarant'anni, il sassofonista e clarinettista Chris Biscoe: l'album si intitola Music Is ed esce ufficialmente oggi per Trio Records, otto brani tutti piuttosto noti arrangiati per quintetto, con Dave Whitford, Jon Scott, Mike Outram e Kate Williams. Su Bandcamp c'è anche un brano aggiuntivo, una seconda lettura di Wasteground And Weeds.

Mike Westbrook is one of the most important composers in jazz with a huge body of work from small band jazz through big bands, cabaret, fusion, chamber works, opera, settings of poetry, creative re-workings of Rossini and The Beatles’ Abbey Road, while always retaining his unique character.Chris Biscoe has worked with Mike and Kate Westbrook since 1979, from Mama Chicago and The Cortege through On Duke’s Birthday, London Bridge is Broken Down, Bar Utopia, Art Wolf and many other shows. Their closest and most enduring collaboration is The Trio, which has toured extensively and produced four records.

The idea behind Music Is is a simple one: take some of these great pieces out of their context and play them with a small jazz group as you might an Ellington, Monk or Gershwin song. Arrangements are simple, or even created in the studio in partnership with input from the members of the quintet. The title track, Music Is, appears twice, in its original ballad tempo, and in a spontaneous trio recasting as a medium tempo waltz. There are also two unaccompanied sax tracks, one of them a multitrack improvisation for alto sax, alto clarinets and field recording of street sounds.

https://www.chrisbiscoe.co.uk

 

I primissimi anni dell'Ottocento William Blake li trascorse a Felpham, nel West Sussex, e il piccolo cottage in cui visse - dove tra l'altro concepì Milton e i versi del suo celeberrimo inno Jerusalem - è attualmente in fase di restauro: se ne occupa da tempo la Blake Society londinese, che spera di ultimare i lavori entro il 2027, in tempo per le celebrazioni del bicentenario della morte del sommo poeta, pittore e incisore. E' proprio nella St James’s Church in Piccadilly, e a sostegno delle iniziative della Blake Society che lì ha la sua sede, che Mike Westbrook presenta domani sera l'amatissimo The Westbrook Blake, evento principale della serie Visions and Voices-Echoes of William Blake, proposto per l'occasione in versione senza ensemble vocale: al fianco di Mike ci saranno Kate Westbrook, Phil Minton, Karen Street, Billy Thompson, Chris Biscoe, Steve Berry e Matthew Bourne.

https://blakesociety.org/product/westbrook-blake

 

E' andato in scena ieri all'Iklectik a Londra uno speciale omaggio a William Blake elaborato dalla sassofonista Sue Lynch sulle indicazioni proposte in Search and Reflect da John Stevens e prendendo spunto dai luoghi - vicinissimi a dove si trova oggi il club - in cui Blake visse con la moglie Catherine sul finire del Settecento. Coinvolti anche il Lo-fi Improvised Music Ensemble e due danzatrici della London Butoh Dance Company, seguendo una trama di immagini e testi originali creati dal sommo poeta, pittore e incisore: "Threads of William Blake’s poetry and illustrations echo through my life from my Dad’s new hi-fi system in the 1970’s, playing ‘The Sick Rose’, with Peter Pears/Benjamin Britten. I hear Phil Minton singing Westbrook’s version of ‘Did Those Feet In Ancient Times’, as I cycle towards Iklectik, underneath the arches and sense a spiritual beauty of Blake’s images shining from the mosaics, created by Southbank Mosaics."

https://iklectikartlab.com/william-blake-celebration

 

Dopo Verlaine, Apollinaire. E prima o poi, Rimbaud?

'L’art doit avoir pour fondement la sincérité de l’émotion et la spontanéité de l’expression: l’une et l’autre sont en relation directe avec la vie qu’elle s’efforcent de magnifier esthétiquement', disait Apollinaire. Ce propos si juste, illustre à point nommé le projet de ce nouvel album poético-musical produit par Radio France, Zones, qui a confié au compositeur John Greaves le soin de mettre en musique quelques fragments de la poésie de Guillaume Apollinaire provenant du recueil Alcools.

