Stefan Keune – alto saxophone | John Russell – acoustic guitar

Track one recorded live by the musicians on November 16th 2000 at Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool. Tracks 2 – 7 recorded by Sean McGhee on November 20th 2000 at Beauchamp Building, London. Digital mastering by Thomas Block. Art work by Ulla B. Depenbrock.

Tracklist: 1. Big George [14:00] 2. Norma and Sharon [7:13] 3. Don’t do it again [8:23] 4. 305 [5:46] 5. Tom and Irina [8:24] 6. Just say cheese [ 6:18] 7. Late arrivals [5:01 Total Time: [56:06]

Stefan Keune & John Russell

share an abiding interest in free improvisation. A music that relies on an appreciation of, and a willingness to adapt to, the circumstance of the moment. What, when or how to play was left to the musicians’ discretion at the time of making the music. The “Excerpts and Offerings” on this CD are presented chronologically and are essentially un-edited i.e. real time recordings of the improvisations. Titles are all cryptic allusions to events that took place between 15th – 21st of November 2000.

John Russell

Born 1954, London. John Russell got his first guitar in 1965 while living in Kent and began to play in and around London from 1971 onwards.

An early involvement with the emerging free improvisation scene (from 1972) followed, seeing him play in such places as The Little Theatre Club, Ronnie Scott’s, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Musicians’ Co-Op and the London Musicians’ Collective.

From 1974 his work extended into teaching, broadcasts (radio and television) and touring in the United Kingdom and, ever extensively, in other countries around the world . He has played with many of the world’s leading improvisers and his work can be heard on over 50 CDs.

In 1981, he founded QUAQUA, a large bank of improvisers put together in different combinations for specific projects and, in 1991, he started MOPOMOSO which has become the UK’s longest running concert series featuring mainly improvised music. Much more on John Russell can be found via his web site by clicking here…

John Russell (guitar) and Stefan Keune (soprano saxophone) at Mopomoso free improvisation night at the Vortex Jazz Club, London. Filmed by Helen Petts on the 21st February 2011.

CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)

MP3 version (80.85MB zip download)