The Squid's Ear Magazine


Watts, Trevor Drum Orchestra: Burundi Monday (FMR)

Live recordings of the Trevor Watts Drum Orchestra from 1983, a turning point in his career towards evolving a complex, polyrhythmically-driven approach to improvised structures.
 

Price: $14.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

Sample The Album:




product information:

Personnel:



Trevor Watts-saxophone

Peter Knight-violin

Mmadi Kamara-African percussion

Nana Tsiboe-African percussion

Ernest Mothle-bass

Liam Genockey-drum


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 649849982544

Label: FMR
Catalog ID: 198-0206
Squidco Product Code: 11151

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2006
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded Live at the 100 Club in 1983.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"American listeners may know Trevor Watts as an accomplished alto/soprano saxophonist, but more likely they will associate him with the British avant-garde.

Now in his late sixties, Watts logged a lot of time with blues, rock and traditional jazz bands before joining drummer John Stevens in 1965 to form the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME), a collective that provided a launching pad for many visionary British free improvisers-from Watts to Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Derek Bailey and Barry Guy.

Burundi Monday, recorded live in 1983 by the Trevor Watts Drum Orchestra (put together in the 1980s) presents to our more contemporary ears a fresh, exciting and focused example of mostly improvised music. The two tracks ("Burundi Monday" clocking in at near thirty-five minutes and "Double Up" just under half that length) reveal the huge difference in approach between the Drum Orchestra's layering of a groove foundation and the more illustrious, unpredictable SME.

Here we hear a side of Watts' playing and listening skills that might not have been so evident elsewhere. There's more of his background in traditional jazz and blues as well as the obvious penchant for African music: far from a simple appropriation of stylistic affectations, it's heartfelt music played with deep musical skill, yet open to spontaneity.

The players are outstanding, including surprises in violinist Peter Knight (known more for his work in the British trad-folk-rock band Steeleye Span) and drummer Liam Genockey (also more from the rock world). Both contribute wonderfully to the total concept with a special melodic interplay.

Bassist Ernest Mothle also contributes greatly to the overall sound, working with a multi- dimensional approach that invokes Jaco Pastorius' electric chops and Charlie Haden's floating, harmonic directions. This first-time issue is a real find."-Francis Lo Kee


Get additional information at All About Jazz

Artist Biographies

"Trevor Charles Watts (born 26 February 1939 in York) is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the RAF (1958-63), he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul Rutherford. After being demobbed he returned to London. In 1965 he and Stevens formed the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, which became one of the crucibles of British free improvisation. Watts left the band to form his own group Amalgam in 1967, then returned to SME for another stretch that lasted until the mid-1970s. Another key association was with the bassist Barry Guy and his London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, an association that lasted from the band's inception in the 1970s up to its (permanent?) disbandment in the mid-1990s.

Though he was initially strongly identified with the avant-garde, Watts is a versatile musician who has worked in everything from straight jazz contexts to rock and blues. His own projects have come increasingly to focus on blending jazz and African music, notably the Moiré Music ensemble which he has led since 1982 in configurations ranging from large ensembles featuring multiple drummers to more intimate trios. He has only occasionally recorded in freer modes in recent years, notably the CD 6 Dialogues, a duet album with Veryan Weston (the pianist in earlier editions of Moiré Music). A solo album, World Sonic, appeared on Hi4Head Records in 2005.

Watts has toured the world over numerous times, run workshops, received grants and commissions, and he has collaborated with some of the great jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry and Jayne Cortez. As of 2011, he continues to travel and toured North American with Veryan Weston."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Watts)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish drummer.

Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi-pro groups, then in the early 1970s playing with Torbay-based rock band Adolphus Rebirth. He was one of the founding members of the early-1970s jazz-fusion and afro prog band ZZebra, later moving on with fellow band-member John McCoy to join Gillan.

He then participated in Amalgam, formed in 1976 by Trevor Watts. Watts' work covers the spectrum of free jazz, electronic, jazz-rock, space jazz and folk-rock. Watts later founded 10-piece Moiré Music Ensemble which included Liam again, plus Peter Knight, an early member of Steeleye Span.

He joined Steeleye Span in 1989 and recorded two studio albums Tempted and Tried and Time, with them, as well as two live albums Tonight's the Night...Live and The Collection in Concert. However, between 1997 and 2001 he was not in the band. He returned in 2001 to record Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span, and has remained with the band since, though he also remains Paul Brady's drummer for both live and studio performances.

In January 2003, he was involved in the BBC Four broadcast of Free Will and Testament, a programme featuring performance footage of Robert Wyatt.

