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The History of British Jazz Rock in 10 Albums
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
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I've been a Barbara Thompson fan since 1980. We booked Paraphernalia for a university gig in Leeds . The gig was packed to the rafters and I had the pleasure of counting out the cash for the band in the back of their van at the end of the night. I've never enjoyed parting with other people's money quite so much. I'd vote for Wilde Tales but there are so many fine albums to choose from.
I met Barbara and Jon around the time of Lady Saxophone when they played in Burgess Hill and they could not have been sweeter. A friend of mine bought the CS80 from Peter Lemer that he had used with her and Gong.
I think Keith Tippett and his crew (Marc Charig, Nick Evans, Harry Miller, Elton Dean) had a role, though independent. He was the bridge between King Crimson and Soft Machine, and I'm sure they played a role in Soft Machine's transformation into jazz rock.
Keith Tippett led a band called Centipede which recorded one album, Septober Energy produced by Robert Fripp.
The band had about 50 members including many from the British jazz and prog scene of the early seventies.
@@arvidsson56 Yes, Fripp also played live with them! (But couldn't do it in studio due to his commitments as a produced -- he said that literally there wasn't enough physical space to play). Another fun fact: In his biography, Mike Oldfield says that his inspiration for creating Tubular Bells was Sectober Energy.
Finally, you get around to mentioning Colloseum! I alwayw wondered why you never talked about them. They were one of my favourite bands when Valentyne Suite came out, I had several of their albums and I saw them live twice, one with the original lineup and later with Chris Farlowe on vocals. They were a great live band and I am surprrised that as a drummer, Andy, you hadn't talked especially about Jon Hiseman, a great drummer, who somehow was very underrated.
Sorry, Colosseum of course, excuse my typing.
I never had the opportunity to see Colosseum live, but fortunately there are good concerts available on DVD and CZcams.
A great live band indeed.
Jon Hiseman is a legit underrated player
I take it back. I just discovered Andy's greatest jazz fusion drummers video and he talsk about Hiseman on that.
In between Colosseum and Colosseum II Jon Hiseman had a group called Tempest.
They made two albums, where Allan Holdsworth played guitar on the first one and Ollie Halsall on the second.
There is a live recording where both Allan & Ollie are in the band.
If you haven’t come across it, here’s a live album called Under The Blossom recorded during the brief period when Halsall and Holdsworth were both in the band together. It’s from a BBC In Concert radio broadcast but the recording quality leaves a lot to be desired. It’s available to be streamed from Tidal if you do that sort of thing.
More in the vein of freeform distorted guitar, power-trio albums than "structured" jazz--rock. Too much noise and not enough melody.
Tempest is one of those bands I ought to like but they just never grew on me. Maybe it's the vocals, which sound dated and a bit forced nowadays. But full of amazing players for sure.
Jon used to live in the next road to me… when I was 13 I went and borrowed an amp off him for my garage band… he invited me to see Tempest and he snuck me into a gig I think (The Greyhound) … ahh ) the 70’s!
The other person who was heavily influenced by Miles Davis (and John Coltrane) was Mike Ratledge. Ornette Coleman (and Jimmy Garrison) was a huge influence on Hugh Hopper - in addition to Zappa. Robert Wyatt had said his ideal group would be the Charles Mingus Quintet. Mix in Terry Riley (who was an improvising minimalist influenced by Chet Baker) is a a bundle of jazz. The Soft Machine organ sound was a circumstance because Ratledge could not afford a Hammond! Their jazz influences are much more transparent than the Mothers' jazz influences were. SM were influenced by the Mothers, but so were the Beatles, Jethro Tull, Family, the Nice and ELP!
By the way (the SM Vol 2 suite on Pataphysics was prepared after the band was inducted into the Pataphysical Society in France). Mike Zwerin, a well known U.S. jazz critic, loved Soft Machine! Ratledge was nominated a few times in Downbeat's Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition Category (for organ and electric piano)in their critic's poll.
They were a bit more than the Mothers earlier on.
THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING BACK DOOR! Hodgkinson was astonishing.
Great clip Andy, and a strong introduction to British Jazz Rock. If I could be so bold as to offer a few more suggestions that I consider essential releases in the genre since this is kind of my specialist subject:
Graham Collier Music:
· Down Another Road (1969)
· Songs for My Father (1970)
· Darius (1974)
Keith Tippett Group:
· You Are Here... I Am There (1970)
· Dedicated to You but You Weren't Listening (1971)
Centipede:
· Septober Energy (1971)
Mike Westbrook:
· Metropolis (1971)
· Citadel/Room 315 (1974)
Mike Gibbs:
· Michael Gibbs (1970)
· Tanglewood 63 (1971)
· Just Ahead (1972)
· In the Public Interest with Gary Burton (1974)
· Directs the Only Chrome Waterfall Orchestra (1975)
Neil Ardley:
· Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises with Ian Carr & Don Rendell (1970)
· A Symphony of Amaranths (1972)
· Kaleidoscope of Rainbows (1975)
· Harmony of the Spheres (1978)
Neil Ardley / Ian Carr / Mike Gibbs / Stan Tracey:
· Will Power (A Shakespeare Birthday Celebration In Music) (1975)
All amazing, you won't be disappointed!
