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John Butcher-saxophones
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UPC: 634479839726
Label: Unsounds
Catalog ID: 07u
Squidco Product Code: 6166
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2004
Country: The Netherlands
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded in London, 1991. Solos by Steve Lowe at Gateway Studios. Multitracks by Justin Underhill at Pathway Studios.
"John Butcher appeared on six records, beginning with the 1984 LP "Fonetiks, before he first released "Thirteen Friendly Numbers" on his own Acta label in 1992. But the disc is still something of a debut; it is the first document of his peculiar language for solo saxophone, which he had fashioned by purging his vocabulary of the instrument's familiar sounds and jazz-associated gestures, and filling the space with carefully selected sounds located at the periphery of instrumental control. Butcher's inspirations were as singular as his sounds. In musique concrete, he explains, "the actual source of the sound could change quite drastically within the course of a phrase of the music, and I was intrigued with trying to find ways of doing that on the saxophone. [...] His burgeoning discography now includes [many] more solo albums, yet this one still holds its own in any company; the ideas are compelling, the playing committed, the music thrilling. In an age when so many records of improvised music seem like little more than calling cards, that's no mean feat."-Bill Meyer, Berwyn IL, January 2004
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for John Butcher "John Butcher's work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics.Originally a physicist, he left academia in '82, and has since collaborated with hundreds of musicians - Derek Bailey, John Tilbury, John Stevens, The EX, Akio Suzuki, Gerry Hemingway, Polwechsel, Gino Robair, Rhodri Davies, Okkyung Lee, John Edwards, Toshi Nakamura, Paul Lovens, Eddie Prevost, Mark Sanders, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Phil Minton, and Andy Moor - to name a few. He is well known as a solo performer who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of place. Resonant Spaces is a collection of site-specific performances collected during a tour of unusual locations in Scotland and the Orkney Islands.His first solo album, Thirteen Friendly Numbers, includes compositions for multitracked saxophones, whilst later solo CDs focus on live performance, composition, amplification and saxophone-controlled feedback. HCMF has twice commissioned him to compose for his own large ensembles. Other commissions include for Elision (Australia), the Rova (USA) & Quasar (Canada) Saxophone Quartets, reconstructed Futurist Intonarumori (USA), "Tarab Cuts" (based on pre-WWII Arabic recordings, and shortlisted for the 2014 British Composer's Award) and "Good Liquor .." for the London Sinfonietta. In 2011 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists. Recent groupings include The Apophonics with Robair and Edwards, Anemone with Peter Evans, Plume with Tony Buck & Magda Mayas and a trio with Okkyung Lee & Mark Sanders.Butcher values playing in occasional encounters - ranging from large groups such as Butch Morris' London Skyscraper and the EX Orkestra, to duo concerts with David Toop, Kevin Drumm, Claudia Binder, Paal Nilssen-Love, Thomas Lehn, Fred Frith, Keiji Haino, Ute Kangeisser, Matthew Shipp and Yuji Takahashi." ^ Hide Bio for John Butcher
9/4/2024
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Track Listing:
1. Buccinator's Outing 7:31
2. Notelet 1:44
3. There Are Today More Than 390 Known Pairs Of Friendly Numbers 1:55
4. A Leap In The Light 4:40
5. Bells And Clappers 3:39
6. Two Up-Two Down 4:05
7. Humours And Vapours 4:04
8. Uncommon Currency 1:08
9. A Sense Of Occasion 2:39
10. The Brittle Chance 2:37
11. Mackle Music 1:50
12. Tolv Two Elf Kater Ten (It Can't Be) Sax 4:16
13. Wisp & Whisk 6:03
John Butcher
Improvised Music
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
May 2006
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Search for other titles on the label:
Unsounds.