Le compositeur qui met en musique un texte poétique, est dans une position délicate, celle d’un créateur à part entière qui tisse son monde adossé à la création d’un autre; visiblement, cette posture stimulante sied à John Greaves qui s’est par le passé acquitté d’un travail similaire autour des mots de Paul Verlaine (Verlaine Gisant, collection Signature Radio France, 2015) - une symbiose entre les mots d’Apollinaire et le monde musical de John Greaves qui aurait enchanté le poète, ayant pour habitude de concevoir ses poèmes en y accolant des mélodies de comptines, procédé que son ami Max Jacob appelait 'sa petite musique'. A cette célébration poétique et musicale, John Greaves convie ses complices de longue date: Jeanne Added, Himiko Paganotti, Olivier Mellano, Vincent Courtois, Sylvain Lemaitre, Bertrand Belin et Laurent Valero.

https://www.radiofrance.com/les-editions/disque/zones

 

Qualche settimana fa è tornato disponibile via Bandcamp l'album che Geoff Leigh e Frank Wuyts affidarono a No Man's Land nel 1988, senza suscitare in verità grandi clamori: From Here To Drums. Lo segnala lo stesso Leigh, ironico e pungente abbastanza - malgrado il difficile periodo personale - da osservare a un certo punto, a proposito delle recenti manovre HN che lo hanno bellamente snobbato: "The Musical Event Of The Decade has now been downsized to The Event Of The Year"...

"Released in 1988, this is a collaboration between myself and Frank Wuyts of Aksak Maboul fame, plus guest appearances from Phil Miller, Byard Lancaster, Michel Berckmans, and a host of friends from Brussels and Rotterdam. This somewhat neglected offering is from what I used to call my 'Metaphysical Desert Period' - the search for new sounds and styles being the only consistent factor."

https://geoffleigh.bandcamp.com/from-here-to-drums

Intanto per i fan degli Henry Cow - quelli veri - sarà di conforto la notizia che Bob Drake sta lavorando (sodo) per 'a new archival HC collection for ReR, previously unknown live recordings which have surfaced in the past few years'. Oltre naturalmente all'atteso box antologico di Chris Cutler.

 

Tutt'altro contesto quello in cui si inserisce il concerto dei Nostri domani a Palermo, dove per un mese intero Curva Minore rinnova la memoria e l'esempio di uno dei suoi protagonisti più vitali, Lelio Giannetto (1961-2020): Solo per Lelio.

https://www.curvaminore.org

 

La battuta non è nuova - risuonò a Schiphorst (Germania) a un Avantgarde Festival qualche anno fa - ma torna buona anche per domani a Piacenza: This Is Not Henry Cow.

 

Avrebbe compiuto ieri settant'anni Philip Jeck, scomparso impovvisamente lo scorso marzo. Lo ricorda l'etichetta Touch pubblicando due emozionanti inediti tratti da suoi concerti a Torino e a Liverpool: Resistenza.

“The impact Jeck makes with his limited means is hugely, billowingly poignant… it evokes a simultaneous sense of persistence and decay, both a profound sadness and a sense of joy.”

https://philipjeck.com

 

Mentre è tornata disponibile in seconda edizione Conspiracy Theories, uno degli album più belli degli In Cahoots di Phil Miller - uscì su Crescent Discs e MoonJune Records nel 2007 - Herm pubblica anche alcuni brani nelle versioni preparatorie realizzate a fini di studio e in via provvisoria dal solo Miller: le si ascolta al Phil Miller-The Legacy, disposte a fianco delle stesure finali per favorire il confronto. A queste contribuirono in vario modo Simon Finch, Simon Picard, Annie Whitehead, Didier Malherbe, Doug Boyle, Richard Sinclair, Dave Stewart con Barbara Gaskin oltre a Fred Baker, Pete Lemer e Mark Fletcher.

https://philmillerthelegacy.com/music/phil-demo-nov-04-project

 

Philippe Renaud ricorda Mike King nelle note di copertina che accompagneranno la pubblicazione ufficiale, tra qualche settimana, dell'album Home Brewed di Elton Dean, Steve Miller e Pip Pyle per iniziativa di British Progressive Jazz: "You have in your hands an improbable disc, which should never have seen the light of day, unless its "owner" unearthed it from his numerous archives. This owner was called Mike King, an extraordinary sound engineer, capable of transforming any poor quality soundtrack into a jewel for the ears… you can hear his work on many records of the American label Cuneiform (among others), but also on his own label, Reel Recordings, hard to find now since Mike decided to go to another universe to see if he could meet musicians as interesting as this trio… and yet! What energy was capable of distilling this magician, visionary and follower of new forms of music distribution, in order, he said, to better remunerate the musicians directly..."

