NEIL ARDLEY - Kaleidoscope of Rainbows - Live ‘75
Jazz in Britain JIB-21-S-CD/JIB-21-S-DL
Neil Ardley – composer, director; Ian Carr - trumpet; Brian Smith, Barbara Thompson, Bob Bertles, Tony Coe – sax, woodwind; Geoff Castle – keyboards; Dave Macrae - keyboards; Ken Shaw - electric guitar; Paul Buckmaster – electric cello; Roger Sutton - bass guitar; Roger Sellers - drums; Trevor Tomkins - percussion
From the tape archive of Neil Ardley
Special thanks to Vivien Ardley, Brian Smith, Trevor Tomkins, Sid Smith.
The ‘Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows’ is one of the highlights of British jazz. If you know the original you need to know this one too. It is considerably extended. The tape, a recording of a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October 1975, comes from Neil Ardley’s archive. Neil died in 2004 and he left a number of ambitious works. ‘Kaleidoscope’ was the completion of a trilogy which started with ‘Greek Variations’ and continued with ‘A Symphony of Amaranths’.
The core of the group here is Ian Carr’s Nucleus extended with Tony Coe, Barbara Thompson, Geoff Castle, Dave Mcrae, Ian Carr and Trevor Tomkins.
The expansive nature of the concert and the discs means that the music does not have the tightness and concision of the original recording. However, if you consider the quality of the musicians who are allowed more space, you can see that the musical time will be well spent. You only have to consider the contributions made by the unmistakeable Tony Coe to realise that we are listening to remarkable, beautiful, idiosyncratic music, beautifully framed.
Neil Ardley chafed at the confines of jazz: he wanted to resist the theme-solos-theme routine so common at the time. Ardley, often mentioned in relation to Ellington and Gil Evans, is not quite in that company, but his elegant, soaring sounds mean that his music is never dull or conventional. Although dismissed by some when it was first released as: ‘music with some beauty but no profundity’ the subsequent reissues of the studio version suggests it has a life beyond that envisioned by the early critics.
The Balinese five note scale that is said to underlie the whole piece is particularly evident at the start. There is adjustment of rhythm and tone colour in the way that the scales interrelate. The original intention was to call the piece ’Biformal From Bali’. ’Ardley explains in the notes that the original intention of the first recording was to record quadraphonically, to have the music swirling around the listeners. They did not achieve that but nevertheless there are rhythmic and cyclical patterns that get close to that effect.The seven movements, plus a prologue representing the colours of the rainbow is all a very clever way of creating complex music out of a simple source.
The main soloists are Tony Coe with his unique sounds; Ian Carr with trumpet and flugel horn very much in the style that he would pursue in Nucleus. Barbara Thompson on saxophones and flute join with Paul Buckmaster on cello who in that period would work with Miles Davis. He integrates his cello playing seamlessly in the layers. Rhythm is a strong feature of the whole work and Trevor Tomkins powers the whole edifice making it swing and undulate effortlessly.
Ardley has a strong melodic gift as well as the ability to compose in layers and that was not very apparent in most jazz of the time and the appearance of strong themes can often surprise and to some it could seem to be close to schmalz.
There is nothing like this composition in UK jazz. It has not been equalled and the existence of two versions will ensure that its remarkable longevity will propel it into the future. The music has not dated; elevated by its ambition, the mature sounds sing, shake, jangle, pulsate, repeat, rattle, rumble and tintinnabulate as it furnishes your sonic palate with brass and wind, and electronic lattices, around which the other instruments are woven with ingenious counterpoint. True to its Balinese origins, the music has a forward momentum and an elegant opulent,beauty.
Jazz in Britain can be pleased with the production, obviously a labour of love. The two CDs are cased attractively, Obviously a great deal of work has been expended to bring the tapes from the archive up to a good standard.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Jazz in Britain JIB-21-S-CD/JIB-21-S-DL
Neil Ardley – composer, director; Ian Carr - trumpet; Brian Smith, Barbara Thompson, Bob Bertles, Tony Coe – sax, woodwind; Geoff Castle – keyboards; Dave Macrae - keyboards; Ken Shaw - electric guitar; Paul Buckmaster – electric cello; Roger Sutton - bass guitar; Roger Sellers - drums; Trevor Tomkins - percussion
From the tape archive of Neil Ardley
Special thanks to Vivien Ardley, Brian Smith, Trevor Tomkins, Sid Smith.
The ‘Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows’ is one of the highlights of British jazz. If you know the original you need to know this one too. It is considerably extended. The tape, a recording of a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October 1975, comes from Neil Ardley’s archive. Neil died in 2004 and he left a number of ambitious works. ‘Kaleidoscope’ was the completion of a trilogy which started with ‘Greek Variations’ and continued with ‘A Symphony of Amaranths’.
The core of the group here is Ian Carr’s Nucleus extended with Tony Coe, Barbara Thompson, Geoff Castle, Dave Mcrae, Ian Carr and Trevor Tomkins.
The expansive nature of the concert and the discs means that the music does not have the tightness and concision of the original recording. However, if you consider the quality of the musicians who are allowed more space, you can see that the musical time will be well spent. You only have to consider the contributions made by the unmistakeable Tony Coe to realise that we are listening to remarkable, beautiful, idiosyncratic music, beautifully framed.
Neil Ardley chafed at the confines of jazz: he wanted to resist the theme-solos-theme routine so common at the time. Ardley, often mentioned in relation to Ellington and Gil Evans, is not quite in that company, but his elegant, soaring sounds mean that his music is never dull or conventional. Although dismissed by some when it was first released as: ‘music with some beauty but no profundity’ the subsequent reissues of the studio version suggests it has a life beyond that envisioned by the early critics.
The Balinese five note scale that is said to underlie the whole piece is particularly evident at the start. There is adjustment of rhythm and tone colour in the way that the scales interrelate. The original intention was to call the piece ’Biformal From Bali’. ’Ardley explains in the notes that the original intention of the first recording was to record quadraphonically, to have the music swirling around the listeners. They did not achieve that but nevertheless there are rhythmic and cyclical patterns that get close to that effect.The seven movements, plus a prologue representing the colours of the rainbow is all a very clever way of creating complex music out of a simple source.
The main soloists are Tony Coe with his unique sounds; Ian Carr with trumpet and flugel horn very much in the style that he would pursue in Nucleus. Barbara Thompson on saxophones and flute join with Paul Buckmaster on cello who in that period would work with Miles Davis. He integrates his cello playing seamlessly in the layers. Rhythm is a strong feature of the whole work and Trevor Tomkins powers the whole edifice making it swing and undulate effortlessly.
Ardley has a strong melodic gift as well as the ability to compose in layers and that was not very apparent in most jazz of the time and the appearance of strong themes can often surprise and to some it could seem to be close to schmalz.
There is nothing like this composition in UK jazz. It has not been equalled and the existence of two versions will ensure that its remarkable longevity will propel it into the future. The music has not dated; elevated by its ambition, the mature sounds sing, shake, jangle, pulsate, repeat, rattle, rumble and tintinnabulate as it furnishes your sonic palate with brass and wind, and electronic lattices, around which the other instruments are woven with ingenious counterpoint. True to its Balinese origins, the music has a forward momentum and an elegant opulent,beauty.
Jazz in Britain can be pleased with the production, obviously a labour of love. The two CDs are cased attractively, Obviously a great deal of work has been expended to bring the tapes from the archive up to a good standard.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
