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LP
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HE 72006LP
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John Surman's Jazz in Britain '68-'69 is an overview disc of his '60s band and one of the more enjoyable vintage British jazz records. These tunes come from several different sessions recorded in the late sixties, as evidenced by the alternate drummers -- Alan Jackson and Tony Oxley -- and the use of different instrumentation, like the three-horn modal piece "Bouquet Garni," from 1968 that places Surman in the company of only two other horn players -- Alan Skidmore and Mike Osborne -- and no rhythm section, in the configuration that would emerge in the mid-'70s as S.O.S. For most of the other tracks, Oxley is the drummer, Kenny Wheeler plays flugelhorn, and John Taylor plays piano (acoustic and electric). The music here is all over the place stylistically, but it hardly matters because all the players are fully engaged, and as an ensemble, they all shine and were seemingly looking forward to the impact the new jazz would have.
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LP
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HE 70010LP
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Recorded in Japan during a tour in 1970. Featuring famous French musicians Eddie Louiss on organ and Daniel Humair on drums. A classy trio album with Louiss' superb Hammond organ played front and center and a glimmering of the Caribbean dancing in the shadows. LP on 180-gram vinyl.
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LP
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HE 69015LP
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LP issued to celebrate more European artists than ever before winning the annual "Downbeat" polls in 1969. On this release they all perform as a unit. Personnel: John Surman - baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone; Niels Henning Oersted-Pedersen - bass; Daniel Humair - drums; Francy Boland - piano; Albert Mangelsdorff - trombone; Karin Krog - vocals. Produced on the occasion of the Berlin Jazz Festival 69 by Joachim E. Berendt. Recorded Berlin 10 and 11 November 1969, Sonopress Studio.
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CD
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FLED 3101CD
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At the time of its original release in 1973, Morning Glory, seemed a surprising departure for saxophonist John Surman. It seemed to owe more to the music being made by Miles Davis, Weather Report and Tony Williams' Lifetime in the USA or Ian Carr's Nucleus and Soft Machine in the UK than it did to the often abstract, free but determinedly acoustic music that Surman had pioneered up to that point. Hindsight tells another story. Morning Glory stands as both a consolidation of his work to date and, like the solo Westering Home (FLED 3093CD), it offers a signpost for his work in subsequent years. Surman chose his partners for the recording very carefully, drawing from his friends and trusted collaborators. In particular, Terje Rypdal on electric guitar and John Taylor on both acoustic and electric pianos allows for an expanded musical palette. The rhythm section of Malcolm Griffiths on trombone, Chris Laurence on bass and John Marshall's chattering drums lay down a remarkably elastic rhythmic counterpoint. All of these musical signatures would become even more evident in his later recordings for ECM. Re-mastering from the original master tapes supervised by John Surman.
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CD
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FLED 3093CD
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Fledg'ling are very proud to bring Westering Home to CD. Westering Home was originally released in 1972. John Surman plays everything on the album, drawing together many of the threads of his earlier recordings with the possibilities offered by technology (and his own prodigious musicality). "I took a break from being on the road. This was just around the time when mono had become stereo, and then - in a flash - multi-track recording became possible. I was fascinated by the possibilities of, say, three bass clarinets on different tracks improvising together. Plus I had a curiosity about 'radiophonics' and tape manipulation and Pierre Henry's musique concrete. So it was in that spirit that I started work on what was to become Westering Home." Surman was born in Tavistock, North Devon. He initially gained recognition playing baritone saxophone in the Mike Westbrook Band in the mid-1960s, and was soon heard regularly playing soprano saxophone and bass clarinet as well. Surman developed a fearsome reputation as a prolific collaborator and session musician, before recording a series of albums under his own name beginning with the eponymous John Surman in 1969. His relationship with ECM Records has been continuous from the late 1970s to the present; Surman has recorded prolifically for the label playing bass clarinet, recorders, soprano and baritone saxophones and using synthesizers, both solo and with a wide range of other musicians.
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