LISTENING ROOM, Friday 24 January 2003

Presented by Roger Parry

Liverpool Bluecoat Arts Centre, Neptune Room

PLAYLIST

01. Matt Davis, Mark Wastell

Track 2: Liverpool 10.05.2002 (opening 05:24)

[I was NOT there! I was in the Great Wen with my wife, Pauline, and our good old friend from Antwerp, Hugo De Craen. The day before (020509) we visited Mole Jazz, the Head of Steam at Euston, the Artbookartshop at 17 Pitfield Street N1, Tel: 020 7608 1333 where Chris Allen sells var. ‘interesting’ books, the nearby Nelson’s Retreat, Covent Garden, Soho… where we dined at in Poons, Chinatown.]

Absurd CD 21 (63 of 99!)

02. Assumed Possibilities: Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, Mark Wastell

Track 2 Yn Abercuawc yt gagnant gogeu (sic) (05:21)

FRONT CD 05 (Confront Recordings) rec: 980125

03. Chapel: Burkhard Beins, John Bisset

Track 3 Water (02:49)

2:13 CD 012

04. Chapel: Burkhard Beins, John Bisset

Track 5 Wind (01:54)

2:13 CD 012

05. Grain: Keith Rowe, Burkhard Beins

Track 2 grain 2 (opening 06:20)

Zarek CD 06

06. Ghost Notes: IST, Rhodri Davies, Mark Wastell, Simon H. Fell

Track 8 improvisation/ ust, saif y nos o’th gylch (09:33)

Bruce’s Fingers CD 28

07. Horizontals White/ Chris Burn Ensemble w. Mark Wastell, Rhodri Davies, John Russell, Matthew Hutchinson

Track 1 (eponymous) (opening 06:21)

Emanem CD 4080

08. Assumed Possibilities/ Still Point: Chris Burn, Davies, Phil Durrant, Mark Wastell

Track 1 KET T (05:09)

Rossbin CD 007 rec: 010107

09. Derby Dance Centre: Davies, Davis, Wastell

Track 4 CD - (opening 06:21 of 28:24)

Priv. rec. CD (ct) rec 020511

(And, penultimately, hyperactivity:

10. 396: Yann Charaoui, John Lely, Seymour Wright

Track 4 ‘13’ (05:05)

Matchless CD 42

11. All Angels: Davies, Rombola(?), Davis, Wastell

Track 1 (and only) (opening…))

LISTENING ROOM, Friday 24 January 2003

Presented by Roger Parry

Liverpool Bluecoat Arts Centre, Neptune Room

Bonehouse: Stairway to memory; I hear voices… (PhilM; PhilL)

‘…new London silence,

new Berlin reductionism, pro-instrument minimalism, new complexity and electro-acoustic music.

Categories aside, this is improvised music concerned with space, texture and time.’

Mick Beck stayed over at our place here in Liverpool during the October 2002 Frakture Festival and it was he who introduced me to the term ‘New London Silence’. I immediately took to this trio of words and thought that a Listening Room devoted to them should not go amiss…

PLAYLIST

04. Matt Davis, Mark Wastell

Track 2: Liverpool 10.05.2002 (opening 05:24)

Absurd CD 21 (63 of 99!)

05. Assumed Possibilities: Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, Mark Wastell

Track 2 Yn Abercuawc yt gagnant gogeu (sic) (05:21)

FRONT CD 05 (Confront Recordings) rec: 980125

06. Chapel: Burkhard Beins, John Bisset

Track 3 Water (02:49)

2:13 CD 012

04. Chapel: Burkhard Beins, John Bisset

Track 5 Wind (01:54)

2:13 CD 012

12. Grain: Keith Rowe, Burkhard Beins

Track 2 grain 2 (opening 06:20)

Zarek CD 06

13. Ghost Notes: IST, Rhodri Davies, Mark Wastell, Simon H. Fell

Track 8 improvisation/ ust, saif y nos o’th gylch (09:33)

Bruce’s Fingers CD 28

14. Horizontals White/ Chris Burn Ensemble w. Mark Wastell, Rhodri Davies, John Russell, Matthew Hutchinson

Track 1 (eponymous) (opening 06:21)

Emanem CD 4080

15. Assumed Possibilities/ Still Point: Chris Burn, Davies, Phil Durrant, Mark Wastell

Track 1 KET T (05:09)

Rossbin CD 007 rec: 010107

16. Derby Dance Centre: Davies, Davis, Wastell

Track 4 CD - (opening 06:21 of 28:24)

Priv. rec. CD (ct) rec 020511

(And, penultimately, hyperactivity:

17. 396: Yann Charaoui, John Lely, Seymour Wright

Track 4 ‘13’ (05:05)

Matchless CD 42

18. All Angels: Davies, Rombola(?), Davis, Wastell

Track 1 (and only) (opening…))

LISTENING ROOM

Googlenotes, w minor amends, additions, etc.