Matt P
Andy, well done for finally doing a video on the very underrated British jazz rock/fusion tradition. I would include Henry Cow in this tradition - their stunning first album 'Leg End' certainly has a jazz rock vibe. What was called "Brass Rock" (another name for jazz rock) in the early 70s includes IF (who you mentioned), but also more obscure British bands like Mogul Thrash, Heaven, CCS, Samurai and Brainchild. The albums by these short-lived bands are well worth checking out.
Rock WORKSHOP. SATISFACTION .WALRUS.Greatest show on earth.
Brian auger seems to be crimally forgotten on almost every list.
He is not forgotten by me. Oblivion Express having been covered here already. I will return to Brian at some point
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer and I do appreciate that you have mentioned him. My oldest brother turned me on to him when I was about 11. Oblivion Express was probably the first fusion that I ever heard. And I'm a yank. I think from what I have seen on music based formats on CZcams, You're pretty much. It. I am not aware of Brian Auger mentioned on SOT .
Absolute genius…
SEARCH PARTY :))) LOL
Yes, when I think of "British Jazz Rock" I think of Colosseum and Brian Auger and the Trinity with Julie Driscoll.
Gary Boyle is a mate of mine. If you wanted to interview him, I could ask him if he'd be interested in doing that.
Did Gary once tutor in Nelson, Lancashire, in the early 90s?
@@spookybaba Quite possibly. He lives not far from there and has taught at colleges in the North West.
@@rothwellaudio cheers, Mate.
I grew up in Luton during the late 60s/early 70s. When my friends and I were in our teens and early twenties we were fortunate enough to have a local venue called the Royal Hotel, right near the railway station. It had music several nights a week programmed by a guy called Tim Burton. He was an upright bass player in a free jazz/improv outfit, and he knew loads of jazzers in London. Consequently, he booked some amazing stuff into the Royal. Barbara Thompson/ Paraphernalia were regularly on there, as were another great jazz rock outfit called Landscape (their bassist Andy Pask wrote the theme to The Bill). Landscape later morphed into a sort of electro pop band and had a minor hit with Einstein A-gogo. I saw Brian Godding, Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker there. I saw Back Door there and Quantum Jump with Rupert Hine, John G Perry on bass and the wonderful Trevor Morais on drums. I saw John Stevens’ Away there too. As a result, I own six of the albums on this list. When punk/post punk happened, Tim Burton also booked some seminal bands including the Damned, The Soft Boys, Tubeway Army (featuring Gary Numan), and I believe Magazine and the Comsat Angels also played there though I didn’t see them. It was like having a university degree course in British alternative music on your doorstep. I don’t know where Tim Burton is nowadays but his programming of that venue and the music it made available to me and my friends shaped and changed the course of my life - something for which I remain truly grateful.
I remember Landscape on ‘Tomorrow’s World’ in around 78/79 ish,( something to do with studios and technology I think), and I’m fairly sure they were referenced in the piece as a Jazz-Rock band. I’d just started to listen to bass players prior to being able to afford one, and remembered Andy Pask as sounding impressive. Two or three years later,( a psychological lifetime at that age), they cropped up with ‘Einstein a Go-Go’. Head trip lol
They were a fabulous live band and their first album on RCA still had some vestiges of their jazz rock roots. I believe their trombone player, Peter Thoms, was also something of a session legend who played on a few soul and r&b classics.
@@davidwylde8426 I’ve just had a look at the Wikipedia entry on them. Thoms played for everyone from Tina Turner to Thomas Dolby, the drummer, Richard Burgess, went on to produce Spandau Ballet, and Andy Pask’s session credits reads like a who’s who of uk music.
@@FallenOverture I knew Burgess had produced Spandau, and knew Pask had gone on to do a lot of session work including The Bill theme,( I think Charlie Morgan may have cowrote that with him, a drummer who I remember playing on a track with Nik Kershaw and Mark King called ‘Easy’ from Kershaw’s second album. Brilliant track), but knew nothing about Thoms’. Playing with Thomas Dolby is a cool connection. Dolby’s first album is sublime in places.
Ah yes, Brian Godding. What a musician he is!
I randomly met Gary Boyle about 13-14 years ago. I had been doing some recording with a singer songwriter mate of mine at a studio in North Manchester, run by John Ellis, a great musician who plays mostly keys. John had a jazz gig with Boyle (and maybe others) later that eve. We were packing up, and Gary turned up with his guitar. We had a very pleasant few minutes chatting with him before we left. He was a really nice unassuming gentleman, and at least per his wikipedia page, is still alive. I had no idea of his history until I googled him after I got home.
I commend you Andy, you really know your stuff. Made me go re-buy ‘If 2’ vinyl and Zzebra for the 1st time !
Saw Isotope, Greenslade, Tempest at the time as a 14- 16 year old and lived in the next street to Hiseman who lent me an amp for my garage band. Lovely bloke.
Nice to see Barbara Thompson getting a mention but Neil Ardley needed to be here. She, along with Ian Carr and many others mentioned here play on Neil Ardley's albums plus John Martyn on Harmony of the Spheres. Also, Hatfield and the North, National Health and Bruford with the wonderful Dave Stewart (no not that one) and Steve Hillage's Fish Rising should be here, along with Gong.
