The Squid's Ear Magazine


SFE - Simon Fell Ensemble: Positions and Descriptions (Clean Feed)

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 with an ensemble including Tim Berne, Joe Morris, Rhodri Davies, Jim Denley, Alex Ward & Steve Beresford, this amazing work is organized in traditional movements using a very modern and free language.
 

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Personnel:



Clark Rundell-conductor

Jim Denley-piccolo, concert flute, alto flute, bass flute

Andrew Sparling-Eb clarinet, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet

Alex Ward-Bb clarinet

Tim Berne-alto saxophone

Damien Royannais-baritone saxophone, Eb tubax

Chris Batchelor-trumpet

Joby Burgess-tuned percussion, concert percussion

Rhodri Davies-harps

Philip Thomas-piano, celesta

Joe Morris-electric guitar

Steve Beresford-electronics, conduction

Mifune Tsuji-violin

Philip Josep-theremin

Simon H. Fell-doublebass, electronics

Mark Sanders-drums


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UPC: 5609063002300

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF230
Squidco Product Code: 14780

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2011
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardstock foldover
Recorded live at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK) on November 25th, 2007.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Positions & Descriptions was commissioned by Jazz On 3, with funds provided by BBC Radio 3; in particular, this project would not have been possible without the consistent support and undeviating commitment of Robert Abel / Produced by Simon H. Fell / Executive production by Trem Azul / Design by Travassos

"Only in a recording by Simon H. Fell could you find such disparate musicians as Tim Berne, Joe Morris, Rhodri Davies, Jim Denley, Alex Ward and Steve Beresford, coming from the many tendencies existing in the jazz and freely improvised music fields. Fell himself is an example of dexterity: you can find him playing in a variety of contexts, from free jazz to both the old and new schools of the so-called "non-idiomaticism", often incorporating elements of contemporary classical music and even rock. Separately, or all at once.

This is the case in Positions & Descriptions - Composition no 75, another development of his idiosyncratic orchestral concepts; this one resulting from a special circumstance: it was commissioned by BBC Radio 3. The structure of the (open, but complex) score is classical, organized by movements, and these by "positions","commentaries" and "descriptions", with a rondo and a final coda. The relative conventionality of the suite format is contrasted by the materials, and in terms of resources the paradoxes keep moving things along: pre-recorded electronic elements are crossed by solo and ensemble improvisations, an occasional waltz or tango emerges in the middle of something rooted in the minds of Charles Mingus and Pierre Boulez, and free flights have the contraposition of the quotations inserted; for instance, there's a bit of Webern's "Variations for Orchestra Op. 30" somewhere for you to find.

What has all this to do with the tradition established by Duke Ellington? More than you might think. The difference resides only in the fact that this is the big band music of the 21st century. Remarkable!"-Clean Feed Records



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Jim Denley was born in Bulli, Australia in January 1957. Wind instruments and electronics are core elements of his musical output.

An emphasis on spontaneity, site-specific work and collaboration has been central to his work. He sees no clear distinctions between his roles as instrumentalist, improviser and composer.

Collaborations, his radio feature for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, won the Prix Italia in 1989. His interest in radio has continued with the ABC over 17 years. In May 2006 he recorded a program for the ABC in the Budawang Mountains, south-west of Sydney, which has now been made into a CD, Through Fire, Crevice and the Hidden Valley. This received an Honorary Mention in the Digital Musics category of the Prix Ars Electronica 2008. He has been to the Budawangs again to record a new program for the ABC, Co-existence. The ABC will enter the 2006 recordings in Prix Italia 2009.

In 1990 he was a member of Derek Bailey's Company for a week of concerts in London. He co-founded the electroacoustic text/music group Machine for Making Sense.

In 2006 and 2007 he received a Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts to research and develop his concept of Meta instrument. As part of this he formed the group Metalog - they toured Australia July 2008.

He has played throughout Australia, Europe, Japan and the US with artists such as Chris Abrahams, Clare Cooper, Keith Rowe, Joel Stern, Robbie Avenaim, Jon Rose, John Butcher, Otomo Yoshide, Fred Frith, Phil Niblock, Trey Spruance, Clayton Thomas, Tess de Quincy, Axel Doerner, Adam Sussman, Ami Yoshida, Oren Ambarchi, Tony Buck, Ikue Mori, Satchiko M, Malcolm Goldstein and Annette Krebs."

-Australian Music Centre (http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/denley-jim)
10/30/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Andrew Sparling has played guest principal clarinet with many UK orchestras, including the BBC Scottish, Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Sinfonietta, Sinfonia ViVA, New Kent Opera and Grange Park Opera.

Andrew also appears regularly with many of the most important Contemporary Music Ensembles in the UK, including the Almeida Opera, Apartment House, Chroma, Double Image, Ensemble Exposè, Gemini, Lontano and the Michael Nyman Band.

