The Squid's Ear Magazine

Weston, Veryan

Discoveries on Tracker Action Organs

Weston, Veryan: Discoveries on Tracker Action Organs (Emanem)

Legendary pianist Veryan Weston set out across England in 2014 in search of tracker-action organs, which he tested for suitability for a planned trio album, where possible recording himself on the instrument, as heard in these seven recordings of unusual and impressive improvisations.
 

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Veryan Weston-organ


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UPC: 5030243504428

Label: Emanem
Catalog ID: 5044
Squidco Product Code: 22652

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Track 1 recorded in South Croxton, at St Mary the Virgin, on March 4th, 2014.

Track 2 recorded in Horstead, at All Saints, on March 6th, 2014.

Track 3 recorded in Brighton, at St Mary's, on March 7th, 2014.

Track 4 recorded in Stannington, at Christ Church, on March 9th, 2014.

Track 5 recorded in Manchester, at St Anselm Hall, on March 12th, 2014.

Track 6 recorded in Newcastle, at St Silas, on March 10th, 2014.

Track 7 recorded in York, at All Saints, on March 8th, 2014.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"After superb solo CDs on piano and lutheal piano, Veryan Weston makes an equally fine solo organ album. Touring England in search of tracker-action organs, Weston tried about 40 to see if both the instrument and the space were suitable for the planned trio Tuning Out Tour (5207). In several cases there wasn't the opportunity to try them extensively, but in others it was possible to get beyond the discoveries of the particular instrument, and make some magnificent music. This collection consists of seven such instances in seven locations, with the resulting pieces lasting from two to twenty-four minutes."-Emanem



Tracker action is a term used in reference to pipe organs and steam calliopes to indicate a mechanical linkage between keys or pedals pressed by the organist and the valve that allows air to flow into pipe(s) of the corresponding note.


Artist Biographies

"Born in 1950, and moved from Cornwall to London in 1972 and began playing as a freelance jazz pianist as well as developing as an improviser at Little Theatre Club.


1975-85: Residency & fellowship for Digswell Arts Trust (Hertfordshire). Activities included:

Collaborations with visual artists (potter-Elizabeth Fritsch and fine artist Steve Cochrane).
Work on written theoretical material, commissioned by The Digswell Arts Trust.
Co-ordinating music workshops, supported by Eastern Arts Association.
Co-founded and composed for young local group - Stinky Winkles, voted 'Young Musician of 1979' by Greater London Arts Association and won first prizes in France, Spain and Poland.
Collaborations with Lol Coxhill, music for Derek Jarman Film. First released recordings.

Throughout 1980s and early 90s worked with Eddie PrŽvost Quartet, Trevor Watts' MoirŽ Music and Lol Coxhill and Phil Minton. Major festivals have included Zurich, Berlin, Nickelsdorf, Karlsruhr, Warsaw, Wroclaw, San Sebastian, Bombay, Vancouver, Nancy, Aukland, Nevers, Washington, Lille, Houston, Le Mans, Strasbourg, Bologna and Victoriaville.

Ensemble projects with Minton:

Duo - Ways, Ways Past, and....Past - diverse songs, originals & improvisation structures.
Songs from a Prison Diary - French commission for 25 singers with poems by Ho Chi Minh.
Naming the Animals -a quartet with Lianne Carol and Ian Shaw, words by Adrian Mitchell.
Mouthfull of ecstasy - with John Butcher, Roger Turner, texts from Joyce's Finnegans wake.
Makhno - for chamber choir commissioned by Taktlos Festival 1997.
4Walls - a quartet with songs and improvisations with Luc Ex and Michael Vatcher.


Other recent duo collaborations with:

Trevor Watts - improvisations with a feeling of form, where rhythm and melody sit comfortably with more abstract moments. A major current project.
Caroline Kraabel - duets that explore acoustic phenomena related to two instruments and how these sounds interact in specific acoustic spaces.
Jon Rose - improvisations using different acoustic keyboards and violins with selected tunings derived from science, history and the imagination.
Hugh Metcalfe - Films by Hugh, images of objects, animals, humans, holidays, journeys, unfold, transform, collide and provide the basis for accompanying duet improvisations.


Local activities:

(1995-6) playing in rhythm section for 'Changes' jazz club in North London with British jazz artists.
Awarded A4E National Lottery support to give series of workshops/concerts with John Edwards & Mark Sanders titled 'Playing Together' in East Anglia (1998).

Helped coordinate and arrange the Lindsay Cooper Song Project (1999). European festivals - Taktlos (Zurich), Angelica (Bologna, commissioned arrangement of "Oh Moscow" for orchestra), Moers (Germany) and Roccella Jonica (Italy)"

-Veryan Weston Website (http://veryanweston.weebly.com/biog--discog.html)
4/9/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Quiet Fanfare 2:54

2. Proceeding With Caution 5:04

3. Air In A G Pipe 9:47

4. Poco A Poco 8:22

5. Fair With Ground 7:15

6. Tripartite 5:48

7. Numerous Discoveries 24:01

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Piano & Keyboards
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Solo Artist Recordings
EMANEM & psi

Search for other titles on the label:
Emanem.


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