Freedom of the City 2003 London

Nathaniel Catchpole · March-25th-2003, 09:50 AM

Freedom of the City 2003, Conway Hall London

SATURDAY AFTERNOON (May 3rd 15:00)

IAN MITCHELL & DAVID RYAN (bass clarinets) with TANIA CHEN (piano)

9!: NATHANIEL CATCHPOLE (tenor sax), JAMIE COLEMAN (trumpet), ALEX JAMES (piano), ROSS LAMBERT (guitar / pocket trumpet / preparations), JOHN LELY (piano), SEBASTIAN LEXER (piano / computer), MARIANTHI PAPALEXANDRI (moving objects), EDDIE PRÉVOST (percussion), SEYMOUR WRIGHT (alto sax)

Hubbub: FRÉDÉRIC BLONDY (piano), BERTRAND DENZLER & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET (saxophones), JEAN-SÉBASTIEN MARIAGE (guitar), EDWARD PERRAUD (drums)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SATURDAY EVENING (May 3rd 19:30)

Sakada: RHODRI DAVIES (harp), MARK WASTELL (double bass), MARGARIDA GARCIA (electric double bass), MATTIN (computer feedback), EDDIE PRÉVOST (percussion)

KEITH ROWE (guitar / electronics) & JOHN TILBURY (piano)

FJQ: PAUL RUTHERFORD (trombone), HARRISON SMITH (tenor sax / bass clarinet), TONY MOORE (cello), EDDIE PRÉVOST (drums)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY AFTERNOON (May 4th 15:00)

The Remote Viewers: DAVE PETTS (tenor sax / composer), LOUISE PETTS (alto sax), ADRIAN NORTHOVER (soprano sax)

ROLAND RAMANAN (trumpet / wooden flutes), MARCIO MATTOS (cello), SIMON H FELL (double bass), TONY MARSH (percussion)

NEIL METCALFE (flute) & JOHN RANGECROFT (clarinet)

ANGHARAD DAVIES, SUSANNA FERRAR, SYLVIA HALLETT & PHILIPP WACHSMANN (violins)

Shock Exchange: CAROLINE KRAABEL (alto sax / voice) & JOHN EDWARDS (double bass)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY EVENING (May 4th 19:30)

LONDON IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA
Pieces directed by Knut Aufermann, Terry Day, Simon H Fell, Caroline Kraabel, David Leahy, Marianthi Papalexandri, Roland Ramanan, Paul Rutherford, Pat Thomas, Dave Tucker & Philipp Wachsmann and an improvisation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MONDAY AFTERNOON (May 5th 15:00)

LOL COXHILL (soprano sax), LU EDMONDS (electric bass banjo), KNUT AUFERMANN (electronics)

MILO FINE (clarinet / piano / percussion), HUGH DAVIES (electronics), PAUL SHEARSMITH (trumpet), TONY WREN (double bass)

Free Base: ALAN WILKINSON (alto & baritone saxes), MARCIO MATTOS (double bass), STEVE NOBLE (percussion)

IST: RHODRI DAVIES (harp), MARK WASTELL (cello), SIMON H FELL (double bass)

Lunge: GAIL BRAND (trombone), PHIL DURRANT (electronics), PAT THOMAS (piano / electronics), MARK SANDERS (percussion)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MONDAY EVENING (May 5th 19:30)

JOHN RUSSELL (guitar) & STEFAN KEUNE (sopranino & alto saxes)

VIV CORRINGHAM (voice) & ANGHARAD DAVIES (violin)

TONY WREN (double bass), LARRY STABBINS (soprano & tenor saxes), HOWARD RILEY (piano), MARK SANDERS (percussion)

JOHN BUTCHER (soprano & tenor saxes) & JOHN EDWARDS (double bass)

ALAN TOMLINSON (trombone), STEVE BERESFORD (electronics), ROGER TURNER (percussion)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Conway Hall is in Red Lion Square in central London near Holborn Underground station

Ticket prices:
£10 (£6 concs) for one concert
£17 (£10 concs) for one day
£40 (£25 concs) for season ticket

Uli · March-25th-2003, 10:19 AM

Nat,do you know if it will be webstreamed like in previous years?