…new London silence,

new Berlin reductionism, pro-instrument minimalism, new complexity and electro-acoustic music.

Categories aside, this is improvised music concerned with space, texture and time.

A. Sealed Knot

[The Sealed Knot helps bring history alive every year at period houses throughout the country where you can talk to major historical figures, try out a few recipes, learn about the life of a soldier on the march and maybe even "take the King's shilling".

What better way to teach children about the period than with a little "hands-on" experience.

The Sealed Knot has been heavily involved in education for many years, giving school talks and displays about life in the Civil War throughout the UK. If your school or college is running a project on the Civil War period, the Sealed Knot can provide you with experts on everything from cookery to clothes, education and politics, through to weapons and battle strategies.]

Burkhard Beins - Percussion; Rhodri Davies - Harp; Mark Wastell - Violin/cello

"The Sealed Knot" documents the exciting ongoing collaboration between young musicians working in London and Berlin.

All three performers have traveled between the two capital cities since the early 1990s playing in various combinations.

Their first tour as a trio took place during 2001.

I was there at their Huddersfield date…010927, a Thursday:

Pauline and I took a taxi to the train to Huddersfield. We were there with time to spare so took a drink in a pub near to the St Paul’s (ex-church) HU, Queensgate venue where, not much after 1300 The Sealed Knot lot, a trio of Rhodri Davies, Burkhardt Beins and Mark Wastell performed a piece of some 35/ 40 minutes before a rising audience of forty or more souls. I spoke with Rhodri and Mark briefly before the show and they were quite keen to get some pix out of the show so I shot some. The camera is too noisy for this intense and very quiet music.

They are part of a young generation of musicians who share an interest in using silence as structure and exploring abstract principles within chamber music contexts.

The trio is committed to exploring the contradictory and complimentary flux between

composition and improvisation. Their music encompasses new London silence, new Berlin

reductionism, pro-instrument minimalism, new complexity and electro-acoustic music.

Categories aside, this is improvised music concerned with space, texture and time.

Wastell and Davies have recently returned from their acclaimed New York debut [I was there…], playing in Derek Bailey's Company with John Zorn and Joey Baron.

Beins is presently touring America with electronic industrial group Perlonex. Burkhard Beins has been active in contemporary new music since 1998 and is a member of a number of leading groups. Of special interest is the duo Activity Centre, with guitarist Michael Renkel and Perlon, an electronic-industrial trio with Ignaz Schick and Jorg Maria Zeger. He has also collaborated with a wide range of other musicians including Keith Rowe, Sven-Ake Johansson, John Edwards, Axel Dorner, Phil Durrant and Wolfgang Fuchs.

Rhodri Davies is a Welsh harpist who challenges traditional romantic concepts of the harp through use of preparations, micro tuning and bowed strings. As well as solo playing, Rhodri works closely in duos with John Butcher and John Bisset. He also performs with groups that are solely dedicated to free improvisation including CRANC, Derek Bailey's Company and Evan Parker's string project. Rhodri has also played with Joey Baron, Phillip Corner, Lol Coxhill, Tim Hodgkinson, Phil Minton, Andrea Neumann, Keith Rowe, Pat Thomas, Phil Wachsmann and John Zorn.

MarkWastell - Much of Mark's relationship with his chosen instrument is concentrated on the tactile, textural and sonic possibilities of both violoncello and bow. He is a member of a number of regular groups…

…Mark Wastell … is increasingly interested in working with extreme elements drawn from frequency, timbre and pitch.

His early activity was consciously and subconsciously influenced by a variety of improvising musicians. Subsequent exposure to contemporary composers lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of the works written for strings by Feldman, Cage, Nono, Lachenmann and Sciarrino. The use of live electronics and music concrete by Tudor, Parmegiani, Xenakis and others was another important early influence. In more recent times, Mark has also begun to explore sound material outside of the cello, working with contact mics, amplified textures and electronics.

Wastell's current instrumental material primarily focuses on using abstract principles of space, time and texture - encompassing elements of new London silence, pro-acoustic minimalism, new complexity and pan-global reductionism. Because of the very nature of his chosen instrument, he tends to favour 'chamber' style ensembles and has worked with a number of regular groups, including:

CHRIS BURN'S ENSEMBLE
with John Butcher [saxophones], Rhodri Davies [harp], John Russell [acoustic guitar] & Matt Hutchinson [synthesizers, electronics].

DEREK BAILEY'S COMPANY
with Will Gaines [tap dance], Simon Fell [double bass], Rhodri Davies [harp].