https://mailchi.mp/bfb25c344c53/press-release-16711737
https://hibou-anemone-bear.blogspot.com/2022/11/blog-post_02.html

 

Tutte le pubblicazioni che l'Ecm ha dedicato a Meredith Monk nella propria New Series, dal celebre Dolmen Music a oggi, sono raccolte in un prezioso box che esce giusto in tempo per festeggiare l'ottantesimo compleanno dell'artista la settimana prossima: The Recordings. Auguri!

The Recordings, a box set edition compiling all Meredith Monk ECM New Series discs to date, is issued on the occasion of the composer and singer’s 80th birthday. With Dolmen Music in 1981 Meredith became the first singer to be the front person on an ECM recording. Included here are the albums Dolmen Music, Turtle Dreams, Do You Be, Book of Days, Facing North, ATLAS, Volcano Songs, mercy, impermanence, Songs of Ascension, Piano Songs, and On Behalf of Nature. Each album is a revelation. This beautifully designed box set incorporates a 300-page book reprising all original liner notes, as well as new texts and interviews. Additionally the book includes an introductory essay by Frank J. Oteri, “The Worlds of Meredith Monk”, an autobiographical text by Meredith titled “The Soul’s Messenger” and a preface by Manfred Eicher. Plus: many photographs (some previously unpublished), quotes from the press, archival documents, and more.

https://www.meredithmonk.org
https://www.ecmrecords.com/the-recordings-meredith-monk

Quattro appuntamenti da qui a febbraio per la nona edizione della rassegna Alterazioni, curata magistralmente da Massimo Giuntoli a Lainate (Mi) presso la Sala della Musica di Villa Litta. Inizia domani proprio Giuntoli con il gioioso zibaldone di My Favourite Songs.

La nona edizione di Alterazioni, rassegna di musiche innovative ideata e diretta dal musicista Massimo Giuntoli, si articola in quattro appuntamenti, distribuiti tra novembre 2022 e febbraio 2023, che riconfermano la dimensione prevalentemente cameristica e le scelte eterodosse che hanno caratterizzato la rassegna fin dalla prima edizione. Nella Sala della Musica di Villa Litta prenderanno vita progetti strumentali e vocali che si avvarranno di amplificazione e di rielaborazione elettronica, o che beneficeranno in acustico del peculiare riverbero generato dal prestigioso ambiente settecentesco che ospita gli eventi in programma.

https://www.sempionenews.it/alterazioni

 

Sembra senza sosta l'attività di Alan Jenkins con la sua Cordelia Records, sempre più presente anche in digitale tramite Bandcamp: nuove uscite con Chrysanthemums, Creams, Kettering Vampires e massiccio recupero di precedenti pubblicazioni in edizioni aumentate, raddoppiate, alternative, riviste o totalmente rinnovate con Deep Freeze Mice, Ruth's Refrigerator, Thurston Lava Tube o a proprio nome. Tra gli ultimi titoli, l'allusivo Minds as Different from those of Humans as Human Minds are from those of Spiders.

https://cordeliarecords.bandcamp.com

 

Con la pubblicazione del quarto e ultimo volume, Rhapsody & Filigree, è giunta a compimento la fantastica collezione di Anthems & Antithets per opera di Brian Woodbury: presso ReR è disponibile in box l'intera serie, con la speciale aggiunta di un dvd contenente alcune gustosissime versioni in video.