Liam is easily identified by his long, plaited beard. He currently lives in Hastings."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Genockey)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Burundi Monday 34:41

2. Double Up 15:15

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Percussion & Drums
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Free Improvisation
FMR Records
Sextet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
FMR.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Metal Moves
Metalkymist
(FMR)
Percussionist Steve Hubback's project Metal Moves presents the percussionist, composer and instrument maker's work, using drums, gongs, bells, cymbals and percussive sculptures in well-developed compositions, evoking mysterious environments that evolve into muscular displays of extraordinary power, a beautifully balanced album of uniquely voice solo percussion.
Watts, Trevor Quartet The (Veryan Weston / John Edwards / Marc Sanders)
The Real Intention - Cafe OTO concert
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Drawing from four of the most active and prominent improvisers on the UK free improv scene, saxophonist Trevor Watts leads his quartet with pianist Veryan Weston, bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders through four free spirited, exhilarating and comprehensive collective conversations captured live at Cafe Oto in London in 2019.
Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
(Discus)
The debut release of the UK improvising rock group Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, co-led by Martin Archer & Chris Bywater, in a double CD blending kosmische musik, space rock, and contemporary classical, an improbable meeting between Ligeti, Klaus Schulze, & Quarkspace, supplemented at times by a string quartet, a sax quintet, and a 25-piece mixed choir.
Stones Of Contention
Stones Of Contention
(Citystream)
Sicilian pianist Tommaso Vespo assembled the multinational sextet of Antonio Aiella (bass), Noel Taylor (clarinet), Antonio Longo (drums), Nicola Hein (guitar), Ricardo Teje (saxophone), and Tommaso Vespo (piano), blending lyrical jazz, chamber, and free improvisation.
Weston, Veryan / Trevor Watts
Dialogues with Ornette!
(FMR)
Live recordings in 2015 from Bim Huis, and in Quintavant/Audio Rebel in Rio de Janeiro, the first a tribute to the late saxophonist Ornette Coleman in a 3 part suite of fast-paced and insightful improv; the 2nd "Quantum Illusion", an introspective and rich 2-part work.
Watts, Trevor Moire Music Drum Orchestra
Live in Latin America vol. 1
(FMR)
Four recordings from the 1990 Latin America Tour of saxophonist Trevor Watts' Moire Music Drum Orchestra, with concerts from Venezuela and Mexico in a band with Nana Tsiboe, Nee-Daku Patato, Nana Appiah, Jojo Yates, Liam Genockey, and Colin Gibson.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
9!
None (-t)
(Matchless)
The transnational ensemble of acoustic improvisers Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor saxophone, Elk calls, Jamie Coleman on trumpet, Alex James on piano, Ross Lambert on guitar, pocket trumpet, preparations, John Lely on piano, Sebastian Lexer on piano, Marianthi Papalexandri on moving objects, Eddie Prevost on percussion, and Seymour Wright on alto saxophone.
Bathysphere (with Bishop / Malaby / Ho Bynum / &c)
Bathysphere
(Driff Records)
A 15-member ensemble of Boston area improvisers plus guests Jeb Bishop, Tony Malaby and Taylor Ho Bynum, taking their name from the deep-sea submersibles used for exploring, as this band survey's large form improvisation that blends free and melodic jazz in adventurous ways.
Gray / Hobbs / Hostetter / Braman
Lawnmower II
(Clean Feed)
The second take of Boston area drummer Luther Grays' project Lawnmower with Jim Hobbs on sax, Kaethe Hostetter on violin and Winston Braman on electric bass, excellent jazz with unique instrumentation and a diversity of approaches.
Mayas, Magda / Christine Abdelnour
Myriad
(Unsounds)
Pianist Magda Mayas and saxophonist Christin Abdelnour recorded these 2 tracks at a concert organised by Radio France at Meteo Festival, Mulhouse, idiosyncratic and distinctive playing using extended and unusual techniques.
Sorey, Tyshawn
Oblique-I
(Pi Recordings)
10 compositions from drummer Tyshawn Sorey's creative quartet/quintet repertoire "41 Compositions", created as a series of platforms for improvisation, here performed with Loren Stillman, Todd Neufeld, John Escreet & Chris Tordini.
Angles
Epileptical West - Live in Coimbra
(Clean Feed)
Saxophonist Martin Kuchen's Angles sextet with trumpeter Magnus Broo, trombonist Mats Aleklint and vibraphonist Mattias Stahl in jazz with a polyrhythmic and refined world music accent.
Tsahar, Assif and the Zoanthropic Orchestra
Embracing the Void
(Hopscotch Records)
Tsahar's 60-minute suite with his NY heavyweights Zoanthropic Orchestra is a sort of self-portrait in sound, drawing on auditory memories from his childhood on.
Fefer / Revis / Taylor
Ritual
(Clean Feed)
Saxophonist Fefer's NY based trio with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor play an ecstatic and spiritually charged modern jazz style with great drive and expressiveness.
Bennani, Abdelhai Trio
There Starts the Future
(Ayler)
Moroccan tenor saxophonist in a trio with Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud, extended examinations on tracks of extended technique and expressive approaches to improv.
AMM w/ John Butcher
Trinity
(Matchless)
New 2008 recordings from AMM - Eddie Prevost & John Tilbury with John Butcher - performing at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich, England.
Butcher, John
The Geometry of Sentiment
(Emanem)
Sonic experiments and solo improvisations on tenor and soprano with 2 pieces using amplified feedback, and 1 piece dedicated to Derek Bailey.
Parker, Evan Trio & Peter Brotzmann Trio
The Bishop's Move
(Les Disques Victo)



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC