Un curioso nesso tra Mike Westbrook e Martin Davidson sta in un lontano particolare autobiografico - si parla del 1969 - rivelato dallo stesso Richard Williams durante il suo omaggio pubblico offerto in apertura della giornata dedicata al compianto fondatore della Emanem domenica scorsa a Londra e organizzata in due distinti appuntamenti presso Cafe Oto e Vortex: ora è riportato anche nel post per il suo The Blue Moment, For Martin Davidson.
"Martin Davidson, who died just before Christmas at the age of 81, was a valued friend of improvised music in Britain and elsewhere. Most significantly, he ran the Emanem label, which made its debut in 1974 with Steve Lacy’s first album of unaccompanied soprano saxophone pieces. Emanem went on to amass a catalogue of new and archive vinyl releases featuring the first generation of London-based improvisers - John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Paul Rutherford and so on - and then, following its re-emergence as a CD label in the mid-’90s, of their successors and many others. At Café Oto and the Vortex many of those artists performed in celebration and commemoration of Martin’s life."