Brian Woodbury is a Los Angeles composer, lyricist and bandleader. He writes art pop, quirky indie songs, post-modern concert music, comedy songs, country music, stage musicals, and music for children’s TV. He has released 12 albums under his own name or one of his ensembles. Most recently he completed the 4-volume Anthems & Antithets magnum opus with the release of Volume 4: Rhapsody & Filigree, an album of art songs, experimental pop and progressive rock. Completed over the pandemic, each volume in the Anthems & Antithets series is a double album in a distinct musical mood: comic, confessional, political and arty. 

https://tinyurl.com/bwoodbury
https://brianwoodbury.com/music/anthems-antithets

 

Raccolte, catalogate e presentate da Irwin Chusid e Chris Reisman, massimi esperti in materia, brillano di nuova luce le immagini degli album saturniani di Sun Ra - copertine, etichette, bozze e note illustrate - finalmente raccolte in unico volume a Seattle (Stati Uniti) da Fantagraphics: Sun Ra: Art on Saturn.

Sun Ra: Art on Saturn is the first comprehensive collection of all Saturn printed covers, along with hundreds of the best hand-designed, one-of-a-kind sleeves and disc labels, decorated by Ra himself and members of his Arkestra. Essays by Sun Ra catalog preservationist Irwin Chusid, noted Ra scholar John Corbett, and Glenn Jones, who in the 1970s signed Ra to a distribution deal that put countless homemade covers into circulation, add unique insights into the interplanetary life and work of Sun Ra and his Saturn partner Alton Abraham. Historians have written extensively about Sun Ra and his music. This book is a tribute to the covers and to the uncredited visual artists and their rich imaginations. From the simple to the baroque to the absurd, the covers that sheathed Ra's discs reflect the tenaciousness of a genius who refused to compromise or relinquish control of his destiny.

https://www.fantagraphics.com/sun-ra-art-on-saturn

 

E bene han fatto alla Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red a ripescare in questo stesso periodo anche 1969, l'affascinante esordio di Julie Driscoll solista - anche se in folta (e ottima) compagnia - all'indomani dell'intensa stagione di successi con Brian Auger and The Trinity.

Eager to break away from the heavy burden of being in the public spotlight, Julie Driscoll wrote a series of fine compositions and collaborated with her soon-to-be husband Keith Tippett on their arrangements. The album sessions featured contributions from some of the finest musicians on the British jazz and rock scene, including guitarist Chris Spedding, Elton Dean, Nick Evans and Mark Charig (Soft Machine), Karl Jenkins and Jeff Clyne (Nucleus) and the members of Blossom Toes. Featuring outstanding pieces such as ‘A New Awakening’, ‘Those That We Love’ and ‘Break Out’, 1969 was an artistic triumph, but was destined to remain unreleased until 1971, due to the collapse of Giorgio Gomelsky’s Marmalade Records. This edition has been newly remastered and is a most welcome reissue of a true classic.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/julie-driscoll-1969

Ora, a novembre, il piacere di ritrovare la forza e la vitalità di settembre e ottobre insieme: Septober Energy, opera prima e unica della leggendaria creatura centopiedi concepita da Keith Tippett agli esordi degli anni Settanta, nella nuova versione siglata Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red tratta dai nastri originali - e non dai vinili - dell'edizione Rca/Neon.

Celebrated free jazz pianist and composer Keith Tippett’s legendary jazz/progressive rock ensemble Centipede, a group of more than 50 musicians formed in 1970 to perform his extended work Septober Energy on the concert stage. The musicians involved were the finest performers in the worlds of British jazz and progressive rock and featured members of Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean, Nick Evans, Mark Charig), Nucleus (Ian Carr, Karl Jenkins, Jeff Clyne, Roy Babbington, John Marshall) King Crimson (Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Boz Burrell) and Blossom Toes (Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw) and vocalist Julie Tippett. In April 1971 the group was signed to RCA Records’ “progressive” imprint Neon, and the album Septober Energy was recorded at Wessex Studios in London in June 1971. Robert Fripp would concentrate his talents solely on the role of producer of the sessions and a number of vocalists including Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, Zoot Money and Maggie Nichols would also bring their abilities to the sessions. The resulting album was issued in October 1971. This new Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly remastered from the original RCA Records master tapes and includes an illustrated booklet with a new essay by Sid Smith.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/centipede-septober-energy

 

Delle poche copie ancora rimaste, a qualche fortunato ne è toccata una autografata direttamente da Mike: Love and Understanding-Citadel​/​Room 315 Sweden '74, nella sua primissima versione dal vivo registrata nel 1974 per la radio svedese da Mike Westbrook con lo Swedish Radio Jazz Group e con John Surman illustre ospite, pubblicata un paio d'anni fa in tiratura limitata dalla londinese My Only Desire Records.

