Aug 24, 2007

the keith tippet group (rare earth XVII)

Keith Tippet Group - Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening (1971)

"I'm a jazz musician", he states flatly and categorically, without qualification. But whant kind of jazz musician, for heaven's sake, plays with musicians from albeit experiemtnal rock bands like King Crimson, Soft Machine and the late Blossom Toes? The answer: a new breed, and all the men you'll hear on this album come into that category. (...)

The six cuts were recorded in two glorious days at Philip's studios, near Marble Arch, and Keith says: "It was fantastic - everybody was leaping around, very happy. Not drunken... just merry. You can tell what it was like from the fade-outs; the tracks weren't faded for musical reasons, but because we never wanted stop playing". The album opens with Nick's 'This Is What Happens', with horn fanfares over the fiery, striding rhythm. Mark has some nice half-valve effects in his solo, and Keith is very funky and exciting before the enjoyable chaotic coda. The link between this and Keiht's 'Thoughts To Geoff' uses a speeded-up trombone, eacuse "Nick thinks that he sounds like Freddie Hubbard when you speed up te tape, so we gave him a chance prove it". 'Thoughts To Geoff' has just about the most exciting Rhythmic feel of any British music I've heard. All seven muscians are marching to the same drummer, and words can scarcely do justice to the splendour of the way Babbington and Spring mesh to inspire the others.
Keith jagged runs, Elton's duet with Gary Boyle, and Nick's bluff yet sinuous trombone are the highlights. 'Green and Orange Night Park' starts with the feeling of a Coltrane coda, all majestic and thrashing, before moving into the theme, will make your hair stand on end. It's Elton's feature, with a written riff behind him which Nick gradually mutates into a related improvised phrase. It dissolves in beautiful frenzy. Nick tells me that "gridal" means "raucous" and Elton's compositions has an orgamisc possessed by-devils spirit which makes it an awesome experiencie. It doesn't really matter, but electric alto is overdubbed in some places. If you thought that was pretty weird though, 'Five After Dawn' will come as a slight shock. Written after an all-night party to depict musically people and things awakening and starting to move at dawn, it makes use of plunk and flutters, including bowed cymbals, plucked paino strings, and the spooky overdubbed voices of Keith and Robert. The link here is ' Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Liestining' a line by the Soft Machine's Hugh Hopper, played by Mark and Elton. The Final track, Nick's 'Black Horse', is a staple of the band's, which Nick rearranged for the session. It's the kind of cut that you're still dancing to an hour after it's over, with the horns coming down hard on the strong rhythm, and all through the band is one entity, one metabolism, breathing together. For days after these sessions, people were calling me up to say how incredible it had been. Now we can all see what they were on about: this music sticks to your ribs, keeps you satisfied makes you breathe in perfect harmony.

Estas son casi en su totalidad las notas de Richard Williams en el Melody Maker incluidas en la edición del álbum por arkama en 2002. Es curioso como en los ya más de dos años de aldea f. no he dedicado apenas palabras a la música que más me maravilla y a unos pocos músicos que crearon un universo muy especial, variado y distintivo, el canterbury. En realidad, puede que esta vez tampoco lo haga, aunque echando un ojo a los participantes parezca difícil pensar lo contrario: Keith Tippett (piano/hohner electric piano) , Elton Dean (alto/saxello), Mark Charing (cornet), Nick Evans (trombone) , Robert Wyatt (drums), Bryan Spring (drums), Phil Howard (drums), Tony Uta (conga drums/cow bell), Roy Babbington (bass/bass guitar), Neville Whitehead (bass) y Gary Boyle (guitar) el plantel resulta increíble, bien es cierto que varias colaboraciones son muy puntuales. La composiciones se reparten entre el propio Keith, Elton y Nick (suyas son las 2 piezas que actúan como introducción y cierre). Bajo la batuta de Keith Tippett el componente de jazz es total. Tras acabar el explosivo inicio de 'This is What Happen', la sensación es que nos ha abordado un jazz deconstruido, elocuente y libre, algo que no nos abandonará hasta el final.

Habría mucho que contar de cada uno, así, destacar a Nick, Mark y Elton en sus dinámicos solos y lo interesante de comprobar tantos a éstos como al resto en sus trabajos previos y posteriores con otras bandas. Keith junto a Julie Discroll y con varios de los presentes, firmaría algunos de los discos más imperdibles que se han hecho.

Apuntar un detalle, el título del disco, es un pequeño interludio de medio minuto que Hugh Hopper compuso junto a Mark y Nick, cuando Wyatt formó Matching Mole le "compondría" a su amigo un 'Dedicated to Hugh, But You Weren't Listening'. Antes de los 3 clicks decir que con este nombre, también publicaron previamente 'You Are Here...I Am There' en 1969 que ya contaba con el trío de los Softs a los vientos.

2 comments:

Oscar Casali Fuentes said...

Éste es un discazo de tomo y lomo. Uno de los trabajos más representativos de Tippet y su camada de amigos canterburianos.

Coincido en que no le has dedicado mucho a este movimiento. Ojalá nos muestres más de ello en el futuro.

Abrazo
Oscar

PD: acabo de volver a las andanzas

adrián said...

enorme este disco, pura electricidad con sabor canterburiano. saludos óscar