The Squid's Ear Magazine


Runcible Quintet, The (featuring John Edwards / Neil Metcalfe): Five (FMR)

The Runciple Quintet of John Edwards on double bass, Marcello Magliocchi on drums, Neil Metcalfe on flute, Adrian Northover on soprano saxophone, and Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar recording at IKLECTIC, in London in 2016 for 5 excellent examples of detailed, collective improvisation.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



John Edwards-doublebass

Marcello Magliocchi-drums

Neil Metcalfe-flute

Adrian Northover-soprano saxophone

Daniel Thompson-acoustic guitar


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UPC: 0617629603408

Label: FMR
Catalog ID: CDFMR337-2017
Squidco Product Code: 24022

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2017
Country: UK
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at IKLECTIC, in London, England, on April 18th, 2016 by Saint Astral Sound

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon."
-from The Owl and the Pussycat (1871) by Edward Lear



"The Runcible Quintet consists of soprano saxophonist Adrian Northover, flautist Neil Metcalfe, acoustic guitarist Daniel Thompson, double bassist John Edwards and Italian-born drummer Marcello Magliocci. The five are London-based and all are members of the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) which convenes monthly for a performance. The LIO has spawned many a spin-off ensemble (including Barrel and Stellari String Quartet, to name but two.) Because of the empathy engendered by their members regularly playing together in LIO, such groupings have tended to work well together, the Runcible Quintet being the latest example of that pattern.

Fivewas recorded in April 2016, at I'klectik, a performance venue favoured by LIO, just across the Thames from Big Ben. The album consists of five tracks, somewhat unimaginatively entitled "One", "Two", "Three", "Four" and "Five", totalling under forty-five minutes. All of the music was freely improvised by the five players. Although the quintet's instrumentation may suggest a front line of saxophone and flute supported by a rhythm section of guitar, bass and drums, the reality is far freer and looser than that, with all five players improvising throughout. On "One", their playing is tentative as they feel their way, hinting that this is not a well-established quintet. By "Two", they sound more assured and the music starts to flow freely, kick-started by a sprightly, assured flute passage from Metcalfe that seems to relax everyone. "Three" and "Four" are longer pieces that form the heart of the album; throughout each of them, the five engage in a series of animated exchanges that radiate confidence and the sheer joy of playing together; interchanges between flute and saxophone are particularly noteworthy. "Five" is a brief end piece that draws the album to a satisfying conclusion, and leaves the listener wanting more.

The music on Five is good, old-fashioned improv that could easily have been recorded in any year from the mid-seventies onwards. It augurs well for future albums from this quintet. Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that the word "runcible" is borrowed from the comic writings of Edward Lear. The word itself is a piece of Lear nonsense without any agreed meaning, often being attached to non-existent objects such as the "runcible spoon" of Lear's best-known work The Owl and the Pussycat. We must hope that its inclusion in this quintet's name is not intended to signal that the group was a one-off and is actually non-existent itself. More, soon, please."-John Eyles, The Squid' Ear



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"After taking up the bass, around 1987, John Edwards co-formed The Pointy Birds who went on to win awards for their music for The Cholmondeleys and Featherstonehaughs dance troupes. The group appeared at festivals in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Moers, Leverkusen, Copenhagen. Around 1990, Edwards played his first gigs with London improvisers such as Roger Turner, Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Phil Minton.

Between 1990 and 1995 Edwards was a member of three touring groups simultaneously: B-Shops For The Poor, The Honkies and GOD. During this period he also became an increasingly regular player on the London improvised music scene and performed his first solo gigs; he composed and performed music theatre with the bass and cello duo The Great Explorers, street-busked a lot and appeared at many more festivals in Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Czech, etc.

Since 1995 John Edwards has become a "mainstay" of the London scene, playing with just about everybody, an activity that has seen him clocking up between 150 and 200 gigs a year. He has become regular player with Evan Parker, in many groupings, and with Tony Bevan, Veryan Weston, and Elton Dean, often in collaboration with Mark Sanders on percussion. He has become a more frequent player on the European (and festival) scene, appearing at Taktlos, Ulrichsburg, Nickelsdorf, Budapest, New Zealand and in the USA. He continues to work on solo performances."