For me, 1968 to 1971 was a golden era for this field....I like it when the bands are exploring the limits (which is why I love the first 5 Soft Machine albums, among others)
Allan Holdsworth was a genius. I love his work in Soft Machine.
@@DannyG-cv8so Allan was certainly a brilliant musician.
@@DannyG-cv8so Allan was the standout on Bundles. Compositionally, I think they became more tame compositionally as Jenkins gained more influence and wrote more for the band. They were still a great band, with great musicians, but the edge of the band left starting with the departure of Wyatt, Dean, Howard, Hopper and finally Ratledge, all of whom were eccentric individuals with very unique voices. I also loved what John Etheridge (who I recently interviewed) brought to the band as well. Babbington, Marshall and Jenkins were, of course, top level players, but I felt like the later albums were adapting to a style rather than creating one as they had earlier.
Neil Murray was everywhere, National Health, Whitesnake, Gary Moore,,,
Also Colloseum II
IF and Manfred Mann chapter 3 were pretty good.
I was about to propose a video on Manfred Mann's Chapter Three (maybe it's already done). I stumbled onto their first album and was pleasantly surprised (not really a fan of Mann but this surely was different). Their sax player even sounds a bit like David Jackson from Van der Graaf Generator!
10 won’t be enough!
One of the first ones:
Graham Bond with Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and John Mc Laughlin sometimes.
Georgie Fame the Mod-Jazz Rocker and as Fusion but not Jazz-Rock: Joe Harriot and John Mayer.
Every time you delve into various band's lineups you find some wonderful new music. I stumbled upon Collin Towns through Ian Gillan band. Colin's jazz, film, TV and work with The Mask Orchestra is just wonderful AVANT-GARDE modern orchestral prog jazz rock. Now there is a list 10 rock artists that took up the baton.
Always good to have UK focused content. It seemed quite natural in the late 1970's that rock and jazz/rock were talked about in the same breath, and both aspects of the same music scene. We didn't have the same obsession with genre distinctions as we now seem to. I think Dave Greenslade composed the theme music for the tv series, Bird of Prey. Nick Mason made the Fictitious Sports album with Carla Bley. Collin Towns was a great keyboard player. I would like to hear more about him.
Here's an honourable mention to accompany your very worthy list: "Will Power: A Shakespeare Birthday Celebration in Music". Probably as obscure as anything you've brought up here, but no less than sublime. Some of the involved include Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Mike Gibbs, Stan Tracey, John Taylor, Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Coe, Gordon Beck and Tony Levin (the drummer, not the bassist). It was performed and recorded at Southwark Cathedral and Tony Palmer, in his excellent music documentary "All You Need Is Love", shows footage from this occasion in the episode about jazz (which also features some wonderful stuff with Chick Corea in his home studio). To me, this is a dream team of British jazz fusion (including the full Azimuth group, who later did some of my favourite ECM recordings). It sounds like nothing ever made in the US, or anywhere else, but the UK.
Ollie ! Sing his praises from the mountain top !
And Gary Husband played with Level 42......Great to see Back Door and Isotope mentioned....
Thanks Andy. Really enjoyed it. I have been fortunate to have seen many of these bands more than once. In the mid seventies there was a lot of swapping around of musicians for different leaders. I saw Allan Holdsworth playing in Jeff Clyne's Turning Point. The Keef Hartley Band featured Barbara Thompson with Henry Lowther. Good to hear mention Back Door, I always liked them - a power trio! You're right with your description of early Level 42, I saw them after their debut album. I saw Isotope supporting PFM at Southampton University in 1975. You've really tapped into some of my favourite bands. Not heard of Warm Dust or Zzebra though.
Loved this Andy! British Jazz Rock isn't something that's that well known... Should Dave Stewart's bands have been mentioned here perhaps?
Of course they should. He was a national treasure when playing Jazz-Rock and Canterbury music.
Ray Russel, an amazing Guitarplayer was a Pioneer in British JazzRock Fusion.
I researched Jazzrock Fusion before the Release of Bitches Brew in early 1970 and I have to dig in my File to remember all the early British Stuff.
Ray Russell formed Rock Workshop with a brass section and Alex Harvey sang on their first album.
@@arvidsson56 I had the Luck to see him in Montreux in the late 80ties, but I only discovered the Scope of his Work about 10 Years ago.
@@arvidsson56 Bob Downs and Clive Jenkins were active from the late 60ties on and had their first own Records released in 1970.
Clive Jenkins in the 80ties made Records with Ronny Drayton known through Material/Laswell and James Blood Ulmer. JazzRock Fusion started in Japan, Germany, Scandinavia around 1967/68.
Sometimes there were 1 to 3 Tunes on a Record Jazzrock, sometimes more. There were a lot of Producers and Promoters, who later denied it, interested fostering a Jazz Rock Fusion.
Newport Jazz presented 1958 a Concert with Big Band and Chuck Berry. Many Decades later Brian Setzer took up that Torch. Shake Keane, a Trumpeteer who played with Joe Harriot was involved in JazzRock Ventures in the late 60ties, whilst Harry Becket played with Donovan.
These Excursions sounded quite Different than the Jack Johnson Style JazzRock of
Miles Davis and John McLaughlin albeit not as convincing as that absolute Masterpiece of JazzRock Fusion.
