Record Reviews

COMMAND ALL STARS ~ CURIOSITIES 1972 REEL RECORDINGS 010 (Barcode: 676868178023) ~ UK ~ Jazz Recorded: 1972 Released: 2008 This album is a great example of what the Canadian Reel RecordingsFind albums on this label label is all about: unearthing recorded documents of the British Jazz / Avant-Garde scene dating back to the 1960s, which have been so far completely lost and (sadly) often forgotten. Considering the fact that the Golden Decade (1965-1975) was Britain´s most illustrious contribution to music, any recorded document from that period has an immense historical value and therefore the work done by this label is truly a quest worth following. The music contained herein was recorded with the intention to be released as a double album, presenting the Art of spontaneous improvisation, performed by a collective of young (at the time) but experienced British players, who spearheaded the local Free Jazz / Improvised Music scene and certainly deserved the "stardom" status in spite of the oxymoron such epithet might imply: pianist Keith TippettFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Elton DeanFind albums by this artist, trombonist Nick EvansFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Mark CharigFind albums by this artist, bassists Harry MillerFind albums by this artist and Johnny DyaniFind albums by this artist and drummer Keith BaileyFind albums by this artist. These musicians often played with each other in various ensembles, of which they were members, but never collectively as one group, hence the one-time opportunity to hear them improvise collectively is so attractive. Unfortunately, as it often happened at the time, even with Jazz labels as the one for which these recordings were made, the label found this music to be "too much to swallow" and the project was discarded, including whipping out the original master tapes (a crime, without a doubt). Fortunately two copies of the original four reels were recently discovered by Evans and here we are being able to finally listen to this music. The music itself needs little elucidation to people familiar with the recorded output of the protagonists – it is what they always did best, play whatever their hearts dictated at the moment, carefully listening to each other and together creating a whole, which is much bigger than its parts. The album also includes two tracks recorded later the same year (for the BBC? as the recording premises might suggest) by a sextet including Dean, Evans and Charig with guitarist Jeff GreenFind albums by this artist, bassist Neville WhiteheadFind albums by this artist and drummer Louis MoholoFind albums by this artist. This is a true "blast from the past" and an absolute must for any British Jazz / Avant-Garde fan, wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

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