 | Butcher, John + 13 Fluid Fixations (Weight of Wax) |
| Commissioned for the 2021 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, John Butcher's fantastic work for 14 improvisers of unique approach employs what Butcher refers to as "psychological orchestration"--imagining how each performer might respond to particular ideas & their sonic company--the score, which includes photographic imagery, directing specific solos, duos & small groupings. | |
 | Polwechsel Embrace [4 LP BOX SET] (NI-VU-NI-CONNU) |
| BACK IN STOCK! The current Polwechsel quartet of Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr and Burkhard Beins — merging improvisation and contemporary forms for outstandingly paced and conceptualized performance — are joined by luminaries John Butcher, Klaus Lang, Magda Mayas, Andrea Neumann and Peter Ablinger, released in a deluxe 4-LP box set with a 32-page booklet. | |
 | Butcher / Prevost High Laver Levitations Vol 1: Unearthed (Matchless) |
| Long-time collaborators and iconoclastic improvisers, drummer Eddie Prévost and saxophonist John Butcher, met at All Hallows Church, in High Laver, Essex in 2023, using the natural ambience of the space to capture these three improvisations, Prévost playing primarily on a drum kit and both in a more jazz-oriented sax and drum duo, extended by both players' exceptional technique. | |
 | Stoffner, Florian / John Butcher / Chris Corsano Braids (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd) |
| With incredible skill and nuance, using extended and stunning technique, and through intent listening of nearly telepathic communication, the trio of Florian Stoffner on guitar, John Butcher on tenor & soprano saxophones and Chris Corsano on drums & half clarinet, perform seven subtle and detailed improvisations live at Le Singe, in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland in 2022. | |
 | Butcher, John / Dominic Lash / Emil Karlsen Here and How (Bead) |
| Impeccably recorded in the studio, the long-running and varied collaborations of saxophonist John Butcher, double bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Emil Karlsen come together for the first time as a trio, recording eight succinct improvisations of remarkable technique and nearly telepathic dialog, allowing space for each player to display their masterful skill. | |
 | Butcher / Day / Eastley Angles Of Enquiry (Confront) |
| A six part improvisational inquiry from three experienced London investigators--John Butcher on saxophones, Terry Day on drums and Max Eastley performing on his self-developed electroacoustic monochord, along with percussion and a bird call--all three performing with unusual and extended techniques to create a uniqe sonic palette applied to extremely focused conversations. | |
 | Butcher, John / Pat Thomas / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble Fathom [COLORED VINYL] (577 Records) |
| The debut for UK saxophonist John Butcher on 577 Records is this exemplary 2021 live recording at Cafe OTO in London by the quartet of Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass and Steve Noble on drums, four of the UK's leading free improvisers demonstrating their prodigious abilities in concentrated conversation. | |
 | Butcher, John / Pat Thomas / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble Fathom (577 Records) |
| The debut for UK saxophonist John Butcher on 577 Records is this exemplary 2021 live recording at Cafe OTO in London by the quartet of Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass and Steve Noble on drums, four of the UK's leading free improvisers demonstrating their prodigious abilities in concentrated conversation. | |
 | Davies, Rhodri / Nikos Velitotis Hotel Art Head [BOOK] (gwasg amgen) |
| A curious book of images from artists including Rhodri Davies, John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Richard Dawson, &c. photographed in a location familiar to a touring musician--a budget hotel room--pictured laying on the bed with each artist's head covered by that room's hotel wall painting, from typically insipid to perplexingly unexpected. | |
 | Russell, John / John Butcher / Dominic Lash But everything now left before it arrived (Meenna) |
| A live performance at the 2010 GIO Fest III in Glasgow, UK, from three of the UK's leading free improvisers--late guitarist John Russell, John Butcher on saxophones and Dominic Lash on double bass--a superb concert in five improvisations of incredible technical skill through both energetic and restrained passages, a brilliant example reminding us of the loss of the great guitarist. | |
 | Allbee, Liz / John Butcher / Ignaz Schick / Marta Zapparoli Lamenti Dall'infinito [VINYL] (NI-VU-NI-CONNU) |
| The 4th of NI-VU-NI-CONNU's 5-LP John Butcher series and part of a 2 night residency at ausland in Berlin coinciding with his 65th birthday, tenor & soprano saxophonist John Butcher is joined in a quartet by electroacoustic improvisers, trumpeter Liz Allbee, Ignaz Shick on turntables, sampler & electronics and Marta Zapparoli on tapes, reel-to-reel tape machines and antennas. | |
 | Agnel, Sophie / John Butcher La Pierre Tachee [VINYL] (NI-VU-NI-CONNU) |
| The 2nd of NI-VU-NI-CONNU's 5-LP John Butcher series, the duo of pianist Sophie Agnel and soprano & tenor saxophonist John Butcher is informed by previous collaborations as a duo and in a trio with cellist Márkos Albert, here in a superb 2019 concert of balanced tension and intense interaction captured at Ausland in Berlin, a meeting of two perfectly matched improvisers. | |
 | Phillips / Butcher / Solberg We met - and then (Relative Pitch) |
| The debut of the advanced and innovative collaboration between improviser and prominent double bassist Barre Phillips, British saxophonist John Butcher and Norwegian drummer, percussionist and improviser, Stale Liavik Solberg, recording at the Blow out Festival in Oslo, Norway in 2019, and at Offene Ohren, Einstein Kultur, in Munchen, Germany in 2018. | |