I hope If gets a mention.
Have faith in your hopes!!!!
Isotope with great Gary Boyle on guitar also Hugh Hopper on bass. Oops posted this before your mention of Isotope! I got to see a short lived band that had both Gary Boyle and John Etheridge playing guitar. It was at the Bass Clef Club in Hoxton I think. A place where Alan Holdsworth played.
Fast forward about 40 years and Colin Hodgkinson was still contributing stellar work as part of the hugely impressive, ephemeral Jon Lord Blues Project. Incidentally, as regards Gordon Beck, check out his work accompanying the great jazz singer Helen Merrill
Andy, I propose, for JAZZ-ROCK-FUSION: Need To Do A Session on: Unknown/Highly Underrated Fusion Musicians & Groups! And no worries on some mistakes, you do a super great job!!!
I think an important album for the developing audience and motivation for musicians in British Jazz-Rock is Bare Wires by John Mayall. The musicians there coalesce around the idea of a fusion of styles and seed bands like Colosseum. An audience steeped more in the British Blues scene goes with them. Cream are incredibly important for “legitimatising” jazz elements for that rock crowd. The older musicians orbiting the Wilde Flowers in Canterbury like Jimmy Hastings (Pye Hastings of Caravan’s older brother) and Lol Coxhill also crossed those boundaries. The musicians around Chris Barber and the trad jazz scene (which brought blues greats to England in the early sixties) also informed younger musicians like Brian Auger, Graham Bond, and The whole Alexis Korner/Cyril Davies crowd. The ability to play jazz allowed players to work in commercial areas like cabaret, French soundtracks, TV music, MOR sessions that rarely get acknowledged in discussing the development of Rock, but were a means of making a living as a musician. It really was much more of a melting pot in the UK, as evidenced by something like Sunny Goodge Street by Donovan in 1965 which melds folk and jazz and prefigures the approach of, say, Pentangle. Or Brian Auger’s Trinity with Julie Driscoll (later Tippett, yes Keith’s wife) where jazz instrumentals meet Dylan covers meet Northern Soul on albums like Streetnoise. Likewise there’s a line running through Robert Wyatt scatting Byrd’s Donna Lee solo while playing pataphysics and the rhythmic/drone repetitions of early Pink Floyd like Interstellar Overdrive and the Nottinghill Free School concerts by AMM and the theories of John Cage ending up in the kind of musique concrete elements of Brian Eno’s more radical ambient works like On Land. My point is that the seeds of this fusion is well under way and way more diverse in the mid to late sixties. By the seventies the genres are way more narrow and defined and easy to understand through the later lens of the success of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Looking back and seeing all that as incomplete building blocks for the inevitability of seventies jazz rock misses a trick. A bit like thinking Ummagumma is a bad Dark Side of the Moon 😊 or Sulla is a poor man’s Julius Caesar. The one bright silver lining in all of this is that all this stuff is cheap second hand and was produced in commercial quantities as “pop” music between 1968 and 1970.
Some good observations in your comment.
Keith Tippet rest in peace mate your kindness meant a lot.
I enjoyed reading your comment your mention of Pentangle especially !
S😊
cozy powell over the top is a jazz rock album feat jack bruce,clem clempson,gary moore,max middleton,don airey etc all fusioneers,but could crossover to big rock bands,as was a better earner.upp released two albums mix of jazz fusion/funk both produced by jeff beck,who drops a few solos on both.ray russel guitarist released some good stuff and had a stint with nucleus and later simon phillips protocol,ive heard quite a few of those albums
Great video Andy, some bands there I’ve never heard of and will be checking out. Colin Hodgkinson also played on 1 track on ELPs Works Vol 2, Bullfrog.
BRAND X, just got here!!!
Percy Jones is a fantastic fretless bassist. Malaga Virgen is a great track, especially the live version on Livestock.
I saw Back Door supporting ELP in 1973 at Wembley Arena, you can imagine how they went down....
I'm ashamed to admit that although I was there my tastes didn't, at that time, stretch to Back Door. Went to find what was, I'm sure, a very expensive, and rubbish, beer. 😪
Recently acquired the Nucleus & Ian Carr Torrid Zone (Vertigo Recordings) six CD box set. It’s gold, Jerry … Gold!🥴
backdoor is amazing, have all 3 of their albums (us pressings) - the first time I heard that first album, what a combo, drum and bass rhythm supporting raw ripping sax.
learning a ton from this channel.
thanks to you Andy
0:08 LOL I love how Andy can be more tidy and organized talking (a lot) than he was typing a short expression 😅
Also should mention I saw Gary Boyle a few times gigging around the Lancaster area in pubs in the early 2000s. He was great... and a lovely bloke.
played in Germany in 60s lent a fender to Hendrix and was Brian augers guitarist and a very good player who nobody talks about
The Soft Machine DVD where he plays as a guest is worth a look, he was a great guitarist, in fact I think he might still be going
Some great rare albums to check out thanks Andy - I'm actually glad you focussed on these rather than the cliches. Give their rarity value, my wallet may well have a different opinion!
I dont know most of the bands you mentioned...very informative, again!!
I am still listening to IF after 50 years...they were good.
Wonderful topic and an interesting selection.