EVAN PARKER'S STRING PROJECT
with Peter Cusack [bazouki, electronics], Hugh Davies [homemade instruments], Rhodri Davies [harp], Phil Durrant [violin], John Edwards [double bass], Kaffe Matthews [sampler, electronics], Marcio Mattos [violoncello], John Russell [acoustic guitar] and others.

ASSUMED POSSIBILITIES
with Chris Burn [piano], Rhodri Davies [harp] & Phil Durrant [violin].

THE SEALED KNOT
with Burkhard Beins [percussion] & Rhodri Davies [harp].

IST
with Simon Fell [double bass] & Rhodri Davies [harp].

BROKEN CONSORT
with Rhodri Davies [harp] & Matt Davis [trumpet]

BELASKA
with Mattin [laptop electronics].

TRIO
with Matt Davies [trumpet], Phil Durrant [laptop electronics].

ADHOC COLLABORATIONS
Jerome Noetinger, Axel Dorner, Xavier Charles, Andrea Neumann, Martine Altenberger, Annette Krebbs, David Stackenas, Nikos Veliotis, Alessandro Bosetti, Ignaz Schick, Giuseppe Iesali, Ingar Zach, Toshi Nakamura, Taku Sugimoto, Tetuzi Akiyama, John Zorn, Keith Rowe, Peter Kowald, Roger Turner, Veryan Weston, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Hans Koch, Phil Minton, Max Eastley, Eddie Prevost, Steve Beresford & Louis Moholo.

As a soloist Mark has played at the Micro-classical Festival (London 1996), LMC Festival (London 2000) and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (2000). He has travelled extensively with various groups, performing on tour and at festivals in the USA, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan and Greece.

Recordings include:

1995 - IST [siwa]
anagrams to avoid

1996 - COLLISION DUO [confront]
refraction

1996 - SCANT [confront]
live at the club room

1997 - IST [confront]
consequences (of time and place)

1997 - CHRIS BURN'S ENSEMBLE [acta]
navigations

1998 - IST [bruces finger]
ghost notes

1998 - SIMON H. FELL [bruces fingers]
composition no.30: compilation III

1998 - ASSUMED POSSIBILITIES [confront]
s/t

1998 - EVAN PARKER [emanem]
strings with

1999 - DEREK BAILEY'S COMPANY [incus]
live in marseille

1999 - JOHN WALL [utterpsalm]
constructions I-IV

1999 - LOL COXHILL [emanem]
spectral soprano

2000 - THE SEALED KNOT [confront]
s/t

2000 - LONDON IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA [emanem]
the hearing continues

2000 - RELAY 8 [2.13]
s/t

2000 - QUATUOR ACCORDE [emanem]
angel gate

2000 - JOHN WALL [utterpsalm]
constructions V-VII

2001 - M.DAVIS/P.DURRANT/M.WASTELL
[confront]

2001 - R.DAVIES/M.DAVIS.A.ROMBOLLA/M.WASTELL
[confront]
…

C.

Iskra 1903
Buzz Soundtrack
(Emanem)

Of the many significant improvised music ensembles formed in the late 60s and early 70s (AMM, Globe Unity Orchestra, ICP, The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, SME, to name a few), Iskra 1903 was one of the least recorded and (with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight) one of the more important.

Formed by Paul Rutherford in 1970, and originally consisting of Rutherford, Barry Guy and Derek Bailey, the trio had no drummer, in contrast to all those listed above in which the drummer was a key figure. This removed any expectations of a conventional rhythm or pulse, allowing the listener to focus on the individual voicings and their interactions, a giant leap at the time. Emanem has been a primary source of Iskra 1903 recordings; the triple CD Chapter One (Emanem 4301) documented their earliest work from 1970 to 1972, and Buzz Soundtrack is an important complement to it. Recorded early in the trio's existence, it is the soundtrack to a long forgotten film by Michael Grigsby, a friend of Rutherford's. The trio played while viewing the film, providing a soundtrack to complement the events they saw on screen. Across the twenty-one tracks (which play continuously, without gaps) there are trio, duo and solo pieces.

Unlike most improvised music, the players are not primarily reacting to each other's playing but to the stimulus of the film. However, this music definitely stands alone, not needing any visuals to enhance it. Similar in character to the trio's earliest work on Chapter One, the defining qualities on show are subtlety, restraint, patience and sensitivity. The music is allowed to evolve slowly without any of the players forcing the issue. All three sublimate individual ego to the greater totality, content to leave each other ample space in which to create, without the need to constantly assert themselves. If one recognises parallels between improv and conversation, this music is not idle chatter or a heated argument; it is a polite, formal debate.

Given that it is over thirty years old, Buzz Soundtrack sounds remarkably contemporary; the understatement and restraint displayed are reminiscent of the work of New London Silence players such as Mark Wastell and Rhodri Davies. This welcome release can stand on its merits; it is of far more than historical interest.

Reviewer: John Eyles