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The Squid's Ear Magazine
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Wastell, Mark
Cello-intern Solos

Wastell, Mark: Cello-intern Solos (Confront)

Beginning in February 2022 on the 1st Saturday of the month Mark Wastell would bring his cello to the Hundred Years Gallery in London with the grace of gallery owners Graham MacKeachan and Montse Gallego and play, not as a performance, not as a rehearsal, just to play and record his improvisations as he expands his reach on the instrument, heard here in 17 fascinating excerpts.
 

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Mark Wastell-violoncello


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Label: Confront
Catalog ID: core 27
Squidco Product Code: 32561

Format: CDR
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at the Hundred Years Gallery, in London, UK, between February and May 2022, by Graham MacKeachan.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The Cello-intern residency at the Hundred Years Gallery began in February 2022 and has taken place on the first Saturday of each month since and is still ongoing. For one hour on each of those afternoons I'm given the opportunity to play alone regardless of whatever else is going on at the gallery. In these recordings you'll occasionally hear footsteps, quiet chatter and other activity as people move around the space. There is no pressure to 'perform'. This is not a gig. But it's also not a rehearsal. Play. Develop a new method. Sounds. Movement. Make mistakes. Listen. Learn. Leave. My sincere thanks go to Graham MacKeachan and Montse Gallego for their commitment and support. The work they undertake at the gallery is integral to community based art and music and is of vital importance. For Patrick Heron"-Mark Wastell



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Mark Wastell Born 1968; cello.

Much of Mark Wastell's relationship with his chosen instrument is concentrated on the tactile, textural and sonic possibilities of both violoncello and bow. He is increasingly interested in working with extreme elements drawn from frequency, timbre and pitch.

His early activity was consciously and subconsciously influenced by a variety of improvising musicians including John Stevens, Barry Guy, Phil Durrant and John Russell. Subsequent exposure to contemporary composers lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of the works written for strings by Feldman, Cage, Nono, Lachenmann and Sciarrino. The use of live electronics and music concrete by Tudor, Parmegiani, Xenakis and others was another important early influence.

Wastell's current instrumental material primarily focuses on using abstract principles of space and texture - encompassing elements of new London silence, pro-instrument minimalism, new complexity and electro-acoustics. Because of the very nature of his chosen instrument, he tends to favour 'chamber' style ensembles and is a member of a number of regular groups:

• Chris Burn's Ensemble, with John Butcher, Rhodri Davies, John Russell, Matt Hutchinson

• Derek Bailey's Company - with, for example, Will Gaines, Simon H. Fell and Rhodri Davies

• Evan Parker's String Project, with Peter Cusack, Hugh Davies, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, John Edwards, Kaffe Matthews, Marcio Mattos, John Russell

• Assumed possibilities, with Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies and Phil Durrant

• The Sealed Knot, with Burkhard Beins and Rhodri Davies

• Necessaire with Alessandro Bosetti, Ignaz Schick and Burkhard Beins

• IST with Simon Fell and Rhodri Davies

• Quatuor Accorde with Tony Wren, Phil Durrant and Charlotte Hug

• Broken Concort, a duo with Rhodri Davies

Mark Wastell has also performed with many other leading musicians including John Zorn, Keith Rowe, Peter Kowald, Hugh Davies, Roger Turner, Veryan Weston, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Axel Dorner, Hans Koch, Phil Minton, Max Eastley and Steve Beresford.

As a soloist he has played at the Micro-classical Festival (London 1996), LMC Festival (London 2000) and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (2000). He has travelled extensively with various groups, performing on tour and at festivals in the USA, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Greece. Other work includes the launch in 1996 of his own record label, Confront Recordings. Wastell is also joint co-ordinator of the concert venue All Angels, together with Rhodri Davies."

-European Free Improv (EFI) (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mwastell.html)
7/1/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. The Red Fish 3:14

2. One Form 1:26

3. Black and White Vertical 2:27

4. Lux Eterna 4:19

5. Azalea Garden 2:42

6. Boats at Night 1:22

7. Porthmeor 4:20

8. The Blue Check Tablecloth 5:40

9. No. 9 6:12

10. Winter Harbour 4:00

11. Crambe Vicarage 3:25

12. Small Areas 4:18

13. The Staircase 3:05

14. Wicca Cove 2:42

15. The Lamp 3:22

16. Violet in Mars 6:50

17. Discs Escaping 1:44

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Stringed Instruments
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Improvised Music

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