A couple points:
- Barbara Thompson was frequently involved with Colosseum live and in the studio going back to the early days of the band. She is credited on 'Daughter of Time', adding saxes and backing vocals on several tracks. When Dick Heckstall-Smith died, she took his place.
- I believe that Dick was enlisted by Bond to replace John McLaughlin.
- Between Colosseum and Colosseum II, Hiseman had the band Tempest, first with Alan Holdworth on guitar, then with Ollie Halsall from Patto (another great band) added before Holdsworth quit.
- Hiseman and Thompson also had the band Shadowshow, which included Rod Argent, Clem Clempson and John Mole. Their sole album was a pleasant collection of smooth pop-fusion tunes. Thompson also did the album 'Ghosts' with Rod Argent.
- Though never mentioned in conversations like this, the Spencer Davis Group were, like the GBO, Brian Auger Trinity and Georgie Fame's Blue Flames, also into jazz, with drummer Pete York a fine exponent of big band playing (he's a fave of Ian Paice's) and Steve Winwood having played jazz guitar as a youngster.
- Also worth noting the presence of Hiseman, Heckstall-Smith and Reeves on John Mayall's 'Bare Wires' album, which was a chart hit in the UK. The guitar solo section of the live version of Hiseman, Mayall (rhythm guitar), Reeves and Mick Taylor ripping of 'I Started Walking' is a LONG way from the blues.
czcams.com/video/H344QYJM18c/video.html
"Start Walkin'" is an incredible performance, featured on John Mayall's "Primal Solos" l.p., at about 5:20 you can hear Mick Taylor fingertapping - in 1968!
@@user-qq4ev6il2r Yes, thank you, I have 'Primal Solos'. It also appears on the expanded version of 'Bare Wires'. Both the studio and live versions are killer. Hiseman's drumming certainly kicked things along. Taylor's playing medley on 'Diary of a Band Vol. 1' is also great. What a tone! And his ability to do so much with so few notes is a textbook lesson in taste and creativity. He was a great expojnent fo controlled feedback, something he got from Clapton and Green but pushed even further.
@@MrCherryJuice Agree, "Diary of a Band" (both volumes) features some of Taylor's finest playing and tone to match, and the spooked out "Blood on the Night" is also an early example of jazz/rock/fusion. A guy I worked with years ago was at that Club-A-GoGo gig and told me it was a bunch of skinheads who'd beaten up bassist Paul Williams just before the Bluesbreakers took to the stage
@@user-qq4ev6il2r Yes, a rough night in Newcastle for Paul Williams.
And true re: Taylor's playing. Though Clapton, Green and he all had great tone, I found his sound and playing to be the most engaging.
If you don't already have them, the 'Live in 1967' albums with the Green/McVie/Fleetwood lineup are also great. There are three volumes (I've yet to get the third) with some great guitar from Green.
Damn dude... your presentations are AMAZING. You make me want to take notes.
I took notes this time
Also wild to see that Paraphernalia album show up, as I randomly stumbled across a copy on vinyl in the last 2 or 3 months, never heard of the group before.
Great stuff!
I would add Brian Auger (Trinity)
Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Hopper/Dean/Tippett/Gallivan
Keep up the good work, Andy 👍
Thanks Andy, another fascinating talk from you. Lots to go and listen to.
Great work Andy 👍 Jazz Rock - Hidden in Plain Sight would make for another fine video.
excellent - so much to ponder here - including the trickle of influences into 80s pop. thanks Andy.
Gary Boyle is still very much alive! He played on one of my albums about a decade ago, and will hopefully be playing on the new one I'm recording at the moment. Saw him last year when I was playing at a venue in Barnoldswick
Excellent run down, thank you :-)
Give him my regards next time.
Hi Andy!
Wiesen is a village near to our home in eastern Austria. They had the Jazz Pub, which was a cafe with kind of an "alternative" Disco in the 70ies and 80ies. They also managed the Jazz Festivals and later Forest Glade-Festival and so on.
Paraphernalia had several gigs in Wiesen.
I saw them with friends in 1980 with the program of the later Live-album and in 1983 accompanied by my now wife. 1983 they did Mother Earth-Tour. Since then we have a copy of the Mother Earth-album hand-signed by barbara thompson. Both performances were very impressive until today.
Because of this personal involvement this was one of your best episodesn in my opinion !!!
Best wishes
Reinhard
Great BBC documentary on Paraphernalia , Jon H and Barbara - first time I'd seen paradiddles explained ! Great to see Back Door, side note love the work Aspery and Hodgkinson did on Carl Palmer 's Works tracks - fusion , if only he'd done more and CP went on to produce the Back Door album Activate
Good intro Andy. I saw the original Colosseum (before Chris Farlowe) three times around 1970 (dating myself a bit) and recall specifically their appearance at an open air festival in Kendal when a key fell off Dick H-S's tenor sax during one of his double solos with an alto in the other hand. I'll never forget the forlorn look on his face as he turned somewhat helplessly to Jon H asking what he should do (spoiler - he just carried on...).
You could have mentioned that , after leaving Colosseum, James Litherland formed MOGUL THRASH and released a self-titled album in 1971, produced by Brian Auger. It sounds a lot more like IF than his previous gig. Also lots of vocals.