As a soloist and chamber musician Andrew performs regularly with the pianist, Thalia Myers and he has also joined the Brindisi Quartet to perform the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, and also the first performance of Gabriel Jackson's Quintet: In Prairial and Thermidor. Andrew has given solo and chamber recitals in the UK, Europe, USA, the Far East and the Middle East.

Andrew has been invited to give recitals at the London Festival of Chamber Music, run by the English String Quartet, every year since 2001

In May 2000, he made his concerto debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia playing the Capriccio Notturno by the French composer, Nicholas Bacri.

Andrew also performs on period instruments, and plays principal clarinet in Charles Hazelwood's orchestra The Mozart Collective, taking part in the BBC 2 drama-documentary series "The Genius of Mozart" broadcast in 2004. Andrew acted the role of clarinettist Anton Stadler and the photo in Andrew's photo gallery (click on the RHS Photo Gallery link) shows him rehearsing Mozart's Clarinet Quintet with the composer. He has since played principal clarinet with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (including a run of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at Covent Garden, on baroque clarinets), Classical Opera Company, Armonico Consort and the Tallis Scholars."

-Morgensterns (http://www.morgensternsdiaryservice.com/WebProfile/sparling_a_713.shtml)
10/30/2024

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"Alex Ward was born in 1974. He is a composer, improviser, and performing musician. His primary instruments are clarinet and guitar, and he has also performed in public and on recordings on alto sax, piano/keyboards, bass guitar, and as a vocalist. He was based in Oxford from 1992-2000, and since then has lived in London.

His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. As an improviser, he was initially principally a clarinettist (sometimes also playing alto sax), but since 2000 he has also been active as an improvising guitarist. On both instruments, hIs longest-standing collaborations in this field have been with the drummer Steve Noble.

From 1993 to 2001, most of his activity as a composer took place in collaboration with Benjamin Hervé, mainly in the context of the rock band Camp Blackfoot. From 2002-2005, his writing was mostly done solo, and was primarily focused on songs. Since 2006, he has been heavily involved in both solo and collaborative composition, predominantly (though not exclusively) of instrumental music. Much of his writing and performing during this time has been done with Dead Days Beyond Help, a duo with drummer Jem Doulton. He also currently leads a number of bands including Predicate, Forebrace, The Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet, and Alex Ward & The Dead Ends.

He has been a member of many other groups including ensembles led by Eugene Chadbourne, Simon H. Fell and Duck Baker, and has also done various work as a session musician and in collaboration with other media. Since 2005, he has co-run the label Copepod Records with composer/performer Luke Barlow. He does the recording, mixing and/or mastering of most of his own music, and for many of the groups he plays in."

-Sites.Google.com (https://sites.google.com/site/alexwardmusician/biography)
10/30/2024

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"Tim Berne (born 1954) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.

Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist", Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s. His mainstream success has been limited Ð Berne recorded two albums for Columbia Records Ð but he has released a significant body of work over the decades spanning dozens of critically acclaimed recordings.

Though Berne was a music fan, he had no interest in playing a musical instrument until he was in college, when he purchased an alto saxophone. He was more interested in rhythm and blues music Ð Stax records releases and Aretha Franklin, especially Ð until he heard Julius Hemphill's 1972 recording Dogon A.D.

Hemphill was known for his integration of soul music and funk with free jazz. Berne moved to New York City in 1974. There Berne took lessons from Hemphill, and later recorded with him.

In 1979, Berne founded Empire Records to release his own recordings. He recorded Fulton Street Maul and Sanctified Dreams for Columbia Records, which generated some discussion and controversy, due in part to the fact that Berne's music had little in common with the neo-tradionalist hard bop performers prominent in the mid-1980s. Some regarded Berne's music as uncommercial. In the late 1990s Berne founded Screwgun Records, which has released his own recordings, as well as others' music.

Beyond his recordings as a bandleader, Berne has recorded and/or performed with guitarist Bill Frisell, avant-garde composer/sax player John Zorn, violinist Mat Maneri, guitarist David Torn, cellist Hank Roberts, trumpet player Herb Robertson, the ARTE Quartett and as a member of the cooperative trio Miniature.

Recent years have found Berne performing in several different groups with drummers Tom Rainey and Gerald Cleaver, keyboardist Craig Taborn, bassists Michael Formanek and Drew Gress, guitarists Marc Ducret and David Torn, and reeds player Chris Speed.

He is one-third of the group BBC (Berne/Black/Cline) along with drummer Jim Black and Nels Cline of Wilco. The group released a critically acclaimed album called The Veil in 2011.