-EFI (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/medwards.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Marcello Magliocchi, drums / percussions / instant compositions_

Musical explorer, has performed and recorded in many different languages ​​such as jazz, the instant composition, live music for silent movies, and more, interacting with the worlds of dance, theater.Timbre research takes the form of sound with musicians from the world by participating or organizing different ensembles of improvisers, video materials, electronics.Since 1974 he has worked in several projects (conception and artistic direction of musical events, concerts, recordings, jam sessions, etc.) involving the most significant musicians of jazz and italian artists and improvisers in the world scene as: Mal Waldron, Peter Kowald, Jim Dvorak, Steve Potts, Joelle Leandre, John Tchicai, Beniat Achiary, Carlos Zingaro, Evan Parker, Michel Godard, Tom Varner, Harri Sjostrom, Sakis Papadimitriou, Kent Carter, William Parker, John Edwards, Neil Metcalfe, Adrian Northover , Daniel Thompson, Maresuke Okamoto, JMVan Schouwburg, Marcio Mattos, London Improvisers Orchestra, Phil Gibbs, Tom Jackson, Tristan Honsinger, Harry Sijostrom, Lawrence Casserley, and other guests.

He has made numerous recordings for various labels such as:

TACTUS by ICTUS, CMC, ENJA, LEO rec., AMIRANI, YVP, SPLASC (h), SOUL NOTES, AFK, IMPROMUZAK, DAME / Ambiances Magnetique, SILTA,Setola di Maiale, ULTRAMARINE REC., AUDITION REC., Deepwhitesound, SOLAR IPSE, IMPROVISING BEINGS, WHITE NOISE GENERATOR, FMR, and more."

-Marcello Magliocchi Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/marcello.magliocchi)
3/13/2024

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

Neil Metcalfe is a UK flutist who has been a member of groups Evan Parker Octet, Garage, London Improvisers Orchestra, Paul Rogers Freedom Orchestra, The Dedication Orchestra, The Intuitive Art Ensemble, The Runcible Quintet, Transatlantic Art Ensemble, Trio F O, and Unlaunched Orchestra.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/316930-Neil-Metcalfe)
3/13/2024

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

"ADRIAN NORTHOVER - saxophones, Played and recordings with B Shops for the Poor, The Remote Viewers, Sonicphonics (with Billy Bang), The London Improvisers Orchestra, Ensemble Trip-Tik, Anna Homler, Ricardo Tejero, The Custodians, Sabu Toyozumi, Terry Day, Tristan Honsinger and JJ Duerinckx ,duo CDÕs with Adam Bohman, Tasos Stamou, Daniel Thompson and others. Current projects include ÔHard EvidenceÕ with John Edwards and Steve Noble, playing the music of Thelonious Monk, Vladimir MillerÕs Notes from Underground, ÔHogcallinÕ - a septet playing the music of Charles Mingus, and a trio with Marcio Mattos and Marilza Gouvea. This year (2016) has also seen collaborations with Neil Metcalfe(flute), Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (voice), Vladimir Tarasov (drums), and Marcello Magliocchi (drums) and Daniel Thompson(guitar). Adrian is also involved with Indian music (Jazz Thali ) and works with live music for film (Ensemble Kino)."

-Adrian Norhover Website (http://www.adriannorthover.co.uk/Marchtrio.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Daniel was born in Norfolk, England. Largely self-taught, after moving to London in 2005 Daniel embarked upon a life changing period. He studied with the guitarist John Russell for two years, spent many evenings listening to the trio of John Edwards, Tony Marsh and Evan Parker at The Vortex in East London and absorbed the free improvisation scene in and around LONDON. collectively this confirmed his musical direction.

AS WELL AS Performing at many venues and festivals across the UK and Europe Daniel has ALSO been organising concerts since 2007. WITH BENEDICT TAYLOR HE organised 'the SHOREDITCH CHURCH SERIES' in LONDON DURING THE YEARS 2010 to 2013. FROM 2013 to 2016 DANIEL ORGANISED THE monthly 'Foley Street improvised music concert series' in London's west end.

Daniel is the founder and artistic director of 'empty birdcage records', a label dedicated to releasing documents of free improvisation.

You WILL HEAR AND SEE DANIEL performING solo, with other musicians in many ad-hoc improvising situations and in long-term collaborations or "working groups'.

Recent collaborations will have heard and seen Daniel performing and or recording with Neil Metcalfe, Steve Noble, Caroline Kraabel, MAX REED, JOHN EDWARDS, Benedict Taylor, Tom Jackson, Vid Drasler, EVAN PARKER, Adam Bohman, SUE LYNCH, Alex Ward, KAY GRANT, Roland Ramanan, Adrian Northover, Marcello Magliocchi, ALAN WILKINSON, colin webster amongst others.

Daniel's music can be heard on recorded documents."

-Daniel Thompson Website (http://www.danielthompsonguitar.com/about.html)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Untitled 5:00

2. Untitled 7:38

3. Untitled 12:09

4. Untitled 17:18

5. Untitled 2:34

Related Categories of Interest:

May 2017
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Quintet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
FMR.


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