Some neglected people and recordings
Harry Beckett (1935-2010) July 2010
Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Mike Gibbs, Graham Collier, Harry Beckett, Phil Lee, Dave Aaron. Circa 1967.
A typically great solo from Harry on Aberdeen Angus from Down Another Road
Paul Grabowsky
‘Strange Meeting’ from Ringing the Bell Backwards (1994)
Australian Art Orchestra
aao (remastered, 2008)
Passion
ABC Classics
‘It’s as though he has given the theme to, say, Gavin Bryars, Duke Ellington, Philip Glass, Gil Evans and David Byrne and then applied William Burroughs’ cut-up technique to the results’.
(From John Gill’s review in Jazz Changes.)
Among the disparate elements are the brilliant opening violin improvisation, a minimalist percussion pattern over which the melody is first introduced, a heavy jazz-rock section with the melody still peeking through at times, electronics, a distorted ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and, finally, a very sentimental piano ending, complete with the occasional deliberate wrong note. This may seem a very odd combination of ideas, but from them a stunning composition emerges, unlike anything I have ever heard from any writer anywhere. The fact that Grabowsky didn’t write the original tune is immaterial. His arrangement, allied with the Australian Art Orchestra’s performance, recomposes the tune, making it as much of a jazz composition as anything he, I, or anyone else could have written. Vera Lynn is, at the time of writing, still with us, and one can only wonder at what she would think of this particular makeover of the song she made famous.
Extracted from the jazz composer
I think Bach might have approved of the AAO’s kaleidoscopic version of his Passion According to St. Matthew. I would recommend it as a ‘cover version’/‘tribute’ which makes something new without denigrating the old, a matter I touch on in the jazz composer book.
Links
Australian Art Orchestra
Some young musicians whose work I admire
yong vibes player who gets away from the norms of his instrument, and whose groups often include Joshua Blackmore.
Henry Threadgill
He isn't just interested in writing forms that will be played in a conventional way, he actually wants to change the way that the music takes shape. The way that musicians respond to one another.