No idea what I did.įrom Great Jewish Music: Serge GainsbourgĪnother multi-tracked low-tech piece for an ongoing series on John Zorn’s label. I think I recorded it all on a small multi-track cassette recorder.
Like me, Simon Williams is from Wellington, Shropshire, and kabukikore is his label. I took advantage of the wide range of vintage keyboards the studio had. 20 years later we played a ballad in New Cross, South London.Ī duo with Blanca, who sings and plays various instruments. NB dates refer to the year of recording.Ĭurrently listening to Han with Sonny Rollins from 1967. The following playlist was compiled and annotated by Steve Beresford himself, and features 11 examples of that collaborative work, as well as two solo tracks, covering the period 1975–2020. Making an order of such collaborative work is no mean task.”
“In a career that stretches over 50 years,” Louise continues, “Beresford is the missing link between The Portsmouth Sinfonia, The Slits, Derek Bailey and Company, Alterations, Christian Marclay, and just about everyone on the free improvisation scene, from John Russell to Han Bennink to John Zorn, the creation of the LMC in 1975, and in the late 1990s, The London Improvisers Orchestra. This is excellent free improv of the more abstract kind.“To call Steve Beresford simply an improvising pianist is too scant a description,” writes Louise Gray in The Wire 446 reviewing Andy Hamilton’s “magisterial book of interviews”, Pianos, Toys, Music And Noise: Conversations With Steve Beresford. "E3" (one minute nine seconds) and "N5" (one minute 58) say all they have to say, instead of sounding like fragments. Shortness is not always a good feature in free improv, but this trio makes it sound convincing. The quieter it gets, the more gripping it becomes, as can be witnessed in "N2" and the last third of "E5." Seven of the 11 tracks are short, four minutes and under, which gives the album a pleasant fast pace. Acute listening is the key aspect of this trio's music. Turner spends as much time handling tiny percussion instruments as playing the drum kit, and loudness has little to do with the type of activity he chooses. Buzzes answer moans soft bleeps intertwine with spitting sounds. Even when they stand relatively still, you can feel that they're just waiting to respond to a sound from the other instruments. The electronics are quirky, playful, constantly on the move. It can sing too, but it seems to be reluctant to do so. The trombone becomes an extension of the human body: it moans, farts, grumbles, and screams. All three like to explore small, unusual, or accidental sounds. But despite the fact that Tomlinson's name comes first on the bill, this is a trio session and Beresford (on electronics and objects, no piano) and Roger Turner (drums) are crucial to the resulting music. Trap Street reveals the breadth of his talent to a generation of free improv fans who never came across his 1980 solo LP. Although active for at least two decades, London trombonist Alan Tomlinson has kept a very low profile, but his participation in the London Improvisers Orchestra has been slowly pulling him out of the shadows - he was the featured soloist in one of Steve Beresford's impromptu conducted concertos on the ensemble's debut album, Proceedings.Recording information: Gateway Studios, London, England ().Personnel: Alan Tomlinson (alto trombone, tenor trombone) Steve Beresford (electronics) Roger Turner (drums, percussion).
Recorded in London, England on August 12, 2002.Personnel: Alan Tomlinson (trombone) Steve Beresford (electronics, percussion) Roger Turner (drums, percussion).