Nathaniel Catchpole · March-29th-2003, 05:28 AM

Not sure Uli. Will let you know closer to the time, either way.

Brian Olewnick · March-29th-2003, 11:53 AM

Nathaniel, wish I could be there. Good luck with the show.

Met Anthony Guerra last night at Tonic, btw--a fine fellow.

michaelr · March-29th-2003, 01:50 PM

MILO FINE (clarinet / piano / percussion), HUGH DAVIES (electronics), PAUL SHEARSMITH (trumpet), TONY WREN (double bass) looks like an odd combo. I can't say that I would have thought of Milo Fine and Hugh Davies together. But who knows...?

Nathaniel Catchpole · April-12th-2003, 08:09 PM

Yeah. Anthony's a good bloke.

Never heard Milo Fine (or Hugh Davies to my knowledge), so that set'll be interesting, hopefully.

Nathaniel Catchpole · April-30th-2003, 01:19 PM

This Weekend!!

Jon Abbey · May-2nd-2003, 04:41 PM

see you there, Nat!

Sergio Zamora · May-3rd-2003, 12:34 AM

Break a leg and have fun, Nat!

Sergio Zamora · May-5th-2003, 09:47 PM

How'd it go, Nat? How was your set?

Nathaniel Catchpole · May-6th-2003, 04:36 PM

Set was pretty good. Not as good as our previous gig though, if a very different set up (the Goldsmiths gig was about 2 hours, this was 35-40 minutes), we were set up in straight line on a stage that sends the sound in funny directions, so everyone could only really hear those immediately on either side of them, which means it could have sounded either much better or much worse out front. No webstream (or funding) this year, but it was recorded. So there ought to be at least one Jazz on 3 broadcast from the festival.

I suppose since it's out pretty much properly now, I can say there's a CD of the group I played with: 9! none(-t), Matchless MRCD54. Won't have made distributors yet, but you can mail order from the matchlessrecordings (usual prefix and suffix website) or from me, although I only have three copies at the moment, so don't expect super fast service.

I'd be interested to hear Abbey's comments on the festival (not my bit since I believe he was somewhere between the plane and a hotel bed at that point.) Good to see you BTW and nice to meet the new woman.

Sergio Zamora · May-6th-2003, 07:49 PM

Good to hear, Nat. Awesome news about the cd. I hope to hear it soon.

Steve Reynolds · May-7th-2003, 12:18 PM

were you able to see/hear Gail Brand's band "Lunge", Nat?

Nathaniel Catchpole · May-8th-2003, 03:17 PM

Yes I saw them. Mixed response. Best situation I've heard Brand in, but prefer to see Mark in other settings. Didn't think either Pat Thomas' or Durrant's contributions really fitted in - Pat uses these nasty preset keyboard sounds (which I know is the point, but still), and Durrant seemed a bit disconnected. It was a good set, but seemed forced or something, I dunno.

The Alan Tomlinson (bone) Steve Beresford (electronics) Roger Turner (percussion) set, which used the same instrumentation (although Steve Beresford's low-grade electronics are completely different to Thomas' keyboard or Durrant's computer both technologically and sonically) was more enjoyable.

Jon Abbey · May-10th-2003, 01:14 AM

my impression of Lunge was roughly similar to Nat's. Sanders stayed in the room for the IST string trio immediately preceding, and evidently wished he hadn't, as he felt he played too sparsely in the first bit of the set. I agree about Thomas' sounds and Durrant not fitting in, in general it's a project that makes no sense to me. I think the four musicians all have decidedly different concepts, and I'm not sure what the point of them playing together is.

I didn't see the Beresford set, a shame because I like some of his older work and have never seen him. the record that Otomo reissued on Amoebic, The Bath of Surprise, is superb.

nice seeing you too, Nat! if Virgin Atlantic hadn't cancelled the earlier flight I booked, I would have made it in time for your set, sorry I missed it. did you see Hubbub? curious what you thought of them if you did. also, were you there for the London Improvisers Orchestra Sunday night? curious about Keith's "concerto" piece for them, haven't heard anything about it yet...

