The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Paul Bley Trios 
  Play Annette Peacock Revisited
  (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2023-03-02
Paul Bley Trios: Play Annette Peacock Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Touching & Blood Revisited (ezz-thetics, 2021), by Paul Bley Trios, featured a selection of pieces written by Paul Bley, Carla Bley or Annette Peacock, but for Play Annette Peacock Revisited only compositions by Peacock were included, with no track appearing on both albums. Before this album, the only previous interest that the Swiss label had shown in Peacock's music was the 1992 hatART album Annette which (apart from the title piece by the album's trio) comprised nine Peacock compositions played by pianist Paul Bley, bassist Gary Peacock and trumpeter & flugelhornist Franz Koglmann. As that recording was reissued twice by hatOLOGY, in 2001 and 2010, it may not be issued again.

Of the fourteen tracks on Play Annette Peacock Revisited, three are from the six tracks on Ramblin' (BYG, 1969), five from the ten on the album Blood (Fontana, 1966), and six from the eight on Mr. Joy (Limelight, 1968). Recorded in Rome in July 1966, Ramblin' featured Bley on piano, Mark Levinson on bass and Barry Altschul on drums; the same line-up recorded Blood in Baarn, Holland, in September and October 1966. The trio of Bley on piano, Peacock on bass and Billy Elgart on drums recorded Mr. Joy in Seattle, Washington, in May 1968. Inevitably, with different line-ups and recording sessions, some compositions are heard more than once on Play Annette Peacock Revisited, including two versions of "Touching", "Blood", "El Cordobes", "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway", "Mister Joy", "Kid Dynamite", one version by each line-up.

Such duplication of compositions highlights the differences between the versions of the Paul Bley Trio but also demonstrates the versatility of Peacock's compositions and their flexibility to interpretation or improvisation. For example, the 1966 Bley-Levinson-Altschul version of "Blood" here runs for just under four-and-a-half minutes while the 1968 Bley-Peacock-Elgart one is nearly six-and-a-quarter minutes; evidently Bley took the change of bassist and drummer as an opportunity to re-examine the trio's approach to Peacock's songs. Even greater is the difference between those two versions and another Bley-Levinson-Altschul live version on Touching & Blood Revisited which runs for eighteen-and-three-quarter minutes. While Peacock's compositions could be stark, sparse or minimal, they never had complicated heads before the improvising began; they led to music which flowed smoothly and is still very easy on the ear, particularly in the hands of Bley and his trios.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Rempis/
Adasiewicz/
Corsano:
Dial Up
(Aerophonic)



Fred Frith &
The Gravity Band:
s/t
(Klanggalerie)



Elliott Sharp:
Mare Crisium
(zOaR Records)



Ziv Taubenfeld Full Sun
(Taubenfeld/
Moore/
Buis/
Ku/
Chientaroli/
Heggen/
Govaert):
Nomads
(Full Sun Records)



[ahmed] (
Thomas/
Grip/
Gerbal/
Wright):
Sama'a
(Audition)
[2 LPs]
(Otoroku)



Ivo Perelman/
Nate Wooley:
Polarity 4
(Burning Ambulance Music)



Joe McPhee:
Defiant Jazz:
a Joe McPhee
Taster
[VINYL]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Armaroli/
Piccolo/
Sharp:
Imaginary Songbook
[2 CDs]
(Dodicilune)



Eva Novoa Trio (
w/ Daniel Carter/
Francisco Mela):
The Freedom Suite,
Vol. 2
(577 Records)



Eva Novoa Trio (
w/ Carter/
Mela):
The Freedom Suite,
Vol. 2
[VINYL]
(577 Records)



Fieldwork (
Iyer/
Lehman/
Sorey):
Thereupon
(Pi Recordings)



Fieldwork (
Iyer/
Lehman/
Sorey):
Thereupon
[VINYL]
(Pi Recordings)



Dan Weiss (
w/ Evans/
Okazaki/
Brennan):
Unclassified Affections
(Pi Recordings)



Dan Weiss (
w/ Evans/
Okazaki/
Brennan):
Unclassified Affections
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Pi Recordings)



Satoko Fujii Quartet (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Yoshida/
Takeharu):
Burning Wick
(Libra)



Ken Vandermark:
October Flowers
for
Joe McPhee
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Pat Thomas:
Hikmah
(Tao Forms)



Pat Thomas:
Hikmah
[VINYL w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tao Forms)



Russ Lossing:
Proximity Alert
(Blaser Music)



Natural Information Society (
Abrams/
Alvarado/
Avery/
Stein):
Perseverance Flow
(AGUIRRE RECORDS)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (43708)