Berne's complex, multi-section compositions are often quite lengthy; twenty- to thirty-minute pieces are not unusual. One critic wrote that Berne's long songs "don't grow tiresome. The musicians are brilliantly creative and experienced enough not to get lost in all the room provided by these large time frames." "

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berne)
10/30/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Chris gained his first professional experience aged 17 with Dudu Pukwana, at the suggestion of Harry Beckett. He subsequently became a founder member,composer and soloist with Loose Tubes, contributing many pieces to the repertoire of the band from 1984-1990. He was also very active at this time as a member of legendary world music trailblazers 3 Mustaphas 3, as well as enjoying a varied diet of gigs with Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Congolese soukous band Taxi Pata Pata and Ashley Slater's Microgroove.

As a sideman, Chris has appeared alongside many international stars, such as Michael Brecker, Sam Rivers, Hermeto Pascoal, Uri Caine, John Taylor and the Jazz Passengers with Deborah Harry. He has enjoyed a long term playing partnership with altoist Steve Buckley in their bands Orchestra Rafiki, Buckley /Batchelor Quartet and with their award winning international collaboration Big Air, featuring pianist Myra Melford and drummer Jim Black.

The music that Buckley and Batchelor wrote for the Jazz on 3 commission that brought Big Air together subsequently won them a BBC Jazz Award for Best New Work in 2001. Their 2009 release entitled Big Air was described by Brian Morton in Jazz Journal as "the best British jazz record for 20 years". In November 2009 Chris was selected to receive the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers.

He currently leads two groups, Pigfoot which is dedicated to reinterpretations of iconic repertoire from Mozart to Elvis, and the chamber jazz group Zoetic, featuring fellow Loose Tubes guitarist John Parricelli, which he formed to play his own wide ranging compositions.

He also co-leads Total Vibration (with Laura Jurd) dedicated to playing the music of Ornette Coleman, and Zone-B, in which he continues his long and fruitful association with altoist Steve Buckley."

Chris Batchelor-Chris Batchelor Website (http://www.chris-batchelor.com/biog.html)
10/30/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Rhodri Davies was born in 1971 in Aberystwyth, Wales and now lives in Gateshead in the northeast of England.

He plays harp, electric harp, live-electronics and builds wind, water, ice and fire harp installations. He has released four solo albums: Trem, Over Shadows, Wound Response and An Air Swept Clean of All Distance.

His regular groups include: a duo with John Butcher, Common Objects, HEN OGLEDD: Dawson - Davies, a trio with David Toop and Lee Patterson, Cranc, The Sealed Knot and a trio with John Tilbury and Michael Duch.

In 2008 he collaborated with the visual artist Gustav Metzger on 'Self-cancellation', a large-scale audio-visual collaboration in London and Glasgow.

New pieces for solo harp have been composed for him by: Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock, Christian Wolff, Ben Patterson, Alison Knowles, Mieko Shiomi and Yasunao Tone.

In 2012 he was the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grants to Artists Award."

-Rhodri Davies Website (http://www.rhodridavies.com/words/)
10/30/2024

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"Philip Thomas (b.1972, North Devon) specialises in performing new and experimental music, including both notated and improvised music. He places much emphasis on each concert being a unique event, designing imaginative programmes that provoke and suggest connections.

He is particularly drawn to the experimental music of John Cage, Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, and composers who broadly work within a post-Cageian aesthetic. In recent years he has been particularly associated with the music of Christian Wolff, giving the world premiere of his Sailing By in 2014 and Small Preludes in 2009, the UK premiere of Long Piano (Peace March 11), having co-edited and contributed to the first major study of Wolff's music, Changing the System: the Music of Christian Wolff, published by Ashgate Publications in 2010, and currently recording all of Wolff's solo piano music for sub rosa. He is an experienced performer of John Cage's music, having performed the Concert for piano and orchestra with both Apartment House and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as well as most of the solo piano and prepared piano music, including a unique 12-hour performance of Electronic Music for piano

He has commissioned new works from a number of British composers whose ideas, language and aesthetic have been informed in some ways by the aforementioned American composers, such as Stephen Chase, Laurence Crane, Richard Emsley, Christopher Fox, Bryn Harrison, John Lely, Tim Parkinson, Michael Parsons, and James Saunders.

In recent years Philip has pursued a passion for freely improvised music, after significant encounters with the music of AMM and Sheffield-based musicians Martin Archer, Mick Beck and John Jasnoch. He has worked with improvisers in a variety of contexts and recently devised a programme of composed music by musicians more normally known as improvisers as well as others who have been influenced by improvisation in some form. This led to a CD release, Comprovisation, which featured newly commissioned works by Mick Beck, Chris Burn and Simon H Fell. Other CD releases include music by Martin Arnold, Laurence Crane, Christopher Fox, Jürg Frey, Bryn Harrison, Tim Parkinson, Michael Pisaro, James Saunders, Christian Wolff, as well as with improvisers Chris Burn and Simon H Fell.

