UNschoolED - Hymns for Robots
SLAM Records CD LR 752
Mark Hanslip, tenor sax; Barry Edwards, guitar; Ed Gauden, drums
Recorded at Oak Farm Studio, Ditton priors, England: 16th August 2015
My first listening to this album encouraged me to hear each track a couple of times as there was so much in them. When I heard the entirety in one sitting, I decided it really was a suite. I noticed later that the back sleeve is annotated Parts I-VI, so maybe that’s how it was intended. It is clear that the three musicians have no leader: this is a trio suite of collective improvisation with no structure to render it rigid. The three have a common background in that they all hail from the Birmingham Conservatoire, but there is no indication of any preplanning and drummer Ed Gauden claims “This music is the result of us just getting together and playing; nothing was said before we played and little after”.
The album is a good indication of where classical improv in Britain stands at this time. The dialogue is never susceptible as it arises outside of prediction, is cogent, lucid and fundamentally uncluttered. Its logistics are managed by three artists who are always in control of the threat of instability endemic in the potential volatility of free improv. Here they have it mastered and once heard the album will call you back to hear it all again.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
SLAM Records CD LR 752
Mark Hanslip, tenor sax; Barry Edwards, guitar; Ed Gauden, drums
Recorded at Oak Farm Studio, Ditton priors, England: 16th August 2015
My first listening to this album encouraged me to hear each track a couple of times as there was so much in them. When I heard the entirety in one sitting, I decided it really was a suite. I noticed later that the back sleeve is annotated Parts I-VI, so maybe that’s how it was intended. It is clear that the three musicians have no leader: this is a trio suite of collective improvisation with no structure to render it rigid. The three have a common background in that they all hail from the Birmingham Conservatoire, but there is no indication of any preplanning and drummer Ed Gauden claims “This music is the result of us just getting together and playing; nothing was said before we played and little after”.
The album is a good indication of where classical improv in Britain stands at this time. The dialogue is never susceptible as it arises outside of prediction, is cogent, lucid and fundamentally uncluttered. Its logistics are managed by three artists who are always in control of the threat of instability endemic in the potential volatility of free improv. Here they have it mastered and once heard the album will call you back to hear it all again.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