For your interest, check out NOON TIDE by Canadian guitarist Barry Numan (not the actor) 1974. Sounds a lot like stripped down early Colosseum. The real star is saxophonist Dave Richardson, who surprisingly did nothing else afterwards. On CZcams:
music.czcams.com/video/bIu3QKwxJgM/video.html
Mogul Thrash!!!!
Zoot Money.
Nucleus.
Soft Machine.
Dantalion's Chariot!
Chris Spedding gets everywhere! He produced the Sex Pistols initial demos in 1976.
Isn’t he the guitarist in the vid for ‘Let’s Stick Together’ by Bryan Ferry,( although I don’t think he played on the track), as well as having that daft single ‘Motorbike It’ ?
@@davidwylde8426 I'm pretty sure it is him in the video as 1. he looks and dresses the same and 2. he is playing a Flying V, which Chris Spedding does play. And yes, he did have a novelty hit with Motorbikin'.
@@DarkSideOfTheMoule thanks for the confirmation. I was very young when those tracks came out, but over the years his name and face have cropped up a few times and I’d formed a vague notion of who the guy was. I had heard he was a well respected musician.
@@davidwylde8426Not quite so daft. Chris was a bit pee'd off with the "over musicianship" of Prog and Jazz Fusion, and wanted to make, in his own words "A few nice, simple rock songs". Thus, we have "Motorbikin'". And I really do like it, myself.
@@robertwilloughby8050 no that’s fair enough. I just instinctively referred to it as that as I’d half remembered it as some kind of novelty esque record. It’s a bit before my time musically, from a period when I’d have been more interested in Thunderbirds/comics/monster movies etc so I was only going off some vague memory of it. I just looked it up on CZcams and found a performance from Top of the Pops,( again from before my time as a viewer), and although not particularly my cup of tea, it was super nostalgic and I think I must have seen the clip before somewhere to even know Chris Spedding and what he looked like. My personal music taste isn’t necessarily any barometer of quality as I like a lot of stuff that the more hardcore Prog and Fusion viewers of Andy’s channel would probably be offended by lol.
I’ve heard Chris Spedding’s name crop up a few times over the years and it’s almost always in reference to his qualities as a musician, and positive.
Back then we called it "Fusion". Off the top of my head three standout albums (from great to good, imho) Holdsworth - IOU, Bruford - One of a Kind, Brand X - Livestock. I think they meet your criteria. If not, they're worth a listen anyway.
Found your show very interesting most of what you brought to the table was way over my head but I took notes and I was going to see what I'm able to find can vinyl because that's my choice of weapons but it gave me a sudden desire to pull out an album I haven't listened to in quite a while it's Larry Coryell and Steve Kahn the album is called two for the road it's an acoustic album but I feel like for me it falls into that gray area between jazz Rock jazz fusion maybe you can clarify it for me but in 1976 I was invited to go watch one of these performances in Atlanta and now in my old age I am glad I went at the time I was a little young to appreciate what I was hearing but now I am absolutely stupefied by the pure talent that I'm hearing
I do like Andy’s improvisational style which lent itself to this discussion about jazz rock.
This isn’t a sarcastic comment this is from a music fan who gets his fix from CZcams from people like Andy and other channels that seem to speak to usKeep up the good work boy
I love it when you recommend obscure stuff like this. I will definitely be following these up
Glad you like them...nobody will watch this one
You mention Gary Moore - Coliseum I & II was an incredible original mid 70s jazz rock band - I recall BBC Sight & Sound broadcast of them and The Inquisition is available on CZcams and its amazing music & technique so early on. Jon Hiseman on drums was also a fave!!! Always a pleasure to watch your vids Andy! Such respect for you and your knowledge. Its kindred for me.
This is an excellent historical video of some very important bands from an era of music that is often overlooked, or, misunderstood in the US. It was happening at the same time as some US jazz-rock bands (e.g. Chicago Transt Authority, Blood Sweat and Tears, etc) were actually very popular.
Now, this is why I subscribe! So much to search for...thanks for the knowledge.
Your capacity for speaking with fluency and passion for extended periods is remarkable, Andy! One interesting aspect of jazz-rock is that during the 1969/70 period, in the British music press, the term 'jazz-rock' was far from settled - 'rock-jazz', 'jazz-pop' etc were being used. And certainly no one was using the term 'fusion' in that period. It's similar to the codifying of 'progressive rock' - nobody was using that term in print in that early period (only 'progressive music' or 'heavy music' or, largely in the 1968-69 period, 'underground' music). One 'Melody Maker' piece from early 1970 investigated British 'pop-jazz' and determined that the Keef Hartley Band and Taste were the two leaders of the form in Britain - names that are largely unremembered now (Hartley) or generally lumped in with 'British blues boom' or 'blues rock' in retrospect. The Hartley Band had a horn section of jazzers and occasionally expanded to become a 'Little Big Band' (Keef's term) - in which capacity they did two John Peel Sunday Concerts on Radio 1 in 1970. Lots to discover in 'British jazz-rock'. Keep on rocking, Andy.🙂
A really nice overview thanks Andy. Get a copy of Ian Carr's Music Outside book, really good insight into British Jazz scene.
