Recorded live at Cafe Oto, London, on May 26th 2016 Lights features the trio of John Butcher on saxophones, Thomas Lehn on analogue synthesizer and John Tilbury on piano. The same trio had recorded the studio album Exta at City University Music Studio in June 2012, that album also being released on Fataka. In February 2016, a trio of Butcher, Lehn and pianist Matthew Shipp recorded live at Cafe Oto, the resulting album Tangle also being released on Fataka. Butcher's links with Tilbury dated at least back to 2008 and the recording Trinity (Matchless) with AMM comprising Tilbury and Eddie Prevost (during Keith Rowe's temporary absence). So, for Lights, Butcher, Lehn and Tilbury were familiar with each other and had experience together.
Without naming names, Tilbury had said that some improvising players play for too long and do not pay enough attention to what others are playing. He suggested that an improvising musician should not play for more than a third of the time available. True to his views, there are long periods when Tilbury does not play and, when he does, he plays sparse piano chords or single notes which are atmospheric. Butcher and Lehn's playing is louder than Tilbury's, but it is just as restrained and atmospheric as the pianist's.
The three players' contributions fit together and complement each other perfectly. None of the three sounds as if he is playing too long or too loud. Throughout, all contributions can be clearly heard. The album's four tracks, entitled "Pilot," "Flood," "Arc" and "Sky" to cleverly fit in with the album title, range in length from 7:43 to 18:31 and total 56 minutes. Louder sections, such as those in "Arc", when all three play flat-out together, add drama to the music but do not outstay their welcome. As a whole, the music here will make enthralling listening no matter how often it is heard. This is classic improv at its best.
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