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London Jazz Composers Orchestra: That Time
ByThe first two tracks from Berlin and Donaueschingen date from 1972, some six months after the LJCO's debut album Ode (Intakt, 1996), while the last two were captured in 1980, the same year as Stringer (Intakt, 2006). Engineer Ferran Conangla has done a marvelous job with the tapes, the earlier selections in particular sounding remarkable for live recordings of this vintage.
At this stage in its development the Orchestra performed charts from not only the leader bassist

Barry Guy
bass, acousticb.1947
While trumpeter

Kenny Wheeler
flugelhorn1930 - 2014
Pianist

Howard Riley
pianob.1943

Evan Parker
saxophone, sopranob.1944

Derek Bailey
guitar1932 - 2005

Trevor Watts
saxophoneb.1939

Harry Beckett
flugelhorn1935 - 2010
As Guy explains in the liners, his gritty "Statements III" has half an eye on the reputation of the prestigious Donaueschingen Festival for presenting important works by composers of the Second Viennese School. Even so the slabs of sound are underpinned by percolating detail from this assemblage of improvisers who breathe life into the piece, avoiding any of the residual stiffness inherent in new music outfits of the day.
The seething morass cuts to piping reeds, an open textural episode in which Bailey's plinks, skitters and swells vie with a scratchy saxophone and clattering percussion, spiky ensembles and bristling interjections, ending with an exciting a capella duet between Wheeler's trumpet and Watts' alto.
Trombonist

Paul Rutherford
tromboneb.1940
Riley's "Appolysian" takes a modular approach, and showcases distinct sections of the Orchestra rather than individuals, moving from a thicket of scuttling strings, via an unruly polyphony from the low brass during which Rutherford's multiphonics come to the fore, to querulous reeds which are ultimately subsumed into amassing thunder and a swirling spiralling down conclusion.
The conundrum of how to integrate free improvisers within large group composition hasn't gone away. That Time offers not only a range of fruitful strategies but shows how vital and challenging music can be the result. ">
Track Listing
Introductions; Watts Parker Beckett To Me Mr. Riley; Statements III; Quasimode III; Appolysian.
Personnel
Barry Guy
bass, acousticAdditional Instrumentation
Buxton Orr: conductor (2, 3); Kenny Wheeler: trumpet; Harry Beckett: trumpet; Mark Charig: trumpet; Dave Holdsworth: trumpet (2, 3); Dave Spence: trumpet (4, 5); Paul Rutherford: trombone; Mike Gibbs: trombone (2, 3); Paul Nieman: trombone; Alan Tomlinson: trombone (4, 5); Dick Hart: tuba (2, 3); Melvyn Poore: tuba (4, 5); Trevor Watts: saxophones; Evan Parker: saxophones; Mike Osborne: saxophones (2, 3); Alan Wakeman: saxophones (2, 3); Dave White: saxophones (2, 3); John Warren: saxophones (2, 3); Peter Brotzmann: saxophones (4, 5); Larry Stabbins: saxophones (4, 5); Tony Coe: saxophones (4, 5); Derek Bailey: guitar (2, 3); Howard Riley: piano; Philipp Wachsmann: violin (4, 5); Barry Guy: bass; Chris Laurence: bass (2, 3); Jeff Clyne: bass (2, 3); Peter Kowald: bass (4, 5); Tony Oxley: percussion, violin; Paul Lytton: percussion (2, 3); John Stevens: percussion (4, 5).
Album information
Title: That Time | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Not Two Records
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