Thanks Andy. Good video. Has given me some interesting albums to explore. The one band I know from your list is Nucleus. I discovered them from a compilation album titled Wondrous Stories: A Complete Introduction To Progressive Rock. Their song Song For The Bearded Lady from the Elastic Rock album was included on this compilation. Loved it when I heard and went and got Elastic Rock. Was not disappointed.
Andy so glad you mentioned If, a great band! I was lucky enough to then follow Terry Smith on the London pub circuit for years. At one point his drummer was Martin Drew who went on to side for Oscar Peterson whenever he was this side of the pond.
Great show Andy!! I'm so glad you didn't forget bands like Nucleus, especially If!! If was a great great jazz-rock band!!!!! I have one cd a Iive album "Europe 72" because it was so hard to find IF records, although I must say the best are the first four, then they moved towards a more hard-rock sound but nevertheless good albums. Soft Machine is an obvious choice!! Colosseum I Know, I don't know Zzebra or Back Door I'll try to listen in the future. Manfred Mann's Earth Band (or MM Chapter Three) perhaps you could enjoy a good listening.
You really should look a Greenslade, first live show I ever went to in the mid 70's at Brum Town hall and what a great sow it was along with a magnificent Roger Dean backdrop.
Chuck Burgi
Also Duncan Browne's Wild Place had Camino Real pts 1,2,and 3 featuring Simon Phillips Tony Hymas, and the late John Giblin.
Would like to have heard Keef Hartley mentioned. Keith Tippett. Got an album of his somewhere. Haven't played it in years.
Allan Holdsworth played in the band Tempest and he was replaced by Ollie Halsall on their second album.
Level 42’s best song imo is _If You Were Mine._ Written by Gary Husband [who was also playing in the band] and a mind blowing solo by Allan.
Ides of March was similar to Chicago or Blood Sweat & Tears, with a wind section.
""for those about to die we salute you" is actually "Those Who Are About to Die Salute You" ! Thinking about AC-DC again!! 🙂
Or about Ancient Rome: Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant - Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you.
I thoroughly appreciate you highlighting some more obscure early recordings , but....by extension of these records, the next wave in the mid 70's produced some truly remarkable Jazz-Rock projects as well: Hatfield and the North, Bill Bruford (Feels Good to Me), and - Phil Collins & Brand X (Unorthodox Behavior) - which holds its own with Return to Forever, and Weather Report.
Back Door was a absolute revelation to me when i first heard them, I couldn't believe the year. Colin Hodgkinson's bass playing was so far ahead and the compositions still stand up. It's always a shame when it takes decades for people to discover these groups and artists. Great episode Andy.
He talked about Soft Machine and didn’t mention Matching Mole. I thought he was trying to keep it obscure and quirky. :)
Talking about Brand X he should have talked about the bands which lead up to that, like the groups that formed around Stomu Yamash’ta.
Stomu Yamash’ta made some really good albums in the seventies.
Morris Pert played with him (before Brand X), as well as several members of Isotope.
@@arvidsson56 Several names on Yamash'tas albums can also be found on Brand X albums. It seemed to be a follow on for the same circle of people.
Ian Carr's Belladonna album is amazing. Summer Rain is my favourite track. Holdworth's sound is still pretty much yet unrefined on Soft Machine's Bundles. I'd state that by the time he played on Gong's Gazeuse! and Expresso II, Holdsworth was well on his way to his unique sound, and that sound was one of the best in my opinion.
Dave Greenslade did the soundtrack for the 1976 series Gangsters. The most surreal programme ever to be made by BBC Birmingham.
I nearly mentioned this...in fact I will in the future at some point. I thinkm Chris Farlowe sang on that too I think
@@AndyEdwardsDrummerIndeed he did, in a suitably over the top style that perfectly matches the programme.
@@user-tt4uy3wc1b The Greenslade tune Gangsters is excellent, I love it. I only have one record by Greenslade Time and Tide and that tune is on it.
@@billphelps5611 get the other albums ! They are great 😊
a few weeks ago I came across that Latin Ala Lee LP in the back ground and I love it
I knew very little of what you discussed. Thanks Andy! Have a lot to investigate.
C'mon Andy we are all huge Demon Fuzz fans who watch your channel! Nice to hear Colin Hodgkinson get a mention. I saw him play with Jan Hammer and he was phenomenal. Lots of other key players on the UK jazz rock scene - Ray Russell, Brian Auger, Soft Heap, Gilgamesh, Turning Point, some of the Jack Bruce solo stuff, Neil Ardley the list goes on. Gary Boyle is still with us ( might make for a good interview on your channel ) he is a very nice bloke. The first time I saw him live he had a young up and coming drummer called Gary Husband playing with him.
Was that Gary Boyle playing at the ICA on The Mall early 70’s. Just a small room great gig.
@@hagishag The Gary Boyle gig was, if I remember correctly, in the late 70's up here in Scotland. Gary Husband on the drums and a great bass player called Steve Shone. Can't remember who was on keys.
I saw Phil Collins in the thumbnail and assume you'll be talking about Brand X at some point.
I did mean to, and I forgot
Thanks for pointing me in the direction of IF. Great band!
Zzebra 'Panic' ,have it!!! Tommy Eyre is the most well known musician in the band! BTW, Jeff Beck is on 'Put The Light On Me'!
I knew most of these bands, certainly more than I expected to.