Philip is a regular pianist with leading experimental music group Apartment House, with whom he has performed in festivals across the UK and Europe. He has also performed with the Quatuor Bozzini, and in duos with Mark Knoop, Ian Pace and John Tilbury (piano duet and two pianos) and James Saunders (electronics).

In 1998 Philip was awarded a PhD from Sheffield University in the performance practice of contemporary piano music. Between 2000 and 2005, he was Head of the Sheffield Music School whilst pursuing an active performing and teaching career. He joined the staff team at the University of Huddersfield in 2005, and became Professor of Performance in 2015. Philip is one of the Directors of CeReNeM, the University's Centre for Research in New Music. He continues to live in Sheffield, where he premieres the majority of his programmes, with his wife Tiffany and children Naomi and Jack."

-Philip Thomas Website (http://www.philip-thomas.co.uk/biog.html)
10/30/2024

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"Joe Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut on September 13, 1955. At the age of 12 he took lessons on the trumpet for one year. He started on guitar in 1969 at the age of 14. He played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. Soon thereafter his sister gave him a copy of John Coltrane's OM, which inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. From age 15 to 17 he attended The Unschool, a student-run alternative high school near the campus of Yale University in downtown New Haven. Taking advantage of the open learning style of the school he spent most of his time day and night playing music with other students, listening to ethnic folk, blues, jazz, and classical music on record at the public library and attending the various concerts and recitals on the Yale campus. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17. Drawing on the influence of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor,Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman as well as the AACM, BAG, and the many European improvisers of the '70s. Later he would draw influence from traditional West African string music, Messian, Ives, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Steve McCall and Fred Hopkins. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music with friends until 1975 when he moved to Boston.

Between 1975 and 1978 he was active on the Boston creative music scene as a soloist as well as in various groups from duos to large ensembles. He composed music for his first trio in 1977. In 1980 he traveled to Europe where he performed in Belgium and Holland. When he returned to Boston he helped to organize the Boston Improvisers Group (BIG) with other musicians. Over the next few years through various configurations BIG produced two festivals and many concerts. In 1981 he formed his own record company, Riti, and recorded his first LpWraparound with a trio featuring Sebastian Steinberg on bass and Laurence Cook on drums. Riti records released four more LPs and CDs before 1991. Also in 1981 he began what would be a six year collaboration with the multi-instrumentalist Lowell Davidson, performing with him in a trio and a duo. During the next few years in Boston he performed in groups which featured among others; Billy Bang, Andrew Cyrille, Peter Kowald, Joe McPhee, Malcolm Goldstein, Samm Bennett, Lawrence "Butch" Morris and Thurman Barker. Between 1987 and 1989 he lived in New York City where he performed at the Shuttle Theater, Club Chandelier, Visiones, Inroads, Greenwich House, etc. as well as performing with his trio at the first festival Tea and Comprovisation held at the Knitting Factory.

In 1989 he returned to Boston. Between 1989 and 1993 he performed and recorded with his electric trio Sweatshop and electric quartet Racket Club. In 1994 he became the first guitarist to lead his own session in the twenty year history of Black Saint/Soulnote Records with the trio recording Symbolic Gesture. Since 1994 he has recorded for the labels ECM, Hat Hut, Leo, Incus, Okka Disc, Homestead, About Time, Knitting Factory Works, No More Records, AUM Fidelity and OmniTone and Avant. He has toured throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe as a solo and as a leader of a trio and a quartet. Since 1993 he has recorded and/or performed with among others; Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Joe and Mat Maneri, Rob Brown, Raphe Malik, Ivo Pearlman, Borah Bergman, Andrea Parkins, Whit Dickey, Ken Vandermark, DKV Trio, Karen Borca, Eugene Chadborne, Susie Ibarra, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell, Roy Campbell Jr., John Butcher, Aaly Trio, Hamid Drake, Fully Celebrated Orchestra and others.

He began playing acoustic bass in 2000 and has since performed with cellist Daniel Levin, Whit Dickey and recorded with pianist Steve Lantner.

He has lectured and conducted workshops trroughout the US and Europe. He is a former member of the faculty of Tufts University Extension College and is currently on the faculty at New England Conservatory in the jazz and improvisation department. He was nominated as Best Guitarist of the year 1998 and 2002 at the New York Jazz Awards."

-Joe Morris Website (http://www.joe-morris.com/biography.html)
10/30/2024

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"Steve Beresford (born 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York. He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such as the toy piano. He has also played a wide range of music. He is probably best known for free improvisation, but has also written music for film and television and has been involved with a number of pop music groups.

Beresford played in Derek Bailey's Company events and in the groups Alterations with David Toop, Terry Day and Peter Cusack, and the Three Pullovers with Nigel Coombes and Roger Smith. He was also a member with Gavin Bryars and Brian Eno of the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

Beresford has continued to play free improvisation with a number of prominent musicians, including Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn, and Han Bennink. He has collaborated extensively with Swiss-American artist/musician Christian Marclay and is an active member of the long-standing London Improvisers Orchestra.