 | IST (Davies / Fell / Wastell) + John Butcher / Phil Durrant A More Attractive Way [5 CD BOX SET + 20 page booklet] (Confront) |
| A comprehensive album of live performances from IST (Rhodri Davies: harp, preparations; Simon H. Fell: double bass, preparations; Mark Wastell: violoncello, preparations) between 1996 and 2000, beginning with their concert at Club Orange in London and including concerts in London, Billericay, Norwich and Cambridge, with a 20 page booklet of photos and text from the band & collaborators. | |
 | RED trio and Celebration Band Suite 10 Years Anniversary [2 CDs] (NoBusiness) |
| The Red Trio of pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, bassist Hernâni Faustino and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini mark their 10th anniversary as a trio on this 2-CD set of an outstanding concert in Lisboa, PT, joining forces with the 13-member Celebration Band, whose members include John Butcher, Ernesto Rodrigues, Luis Vicente, Sei Miguel, Rodrigo Amado, Mattias Stahl, Carlos Santos, &c. | |
 | Butcher / Prevost / Viltard Iklectik Live One (Matchless) |
| Part of the Iklectic club's "Meetings With Remarkable Saxophonists" programmed by drummer Eddie Prévost and double bassist Guillaume Viltard, here meeting John Butcher performing on tenor and soprano saxophone for a masterful concert of free improvisations, energetically turning the "Electric", "Light", "On", "Click" through 4 extended and remarkable converstations. | |
 | Butcher, John / Thomas Lehn / Matthew Shipp The Clawed Stone (RogueArt) |
| Matthew Shipp (piano), John Butcher (saxophones) and Thomas Lehn (electronics) in a studio album recorded in France in 2017, a uniquely voiced collective trio of transformative improvisation, Lehn's additions and modifications blending perfectly with Shipp's solid foundations and Butcher's advanced technical expression, for an engrossing and expressive set of recordings. | |
 | Vandermark, Ken w/ Butcher / Drake / Kessler / McPhee / Mori / Noble / Prevost / Rasmussen / Tilbury / Wooley Unexpected Alchemy [7-CD BOX] (Not Two) |
| Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c. | |
 | Thomas / Butcher / Solberg Fictional Souvenirs [CD] (Astral Spirits) |
| Performing in concert at Iklectik in London in 2017, the UK and Norwegian free improvising trio of Pat Thomas on Moog Theremini & IPad based electronics, John Butcher on saxophones, and Stale Liavik Solberg on drums & percussion impress through a mix of masterful free playing and eclectic electroacoustic conversations, an adventurous and wonderfully unpredictable set. | |
 | GGRIL [feat John Butcher / Isaiah Ceccarelli / Xavier Charles] Facon [2 CDs] (Circum-Disc) |
| The Quebec ensemble GGRIL of eclectic instrumentation, acoustic and electronic, with an open-minded approach to developing large-scale works bringing together approaches to improvisation and contemporary composition, here presenting three works from residencies with John Butcher, Isaiah Ceccarelli and Xavier Charles recorded from 2016 through 2018. | |
 | Butcher, John / Philippe Lauzier / Eric Normand How Does This Happen? (Ambiances Magnetiques) |
| The Montreal free improvising, experimenting duo "Not The Music" of bassist Eric Norman & bass clarinetist Philippe Lauzier invited UK saxophonist John Butcher for concerts in Ottawa and Montreal, recording the two impressive 5-part series heard on this album--"en consequence" (consequently) and "par irruption" (by bursting), of masterful and profoundly pensive prowess. | |
 | Common Objects (Davies / Butcher / Davies / Lapelyte / Patterson / Thomas) Skullmarks (Meenna) |
| Distributing the group--John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Lina Lapelyte, Lee Patterson, Pat Thomas, and Rhodri Davies--inside the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, Butcher chose 4 shamanic objects from the museum's ethnographic collection, evoking water, air, earth, spirit, ritual and utility, used as a score orchestrating varying combinations of players; intense and profound improvisation. | |
 | Butcher, John / Eddie Prevost Visionary Fantasies (Matchless) |
| A series of inspired solo and duo performances from AMM founder, percussionist Eddie Prevost and free improvising saxophonist John Butcher, captured live at London's Iklectik in 2018, splitting the album between solo and duo work as the two morph their instruments into incredible sonic devices, with intense concentration and dialog nothing short of fantastic. | |
 | Suzuki, Akio / John Butcher Immediate Landscapes (Ftarri) |
| At the same event in Scotland that John Butcher recorded his excellent "Resonant Spaces" album, he also joined forces with sound artist Akio Suzuki on a variety of objects and sound devices to record the first 5 tracks of this unusual album of very free improv, the last track by the duo recording at the 2015 Ftarri Festival at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo. | |
 | Butcher, John / Thomas Lehn / Matthew Shipp Tangle (Fataka) |
| After "Exta", where saxophonist John Butcher and electronics artist Thomas Lehn met with pianist John Tilbury, the duo now meet with New York pianist Matthew Shipp for a distinct improvisational entanglement of Butcher's dense streams, Lehn's rich sound floor, and Shipp's thick repetitions. | |
 | RED Trio w/ John Butcher Summer Skyshift (Clean Feed) |
| The second collaboration between the Portugese Red Trio of Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano), Hernani Faustino (double bass) and Gabriel Ferrandini (drums) with UK saxophonist John Butcher, performing live at Jazz em Agosto Festival in 2015, revealing new aspects to their project. | |