The original RCA recording of Citadel/Room 315 is an hour-long suite of eleven tracks, beautifully composed and arranged by Mike Westbrook that is rightly considered to be one of the high-points of Brit-jazz from that era. Mike was commissioned by Sveriges Radio to write the work with Surman as lead soloist. He then travelled to Sweden to perform and conduct it for the first time, live in concert. This recording has never been released until now and presents a wildly different recording to the later LP, the rawness and freedom of the playing contrasting strongly with the more polished studio album. Surman - playing baritone and soprano saxophone, plus bass clarinet - is in sumptuously freewheeling form throughout, soaring between wild expression and wonderfully controlled playing, perfectly complimenting Mike's compositions that gracefully move from jazz-rock, ballads, to tightly composed orchestral themes and more avant-garde moments. Backed by the 16-piece Swedish Radio Jazz Group led by saxophonist Arne Domnérus and Argentinian trumpeter Americo Bellotto, the group comprised the finest players on the Swedish scene, including trumpeters Jan Allan and Bertil Lövgren, guitarist Rune Gustafsson, pianist Bengt Hallberg and drummer Egil Johansen. Between them they had worked with everyone from George Russell and Stan Getz, to Monica Zetterlund and Jan Johansson. 

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/mikewestbrook/love_understanding

https://myonlydesirerecords.bandcamp.com/love-and-understanding

 

A ricordare le circostanze e le problematiche che hanno accompagnato il concerto di London Bridge is Broken Down a Zurigo il 10 novembre 1990 - la cui registrazione è ora ufficializzata in London Bridge Live in Zürich 1990 - e quello a Londra il giorno prima c'è uno scritto dei Westbrook apparso all'epoca sullo Smith’s Academy Informer, ora riproposto sul WestbrookJazz Notice Board. Vi si legge tra l'altro: "A phone call from Zürich from Tommy Bodmer initiated a chain of events that seemed at first to be totally separate, but were to become interwoven with the London plans. Tommy intimated that the International Zürich Jazz Festival might be interested in another Westbrook project this year (the last was the highly successful Westbrook-Rossini in 1986). Various ideas were mooted with the Festival's director Susanna Tanner, who was looking for something to tie in with a Shakespearian theme. Unfortunately, the Band's repertoire includes no settings of Shakespeare (although 'Isaura', from Rossini's Otello could be indirectly connected) - so things were at an impasse. Then Susanna heard about the plans for London Bridge, and having previously expressed her interest in presenting the work in Zürich at some point, finance permitting, the logic of the situation took over. With the two festivals spanning the same period in November, consecutive dates for London and Zürich were agreed."

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/londonbridge-zurich-cd.shtml
https://westbrookjazz.co.uk/smithsboard/Nov2022

 

L'attesa per l'annunciata versione zurighese di London Bridge Is Broken Down - eseguito dal vivo per l'ultima volta nella sua interezza nel novembre 1990 - termina oggi con la pubblicazione della registrazione effettuata in quella occasione dalla radiotelevisione svizzera SRF. Esce in doppio cd con il titolo London Bridge Live in Zürich 1990, per Westbrook Records. E trattandosi di uno dei principali capolavori dei Westbrook si può voler tornare anche all'originale di studio pubblicato nel 1988 dalla Virgin Venture, in vari formati, e ripreso vent'anni dopo da BGO Records, magari per qualche raffronto.

London Bridge is Broken Down is a two-and-a-half-hour composition for voice, jazz orchestra and chamber orchestra, some fifty performers. A collaboration between composer Mike Westbrook and vocalist/librettist Kate Westbrook, the work was inspired by travelling and performing in the mid 1980’s through a Europe at that time divided by the Berlin Wall. It includes settings of poetry in French, German and English. Its five movements are entitled London Bridge, Wenceslas Square, Berlin Wall, Vienna and Picardie, ‘our personal map of Europe’. 