From 2010 he performed various pieces by John Cage, including Indeterminacy with Tania Chen and comedian Stewart Lee, and a performance with Ilan Volkov at The BBC Proms 2012 at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

He has also worked with a number of popular musicians, including Ray Davis, The Slits, Frank Chickens, Ted Milton and The Flying Lizards. In 2015 he performed a duoproject with the upcoming Norwegian singer Natalie Sandtorv at the Blow Out! festival in Oslo, Norway.

He was awarded a Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists in 2012. He is a senior lecturer on the Commercial Music course at University of Westminster.

Beresford's music and his teachings have inspired the musical community in the UK for over a decade. British songwriter and performer Katy Carr cites Steve Beresford's lectures on musical themes associated with Free improvisation, Experimental music, John Cage, musique concrète, Diamanda Galás and The Slits as a source of initial inspiration with regards to the creation of her debut album, Screwing Lies released in 2001."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Beresford)
10/30/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Simon H. Fell (b. Dewsbury, Yorkshire, 13 January 1959) is a bassist and composer; he is primarily known for his work as a free improviser and the composer of ambitiously complex post-serialist works.

Fell began playing double bass in 1973. From 1978 to 1981 he read English Literature at Fitzwilliam College of Cambridge University,[1] an interest that led to ties to many of the poets associated with the Cambridge scene (a later work, Music for 10(0), involves settings of texts by the poet/music journalist/provocateur Ben Watson).

Fell's most notable early group was a group with drummer Paul Hession and saxophonist Alan Wilkinson, a free-jazz trio that was exceedingly fast and furious even by the standards of that genre. Their work was primarily released as cassettes and CDs on Fell's label Bruce's Fingers, including Bogey's and the group's only studio album, foom! foom! Their most sonically extreme statement, however, was the grainily recorded The Horrors of Darmstadt (Shock). (Its title is a sarcastic quotation from a BBC announcer concerning the avant-garde Darmstadt School of composers.)

Other groups in which Fell is or was a member include the free jazz trio Badland (led by saxophonist Simon Rose; initially the drummer was Mark Sanders, with Steve Noble subsequently taking over the role), the improvising string+percussion ensemble ZFP (with Carlos Zingaro, Marcio Mattos and Mark Sanders), and SFQ, a quartet/quintet with changing membership, though clarinettist Alex Ward has been a constant. (Fell's 2001 version of his 70-minute SFQ composition Thirteen Rectangles was broadcast twice by the BBC and subsequently nominated for the 'new work' award in the 2002 BBC Jazz Awards.) In sharp contrast to the uproar of Hession/Wilkinson/Fell, the trio IST (with Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell) was one of the seminal groups in the development of the ultra-quiet aesthetic now generally called "EAI" or "electroacoustic improvisation". Fell has also performed in many other ensembles, including the London Improvisers Orchestra and Derek Bailey's Company Week.

Fell's major sequence of compositions is titled Compilation (to date, four such projects have been issued). Despite the governing title, these are not collections of previous material but new, large-scale works. The musical language makes overt use of serialist procedures (such as tone rows, retrograde structures, &c), as well as many other techniques: extensive studio layering, overdubbing and reordering of material (so that seemingly "live" performances may be the result of carefully edited-together improvisations and/or notated material), and use of aleatoric techniques to "degrade" or distort precomposed structures into new shapes. Free improvisation, rock and jazz all form key parts of the musical language; one section of Compilation IV even includes a simultaneous hommage to Karlheinz Stockhausen and Henry Mancini. The cast of musicians drawn on for these pieces usually includes a mix of classically trained players, jazzers and free improvising musicians, as well as wild cards like the noise guitarist Stefan Jaworzyn. While virtuoso players such as Evan Parker and John Butcher are essential to the projects, Fell often deliberately makes use of amateur or student musicians, too, not as a makeshift but as an intentionally democratizing and less predictable element.

Other large-scale composition projects include:

• his compositions for The London Improvisers' Orchestra (Papers, Happy Families, Kšln Klang, Ellington 100 (Strayhorn 85), Morton's Mobile, Too Busy and Three Mondrians) (1998-2004)
• Kaleidozyklen, a 60-minute piece for improvising double bassist and orchestra (2000)
• Thirteen New Inventions, a major solo piano piece commissioned by Philip Thomas (2005)
• the concert-length BBC Radio 3 commission, Positions & Descriptions (for 18 musicians & prerecorded materials), premiered at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (2007)
• a 1-hour suite for sextet, The Ragging Of Time, commissioned by the Marsden Jazz Festival (2014)
-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fell)
10/30/2024