Same here 😊 I was remembering players and albums names as he was saying the band names 😊
Enjoyed this episode greatly. I know almost everyone you're talking about because I've studied this music for 25 years, but you crystalize it wonderfully! You are very good at this Andy.
Nice one, and happy to say I've heard and/or got most of the albums mentioned - though not Warm dust and paraphernalia. Also Gary Moore guested on Gary Boyle's solo album Electric Glide along with Simon Phillips who was also on his first solo The Dancer alongside a few of the Brand X guys and others like Rod Argent on one track who himself was also on Variations.
Things We Like (rec. '68, rel. '70)
Jack Bruce - double bass, session leader
Dick Heckstall-Smith - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
John McLaughlin - guitar (tracks 3-8)
Jon Hiseman - drums
Doesn't this sound an awful lot like Colliseum?
But without the keyboards, which added another flavor to Colosseum. (Jack could certainly play keyboards, btw)
We wanted The history of British jazz rock in ten albums, and now it's here. We have it. No longer do we languish in the metaphysical darkness. The wait is over.
Distinguishing jazz-rock from prog rock has always been very difficult for me. But In general I think of prog rock as including _more_ classical and folk influences and using the compositional forms of English folk music and the classical sonata, suite and through-composed forms. And you don't often see jazz head arrangements in prog rock. But even Yes played pop songs too. But did they cease being a prog rock band when they switched to writing pop songs? Uncertain.
Barbara Thompson! She‘s the only one I’ve ever seen playing two saxophones at once… Saw her with Paraphernalia & the United Jazz & Rock Ensemble. Great player, great stage presence…
I saw Dick Heckstall Smith doing it.
But Rashan Roland Kirk even played 3.
Roland Kirk played three instruments simultaneously. He was fun 😂
Jack Lancaster in Blodwyn Pig did it too
So did Van der Graaf Generator (closer to free jazz than most people realize!)
Rahsaan even developed his "circular breathing" method so he could play those long, long powerful solos. @philipkerridge4557
@@dbarker7794 His 3 Sided Dream in Audiocolor which was released on a 3 Sided Twofer was one of the best Jazzfunk Records of the early 70ties.
Another obscure uk jazz rock band to check out are Turning Point which was an isotope spinoff formed by Jeff Clyne & Brian Miller and featured the wordless vocals of Pepi Lemer so they are a bit like Airto/Flora era return to forever. They only released 2 albums so I would listen to both, they were reissued not long before Jeff died.
yep a good one
Having heard only a few of these albums/bands, thanks for the intro to new music. Definitely will check out Zzebra if they are reminiscent of the great Osibisa. 👍
Donovan, together with Sonny and Cher and the Mamas and Papas delivered Songs for early JazzRock Fusion. „The Season of the Which“ became a Standard.
Pentangle for their Folk Jazz Fusion might come up. (Tain‘t no Astral Week)
Good point about Pentangle. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and Trinity did a killer version of Season of the Witch
@@garygomesvedicastrology
Gary Burton made a Country Jazz Fusion Record with Roy Haynes before he made Jazzrock Records with Roy Haynes.
I think that the Fusion of Jazz with British Folk worked well with Pentangle. It is not similar to Country Jazz but somewhat „parallel“.
Love your insights! I would love to hear you discuss Brand X and Bruford
A video that explores both...when Prog Drummers go Fusion!
Brilliant subject Andy a brilliant video too - and I haven't even watched it yet...
Come on Andy what about separate videos about Nucleus or Neil Ardley et al... Who'd do it better...?
So far so good, but there is so much more to be said about British jazz-rock. In particular, the role of John Mayall 's Bluesbreakers is crucial and much more important than the Graham Bond Organisation. The Diary of a Band albums reveal a group that based its entire performances on improvisation, including the spontaneous creation of new pieces, albeit always based on the blues. And the incredible Bare Wires album includes the musicians who formed the core of Colosseum. The Keef Hartley Band is also key, even if none of the albums quite manage to capture the live power of the group. But The Time Is Near comes close. And a mention should be made of the remarkable first album by Manfred Mann Chapter III.
As soon as i hear Barbara's saxophone i think yes thats the one of the Variations album
Another has mentioned, learning about music never heard before. Thank you for turning me on to Barbara Thompson…a new fan here.
Hi Andy,
You made a time error with Ornette Coleman and Pat Metheny. Ornette's Prime Time recordings appeared in 1975 (he didn't record with Metheny until 1986). Ornette used amplified violin and Charlie Haden was playing an acoustic bass hooked up a wah wah pedal and fuzz box in 1971 when I saw him live. And he had songs that were basically early funk jazz on the Friends and Neighbors albums in 1971. Also, James Ulmer was working with Ornette and Ronal Shannon Jackson in 1969. Conservatively, Ornette was already in jazz rock in 1975; I would say, based on what I heard live in 1971, he was moving in that direction at least 15 years before he recorded with Metheny. (So was Sun Ra as well). Ornette was just incredibly eclectic as a musician. He loved Soft Machine and arranged some gigs for them in 1971 in the U.S.
Excellent overview, but as a huge Coleman fan, I couldn't let that slide! (By the way, Ornette appeared on te Jon Lennon/Yoko Ono album Some Time in New York City!)
Ooh. Quite excited for this one.