Nathaniel Catchpole · May-10th-2003, 09:44 AM

Saw Hubbub. Interesting group - it's a very, very conventional looking line-up - alto, tenor, guitar, piano, drums. But they played a piece lasting about an hour (at the end of a 3 hour block of music, part of which I'd played, this passed my concentration limit), sections of which were sublime. Very direct and confident - even though I wasn't really able to focus completely, they certainly were, and the sonic detail was interesting, although it took a long time for anything to change. A friend of mine said that they seemed to be trying to get as close to AMM with that line-up as they could, and that they got away with it because they were French (dunno if this was a reference to Gallicism, or if it was simply that in Paris they're further removed from their stomping ground). Overall very very good. I just got the CD last night, so I'm looking forward to hearing that. Would have liked to have heard it not having just played a set - in those circumstances the hour+ was a bit too long.

LIO - Although I think it's generally a good thing that there's a large improvising group in London, I have reservations about the LIO in that it seems to reduce some excellent players to near automatons - less than the sum of its parts or something.

There were a couple of pieces that featured Rowe, although the main one was Beresford's, which I understood to be mainly conductions for the orchestra ( no prearranged rules) and Rowe free to do what he wanted. It was the most enjoyable thing of the evening, and Beresford's great to watch in that situation (almost balletic), but invariably the orchestra was louder than the soloist, so the most you got from Rowe was some humming (at least where I was standing at the back minding the door), apart from occasional interjections, and a techno/dance airshot towards the end, which seemed deliberately obtuse - bombast to counter bombast or something. There was also a Lol Coxhill/Rowe duo in the middle, which I doubt I would have seen in any other circumstances (although I'm aware they play together on Irma, which I haven't heard).

What did you think of AMM? - my favorite set of the festival by a long way. And did you catch Sakada?

Jon Abbey · May-10th-2003, 10:14 AM

cool, glad I passed on the LIO night from your description. yeah, I've heard Hubbub on disc, they're not bad. so the Hubbub disc on Matchless is out already? what new Matchlesses are actually out, 9! and Hubbub, is your quintet disc out also?

as for Sakada/AMM, I figured you saw my post on the electroacoustic list, but here's the relevant part again, edited for this forum:

the Sakada set was OK, a little disjointed and unfocused, and I'm not exactly sure what it added up to. it's very easy for many musicians in the scene I work in (very little overlap with FotC, but most of the Sakada musicians are at least on the fringes) to play quiet, inoffensive, pleasant, OK music. for my taste, there has to be something more, the danger of going at least somewhat out on a limb, taking some sort of risk or chance, and this set didn't have it to my ears. I think it's a similar point to the one Eddie was trying to get at in his Wire profile. it was worth it to see Mattin bow his laptop though (literally), pretty entertaining.

next, the scheduled Rowe/Tilbury duo. now, clearly I have a skewed point of view here, both due to my personal taste and the fact that I've spent maybe 100-150 hours listening to the duo since the start of the year, but I couldn't believe that it ended up being a trio set. Eddie played in three of the other five sets that day/night, and since he was the one who invited the duo, I was pretty stunned when it actually happened (as was Rowe, who had no idea until Tilbury invited Eddie up at the beginning of the set, and his drums were lugged back on stage). what ensued wasn't really a AMM set, and it wasn't a Rowe/Tilbury set, but somewhere in between. Eddie laid back a lot, sat out a couple of times, and left the stage when the music was over, allowing the other two to take bows.

the music? keeping in mind I'm judging them against themselves and I had incredibly high (and somewhat specific) expectations, I found it fairly pointless. Tilbury sounded about as bad as he's capable of (again, a relative comment), and Rowe waited for minutes to join him until he heard something worth accompanying. I thought Prevost was a bit tentative, due to the odd is it a duo?/is it a trio? circumstances. anyway, quite disappointing for me, considering I flew over basically to see this one set. at least it pointed up for me yet again how amazing it is that Duos for Doris actually ever came to pass.