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"Mark Sanders has played with many renowned musicians including Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Henry Grimes, Roswell Rudd, Peter Brotzmann, Barry Guy, Otomo Yoshihide, Jah Wobble, Sidsel Endresen , Charles Gayle, Peter Evans and William Parker. He works with John Edwards in a duo and with groups including Evan Parker, `Foils` with Frank Paul Schubert and Matthius Muller and groups with Veryan Weston, John Tilbury, Agusti Fernandez and Mathew Shipp. Mark works in a regular improvising duo with John Butcher and also performing John`s composition `Tarab Cuts` which has played festivals in Rio de Janiero, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Glasgow, Bristol and London. In a trio with cellist Okkyung Lee, John and Mark have played in Belgium, France, England and Scotland. He also has a longstanding duo with Sarah Gail Brand which has featured on the BBC`s `The Stuart Lee Show`and in the film `Taking the dog for a Walk`.

He has performed solo for a Christian Marclay exhibition at The White Cube Gallery in London, Evan Parker`s festival`Unwhitstable` in Wroclaw, Poland for `Solos Festival` The 100 Years Gallery London, an improvised music series in Derby and Cafe Oto in London. Working with Christian Marclay in his `Everyday` piece for film and live music, he has performed in Aldeburgh, Ruhr Trienalle, Vienna Bienalle, Holland festival and London`s QEH and has also collaborated with him playing for the film `Screenplay`in London and Lisbon. In situations using composition in one form or another Mark works in various projects including `13 Vices` with Brian Irvine/Jennifer Walshe, Alex Hawkins Ensemble featuring Peter Evans, Simon Fell Ensembe, groups with Hasse Poulsen and Luc Ex , Sarah Sarhandi`s `Both Universe`, Elaine Mitchener`s `Sweet Tooth` and has played in the groups of Shabaka Hutchings including`Sons of Kemet` Conceptual Artist Sam Belinfante collaborated with Mark in his piece `On the One Hand, and the Other` in two exhibitions at Camden Arts Centre, London For Conceptual artist Henrik Hakensen`s film `The End` he has performed as an improvising soloist with orchestras conductedd by Jessica Cottis, playing the music of John Coxon in Glasgow, Sydney and Monte Carlo As a guest with New York`s ICE Ensemble he has performed John Zorn`s `The Tempest` in London and at Huddersfield New Music Festival.

Mark also works in the groups of Paul Dunmall including Deep Whole Trio with Paul Rogers, in duo and `Frisque Concordance` with Georg Graewe , and the ensembles of Mikolaj Trzaska, Uwe Oberg and Peter Jaquemyn. He has performed in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Morrocco, South Africa, Australia, Mozambique and Turkey, playing at many major festivals including Nickelsdorf, Riga, Ulrichsburg, Glastonbury, Womad, Vancouver, Isle of Wight, Roskilde, Berlin Jazz days, FMP, Mulhouse, Luz, Minniapolis, Banlieue Bleues, Son D`hiver and Hurta Cordel."

-Mark Sanders Website (http://www.marksanders.me.uk/biography.html)
10/30/2024

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Track Listing:



1. Movt. I 16:52

2. Who's The Fat Man? 1:18

3. Movt. II 4:47

4. FZ pour PB 6:24

5. Movt. III 13:00

6. Graphic Description 4 3:31

7. Movt. IV 4:08

8. Plusieurs Commentaires de PB pour DR 5:36

9. Movt. V 23:32

Related Categories of Interest:

