Free Jazz Group Wiesbaden | Frictions | Frictions Now | No Business Records

Today if one thinks back to the beginnings of European or more exactly (West) German Free Jazz, the names of Manfred Schoof, von Schlippenbach, Brotzmann, Globe Unity, or Gunter Hampel immediately come to mind. Much less known is the existence of two more remarkable groups which set out to play and record the then-new music called -Free Jazz- at the end of the 1960s. The “Free Jazz Group Wiesbaden” (FJGW) was one of those ensembles which today, undeserv-edly, are almost forgotten. — Ernst Nebhuth Continue reading

John Carter | Echoes from Rudolph’s | No Business Records

Echoes from Rudolph’s has topped my list of Albums Most in Need of Reissuing for the longest time. Not only is it one of clarinetist-composer John Carter’s greatest performances on record, it is also the only documentation of a critical period in the evolution of his art. It is the only album he made as a leader or co-leader between Secrets in 1972 and Variations in 1979. And it comes from the period in which he decided to discard his other horns and to focus exclusively on the clarinet. — Ed Hazell Continue reading

Howard Riley | 10.11.12 | No Business Records

John Howard Riley (born 16 February 1943) is an English jazz pianist and composer. Riley was born in Huddersfield. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and began playing jazz as early as the age of 13. He studied at the University of Wales (1961–66), Indiana University in America under Dave Baker (1966–67), and then at York University (1967–70). Alongside his studies he played jazz professionally, with Evan Parker (1966) and then with his own trio (1967–76), with Barry Guy on bass and Alan Jackson, Jon Hiseman, and Tony Oxley for periods on drums. Additionally he worked with John McLaughlin (1968), the London Jazz Composers Orchestra (1970-1980s), and with Oxley’s ensemble (1972–81). He and Guy worked in a trio with Phil Wachsmann from 1976 well into the 1980s, and played solo piano throughout North America and Europe. From 1978 to 1981 he played in a quartet with Guy, Trevor Watts, and John Stevens; in the early 1980s he did duo work with Keith Tippett, with Jaki Byard, and with Elton Dean. From 1985 he worked in a trio setting with Jeff Clyne and Tony Levin. Riley has taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and currently teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he has taught continuously since the 1970s. Continue reading

The Convergence Quartet | Owl Jacket | No Business Records

The Convergence Quartet Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Harris Eisenstadt (drums), Alexander Hawkins (piano), and Dominic Lash (double bass) brings together four leaders of a generation of composer improvisers who draw on a deep range of influences and traditions in their music. All established bandleaders in their own right, the band’s credits also include work, both live and on record, with many seminal names in contemporary jazz: Anthony Braxton, John Butcher, Joe McPhee, Louis Moholo Moholo, Evan Parker, Mulatu Astatke, Sam Rivers, and Cecil Taylor, to name only a few. Through many hours on the road and in rehearsal, the group have forged their many and varied musical experiences into a uniquely innovative and coherent language, offering as a result a ‘powerful example of 21st-century musical catholicity’ (John Fordham, The Guardian) and ‘moments of magical innovation’ (Paul Medley, The Oxford Times). Continue reading