21 febbraio 2024

 

Inizia domani l'attesa residenza artistica di Charles Hayward presso il Cafe Oto a Londra, con un programma articolato in tre giorni ricco di momenti solistici e collettivi tra cui spiccano la ripresa del suo Begin Anywhere, una rara riunione del trio Albert Newton con Pat Thomas e John Edwards e l'attuale quintetto Abstract Concrete, qui a conclusione di una breve ma intensa stagione di concerti e viaggi. L'atmosfera si annuncia festosa e vivace, con l'intervento di amici e illustri ospiti, turbata però dalla notizia della recente scomparsa di Trefor Goronwy, compagno di Hayward negli anni Ottanta nelle avventure siglate This Heat e soprattutto Camberwell Now: "We both worked together with Stephen Rickard for 5 years, 1982-87, briefly with the quartet version of This Heat and then in one of the most intense forms of collective concentration and intent I have ever experienced with Camberwell Now. After the group split up we spoke rarely and conversations and meetings focussed mostly on remastering and re-issues of Camberwell Now although there was a brief period when some songs were shared with people, not sure how many of us but I had conversations with others about how gorgeous, achingly beautiful, radically slow, distinctive the unreleased songs were and how to get people to hear them but Trefor seemed reluctant to take the new songs further. I'm still asking myself if I should share links to Soundcloud of those songs."