First performed in Amiens in 1987 with Le Sinfonietta de Picardie, London Bridge was recorded at the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris and released on Virgin Venture. The UK premiere of London Bridge took place on November 9th 1990 at St Anne’s Church, Limehouse in the Jazz Lunarcy Festival and involved the Docklands Sinfonietta, directed by Rupert Bond. The following day the ensemble flew to Switzerland to appear in the Zürich International Jazz Festival. The new album London Bridge Live in Zürich 1990 is taken from the ‘live’ recording of that concert made for SRF radio. This was to be the last time that London Bridge was performed in its entirety.

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/lb_zurich.shtml
https://mikewestbrook.bandcamp.com/london-bridge-live-in-zurich-1990

 

Si rinnova all'Alter Schl8hof di Wels (Austria) l'appuntamento con il festival Unlimited, curato nell'edizione di quest'anno dalla performer vocale Agnes Hvizdalek. Quindici concerti pomeridiani e serali da domani a domenica proposti con il titolo The Future Starts Now: "Die Zukunft beginnt jetzt. Immer. Eine gute Erinnerung für ein Festival, das den Augenblick des Musikschaffens feiert und der Kunst der Improvisation den hohen Stellenwert einräumt, den sie verdient."

Music Unlimited is the internationally renowned music festival in Wels, Austria. Since 1987 it has been exploring the limits of listening in all possible directions. An indescribable range of music is offered to the curious, national and international visitors: From jazz, classical, improvised music, to rock, hip-hop and unlimited. The audience not only appreciates the open and hybrid approach to music, but also the unique and worldwide praised atmosphere of the festival. With much enthusiasm, passion and a deep conviction the festival team works year after year to bring new developments in contemporary music to Austria. "Here you look out over the horizon of the well-known, because you want to reach the over and above possible." (Siegfried A. Fruehauf, film director)

Every year the big stars of the international music scene as well as up and coming talents are invited to play at the festival. Thereby inspiring new discoveries aside traditional listening habits are guaranteed. Every second year Music Unlimited is curated by a famous musician, former curators include Fred Frith, Jon Rose, Zeena Parkins, Otomo Yoshihide, The Ex, Carla Kihlstedt, Peter Brötzmann, Okkyung Lee, Christof Kurzmann, Mary Halvorson, Joe McPhee, Magda Mayas and Kazuhisa Uchihashi. In 2022 the festival celebrates its 36th edition and takes place from the 4th to 6th of November.

https://www.waschaecht.at/music-unlimited

A pochi giorni dal suo annuncio, l'inedito Home Brewed di Elton Dean, Steve Miller e Pip Pyle - prodotto da Matt Parker per British Progressive Jazz - è tra i titoli più richiesti in lista d'attesa presso Bandcamp, dove si può prenotarne una copia e dove un brano è già disponibile. 

https://britishprogressivejazz.com/album/home-brewed

 

Una sessantina di opere di Peter Blegvad e di Chloe Fremantle, sua moglie, presentate da Jenny Blyth alla Royal Watercolour Society Gallery a Londra, da oggi al 12 novembre: Light Seeking Light.

There is an innate sense of joy in Chloe Fremantle’s painting, the effect of colour and patterning in her work for us as viewers. Her subjects range from her immediate surroundings to reflections on life, the environment and politics. Seeds, pods and petals of flora inform her mark-making, from the micro of cellular structures to the macro of curves and contours in the landscape. Over forty years Chloe has created an alphabet and language of painting that is instantly recognizable and distinctly her own in both palette and form. Memories and emotions through association pervade her compositions so that the delight one enjoys on first inspection is challenged and enriched as we explore the complexities. The overall effect is a fusion of balance on the canvas, the product of a lifetime of painting.

As teacher and broadcaster of many years, illustrator, musician, songwriter and author, it follows that Peter Blegvad creates a kaleidoscope of Art that reflects a lifetime of extraordinary creativity. His work is imbued with humour and intellect in equal measure. Preoccupations and narrative are woven into Blegvad's 'Flightless Kites' like dreams. Whether figurative or abstract each of these 3D 'construct paintings' is suspended in a state of 'meditative' stasis. Blegvad is also showing a portfolio of work on paper including black and white portraits in ink, and a trio of mysteriously charged landscapes in muted acrylics.

https://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk/light-seeking-light
https://www.jennyblythfineart.co.uk/gallery/peter-blegvad
https://www.jennyblythfineart.co.uk/gallery/chloe-fremantle