Clean Feed

Improvised Music
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
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The next angle from the collective Geometry group of Tomeka Reid on cello, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet & flugelhorn, Kyoko Kitamura on voice, and Joe Morris on guitar, exploring their "Geometry" first of "Caves", then "Distance", "Trees", and now "Phenomena", through highly attuned exploration of sonic complexities and intersecting approaches to their respective instruments.
Jurd, Laura / Paul Dunmall
Fanfares And Freedom
(Discus)
Paul Dunmall brings his quartet of Liam Noble (piano), Caius Williams (bass) and Miles Levi (drums) together with Laura Jurd's brass quintet of Jurd (trumpet), Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Alex Paxton (trombone), Raphael Clarkson (trombone) and Oren Marshall (tuba) for a live performance at The Vortex in London, written by Jurd as a commission from the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
Davies, Rhodri / Pierre Gerard
la montagne change le paysage
(Ftarri)
A fascinating free improvising string duo of textures and sonic interaction from UK harpist Rhodri Davies and Belgian guitarist Pierre Gerard, Davies performing on pedal harp and Gerard on acoustic guitar, though the results feel downright electronic through masterful control of their instruments, eliciting sustain, pitch & amplitude changes as they weave unique and compelling tapestries.
Dunmall, Paul / Tobias Delius / Olie Brice / Mark Sanders
No Better Than The Butcher Bird
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
With two reeds--Paul Dunmall on tenor & soprano saxophones & clarinet, and tenor saxophonist & clarinetist Tobias Delius--and the masterful rhythm section of Olie Brice on double bass and Mark Sanders on drums, this superb collective quartet leverages the long relationships between players, particularly the trio of Sanders/Brice/Delius and Dunmall & Sanders' extensive work together.
Barrett, Brad / Taylor Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geologic Time
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
An "auditory exploration of the fragile balance between creation and destruction, echoing the forces that sculpted Earth's geological history" from the collective free improvising trio of two New York luminaries--Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, flugelhorn & trombone and Joe Morris on guitar & effects--with Boston double bassist Brad Barrett, also on cello & effects.
Creiriau y Delyn Rawn (Rhodri Davies / Richard Dawson / Pat Thomas / Spencer Yeh / &c)
Relics of the Horsehair Harp
(Amgen Records)
A companion piece to UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davie's solo album Telyn Rawn , asking some of his favorite musicians to respond to the 18 improvised pieces on that album, instructing them to imagine that the source material was an ancient musical form from the medieval period, and that their responses were to be modern interpretations of those "ancient" forms.
Davies, Rhodri
Telyn Wrachiod
(Amgen Records)
Continuing his investigations into ancient Welsh Harps, the Telyn Wrachïod (which translates to the Witches Harp) used pegs or brags emerging from the string-holes, in Welsh called gwrachïod, which could be adjusted to press on the strings to create a buzzing percussive sound used for dancing, here in improvisations by Rhodri Davies using a Urquhart bray harp.
Parker's, Evan Transatlantic Trance Map
Marconi's Drift
(False Walls)
Bringing together two groups of spectacular improvisers versed in free and electroacoustic improvisation for a live transatlantic performance, one group of seven musicians primarily from The UK & Europe performing from The Hot Tin venue in Faversham, Kent, UK, the other group of six musicians performing from Roulette, New York City, for this stunningly impressive group improvisation.
Leandre, Joelle
Lifetime Rebel [4 CDs + DVD + BOOKLET]
(RogueArt)
The complete recording of Joëlle Léandre's Lifetime Achievement evening that opened the 2023 Vision Festival at Roulette in Brooklyn, in a box set with 4 CDs, a DVD of a 2023 interview punctuated with bass solos, and a 32-page color booklet of concert images and liner notes from John Sharpe; performances by Tiger Trio, Roaring Tree, Atlantic Ave Septet & the duo of Léandre/Moten.
Deupree, Jerome / Joe Morris / Matthew Shipp
Travelogue
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
If maps serve us well, this studio recording between the trio of New York & Boston masterful collective free improvisers Jerome Deupree on drums, Matthew Shipp on piano and Joe Morris on guitar, references locations by track title in South Hamilton, MA; Nevilles Cross, UK; Yosemite, CA; San Jose, CA; New Hampshire/Maine coast; Buenos Aires.
The Flame (Robert Mitchel / Neil Charles / Mark Sanders)
Towards The Flame, Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Their first time playing together as a trio despite many permutations in various projects over the years, the trio of Robert Mitchell (F-IRE Collective) on piano & percussion, Neil Charles on double bass and the remarkably collaborative drummer Mark Sanders, are heard in this 2nd part to their 2022 concert at London's Cafe OTO for three extended, free and very informed collective improvisations.
Flame, The (Robert Mitchell / Neil Charles / Mark Sanders)
Towards The Flame, Vol. 2
(577 Records)
Their first time playing together as a trio despite many permutations in various projects over the years, the trio of Robert Mitchell (F-IRE Collective) on piano & percussion, Neil Charles on double bass and remarkably collaborative drummer Mark Sanders are heard in this 2nd part to their 2022 concert at London's Cafe OTO for three extended, free and very informed collective improvisations.
Sunny Five (Berne / Ducret / Torn / Hoff / Smith)
Candid
(Intakt)
A mercurial album of electronic and acoustic collective free improv from the masterful quintet of Tim Berne on alto sax, David Torn and Marc Ducret on electric guitars, Devin Hoff on electric bass and Ches Smith on drums & electronics, the band intertwining and bending sound to the evolution of their improvisations, which twist and turn in alien jazz soundscape.