Nathaniel Catchpole · May-10th-2003, 11:13 AM

I must have not been getting any electroacoustic e-mails for a while, didn't see any of that. Found Sakada a bit flat overall - have not heard the Mattin/Parlane/Prevost disc, which is apparently very different and a lot more interesting than that set was. I saw the Mattin/Davies/Prevost edition at a loft gig a few months ago, and liked it much more than the FOTC set. With AMM I also found it a bit odd that they invited Eddie, who had said before the festival that he thought he was playing more than enough and was planning to sit out for all but the end of the 9! set. Having said that, it was the most tense set I've seen them play, and I very much enjoyed it. I _was_ sitting there at the beginning thinking "wonder what Abbey will think about this" though.

I have a copy of the Earle Brown chamber music, which just came out. And yes, the Hubbub is on Matchless first I saw of it was at the festival. The quintet disc is on its way, although I doubt you'll like that one much.

Uli · May-10th-2003, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nathaniel Catchpole
. Having said that, it was the most tense set I've seen them play, and I very much enjoyed it. I _was_ sitting there at the beginning thinking "wonder what Abbey will think about this" though.

Wow! As obsessed as I am often accused of being, I am sure glad I am not that fucked.

Jon Abbey · May-10th-2003, 02:32 PM

Uli, I actually thought about you briefly while in London. Mark Wastell has an interview in the latest issue of Sound Projector, and describes a recent release of his (the one on Rossbin) as being by a "sound-conscious quartet of Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, myself and Chris Burn." that was the first time I ever heard that term used to describe this music, and your reaction if it had been broached here crossed my mind and made me smile. and, yes, I think it's a stupid term (not to mention a bad record) and I busted his chops about it.

as for obsession, I've now seen Mr. Rowe perform in seven countries since 1999, US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Japan.

Vince Kargatis · May-10th-2003, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon Abbey
"sound-conscious"
yes, I think it's a stupid term

Personally, I find that term no more misleading, and no less informative than many other suggested descriptions, such as "balanced improv", etc. eai I take as a too-coarse description but functional-enough label which I'll stick with, but I don't have many issues with other descriptions as people see fit.

Nathaniel Catchpole · May-12th-2003, 03:47 PM

Well, having just seen him on his way in, and knowing his reason for being there, not that fucked. Was more concerned with keeping the door to the hall closed etc. once the set started, and listening of course.

Jon Abbey · May-12th-2003, 04:58 PM

Vince, it wasn't as if Mark was trying to name a genre, he was describing one particular project of his with that one word. I've heard a lot of his recent music, numerous projects, and that quartet is certainly no more "sound-conscious" than any other of his projects, plus the actual sound quality of that recording is really lifeless, so it's an especially funny usage to me.

I stopped trying to come up with a genre name a while ago, but when judging them, I think it's necessary to consider the opposite. I think balanced/unbalanced is a much more precise dividing line than sound-conscious/sound-non-conscious.

Dennis Gonzalez · May-26th-2003, 02:59 PM

Maybe in his mind "sound conscious" wasn't in quotes and he was merely describing something that's in his head when he plays with that particular grouping. I've played with many a musician who is not sound conscious, and it's no fun.

Thanks for all the description/reviews Nat.

overheard somewhere in music land: "I was reading a post by Dennis González, and he uses this term - 'description/reviews'. What a dolt!" : )

Nate Dorward · May-28th-2003, 05:25 PM

Nat--just going back to your post from the 10th I spotted this:

Quote:

LIO - Although I think it's generally a good thing that there's a large improvising group in London, I have reservations about the LIO in that it seems to reduce some excellent players to near automatons - less than the sum of its parts or something.

& wanted to say yeah I can't figure out really what the point is, judging by my one exposure (the LIO gig at F of hte City in 2002). You have all these great players in the band but it's a very large group & the compositions are usually pretty sketchy conductions, so often very little of the skills of the players is actually drawn on or audible. Oh well. I'd said as much in a review of the festival at the time, & am amused to see that the recent CD release of a selection from last year's gig on Emanem contains a brief rejoinder to the criticisms I'd voiced. Anyone hear the CD? Mildly curious as to how it sounds on disc (though very much cherrypicked: it was an incredibly long concert, & it's probably just as well the CD only has maybe 1/2 of it or less).