Dunmall, Paul / Paul Rogers / Marc Sanders
Wildlife
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
A wildly explorative and masterful studio encounter for three of the UK's most well-known and well-recorded improvisers--Paul Dunmall on tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet & flute; Paul Rogers on 7-string double bass; and Mark Sanders on drums--in four collective improvisations that run the gamut from explosive to introspective conversation; ferocious!
Gallio, Christoph / Dominic Lash / Mark Sanders
Live At Cafe Oto London
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Joining with two of London's finest free improvisers, Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio of DAY & TAXI fame and performing on alto, soprano & c-melody saxophones, meets drummer Mark Sanders and double bassist Dominic Lash at London's Cafe OTO for a remarkable concert of free collective playing in two large works: "Wildlife" in three parts, and "Homelife" in two parts.
Frequency Distasters (Beresford / Magaletti / Martino)
Naize
(Confront)
An expressive piano trio from Steve Beresford on piano, Italian-born, UK-based drummer/percussionist Valentina Magaletti, and Italian Bassist Pierpaolo Martino, Beresford using piano preparations, electronics & toys to expand the palette of their instrumentation, all three bringing a wealth of experience in jazz, free improv and experimental sound to their solid conversations.
Bailey, Derek / Simon H. Fell
At Sound 323 [VINYL 180gm WHITE 2 LPs]
(Confront)
The full performance of legendary improvising guitarist Derek Bailey's 2001 exhilarating duo with bassist Simon H. Fell at Sound 323, originally released as a mini-CD and voted record of the year in 2002 by The Wire, then released on CD and now as a deluxe 2 LP set on 180gm White Vinyl.
Perelman, Ivo / Nate Wooley / Mat Moran / Matt Maneri / Fred Lonberg-Holm / Joe Morris
Seven Skies Orchestra [2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
A rare setting for tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman in a larger ensemble: an exemplary sextet with trumpeter Nate Wooley and vibraphonist Matt Moran over a string section of Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Joe Morris on bass and Mat Maneri on viola, recording a ten-part work sans drums or piano, allowing fascinating new orchestral possibilities performed with utmost creative mastery.
Brice, Olie / Rachel Musson / Mark Sanders
Immense Blue
(West Hill Records)
From the fertile London free improv scene comes this substantial concert recorded at the Vortex Jazz Club in 2022 by the trio of Olie Brice on double bass, Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone and Mark Sanders on drums, three highly compatible players from two generations of improvisers in three extended improvisations of energetic free jazz balanced by contemplative exploration.
Sanders, Mark / Chris Mapp / Andrew Woodhead
CollapseUncollapse: Time in Images
(577 Records)
Starting as an electric jazz album, the UK trio of Mark Sanders on drums & percussion, Chris Mapp on bass & electronics and Andrew Woodhead on keys & electronics slip into moody and experimental ea-improv territory, fluctuating between acoustic and electronic material of masterful virtuosity, presenting two unconventional solo sections for drummer Sanders along the way.
Flame, The (Robert Mitchell / Neil Charles / Mark Sanders)
Towards The Flame, Vol. 1 [VINYL CLEAR]
(577 Records)
Their first time playing together as a trio despite many permutations in various projects over the years, the trio of Robert Mitchell (F-IRE Collective) on piano & percussion, Neil Charles on double bass and remarkably collaborative drummer Mark Sanders are heard in this 2022 concert at London's Cafe OTO for two extended, free and very informed collective improvisations.
Pere Ubu
Trouble On Big Beat Street
(Cherry Red)
The 19th Pere Ubu album brings members from the history and offshoots of the band that initiated in Cleveland with vocalist David Thomas, melded with members Keith Moline and Andy Diagram from Pale Boys, legendary drummer Chris Cutler (Wooden Birds & Pere Ubu), clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward and bassist Michel Templem, for 17 wide-ranging songs, often eccentric, but always uniquely Ubu.
Sanders, Mark / Emil Karlsen
Muted Language
(Bead)
Steering far from pyrotechnics or histrionics, the drum duo of UK legend Mark Sanders and Norwegian residing in the UK and part of the new direction of Bead Records, Emil Karlsen, present six percussion improvisations that focus on textural interaction, melodic progression, polyrhythms, and sonic excitement through percussive elements; an exceptional duo.
Dunmall, Paul / Liam Noble / John Edwards / Mark Sanders
One Moment
(FMR)
Some of the finest London and Birmingham improvisers, the free improvising quartet of saxophonist Paul Dunmall with pianist Liam Noble, drummer Mark Sanders and bassist John Edwards, continue their work together with this exceptional live performance at the Eastside Jazz Club, Birmingham Conservatoire in an extended, far-ranging and engaging collective concert.
Perelman, Ivo / Matthew Shipp / Joe Morris
Shamanism
(Mahakala Music)
Adding guitarist Joe Morris to the long-standing collaboration of tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp directs the New York trio into a fascinatingly unique direction, Morris' often pointillistic style bringing out quick responses and conglomerates of ideas, balanced by hauntingly lyrical and suspended moments; an evokative album of spirited improvisation.
Davies, Rhodri
Trem
(Amgen Records)
Reissuing his 2003 album on the Confront label, Rhodri Davies' first solo album is a captivating set of uniquely voiced free improvisation, using a pedal harp, radio and tape recorders and percussive devices, and recorded in the natural resonance of All Angels, St Michael and All Angels Church in London, creating narrative and drama through Davie's intuitive sense of timing.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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