In the instances that European and American improvisers have commingled and produced concerts and recordings, especially in the halcyon days of European free improvisation (the 1970s), a significant number of these situations resulted from expatriation. And it's certainly true that in many cases, American-born improvisers could have done better financially being based in Europe—after all, this music has a track record of greater appreciation across the pond, especially on the continent.

England was a bit stodgier in its cultural perception of the new music; perhaps that has had something to do with its vitality (both historic and current). In July 1971, trumpeter Bobby Bradford—a sometime associate of saxophonist Ornette Coleman who worked with clarinetist-composer John Carter in Los Angeles—visited the UK while on holiday. A brief visit, it resulted in contacts with writer Richard Williams, drummer John Stevens and Alan Bates' Freedom label. Long a family man, Bradford eschewed promises of more work in New York and overseas for a fruitful, if quieter, life in Southern California, where he is today.

The present set captures Bradford and Stevens' Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME), recorded at Polydor studios. Alongside Stevens are regular conscripts, saxophonist Trevor Watts, bassist Ron Herman and vocalist/guitarist Julie Tippetts; expatriate American trombonist Bob Norden also appears here. Though enough material was recorded for two albums, the complete version didn't appear until the early 1980s, when the tapes were purchased by Nessa Records (then based in Chicago). The 1970-1971 edition of the SME hasn't been significantly documented on record, so these albums with Bradford are doubly interesting.

At the time, Stevens was exploring structures that would allow people with a wide range of musical abilities to participate, such as "click pieces," "sustain pieces," and "rhythm pieces." Such work is represented on LPs like the self-titled SME Polydor LP (1969), Birds of a Feather (BYG, 1970), One Two Albert Ayler (Affinity, 1971) and For You to Share (A Records/Emanem, 1970). It was this edition of the SME that, in fact, kick-started the interests of Emanem Records founder Martin Davidson: "I came to terms with [free improvisation] in 1971. I had heard it starting in the mid-1960s, but could not relate to it. A 1971 concert by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (with John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Julie Tippetts and Ron Herman) turned me on."

"Norway" and "Rhythm Piece," both on the second disc, exemplify some of the work that this edition of the SME was exploring. The way that the SME approached rhythm in this context had a lot to do with space and impulse. For the rhythm piece, Stevens is heard on a pared down kit, with brushes and knitting needles on snare, a small floor tom, hi-hat and ride cymbal. His approach is akin to Sunny Murray's work with saxophonist Albert Ayler, a constant active presence in free accent; he also uses his voice to elicit non-linear wailing lines. Stevens' playing is perhaps clearer and more detail-oriented than Murray's and is certainly less wave-driven. Herman sketches in pizzicato, his plucks and strums paralleling Stevens' constant movement and the wordless shouts, gasps, clicks and unbridled shrieks of Tippetts, who plays a muted acoustic guitar purely as off-kilter accompaniment. The horns are absent on "Rhythm Piece," allowing the delicate interaction between the three to remain front and center. "Norway" features long tones from voice, trumpet, trombone and soprano in a balladic form, somewhere between the Scottish Highlands and wide-vibrato Cleveland wail. Rattling bells and a single bass chord act as a platform, while tones fall in and out of phase with one another and elide into sharper dialogues.

But if one considers European free improvisation as a defined, emancipated structure free from the influence of American art, the SME would be a round peg in a square hole. An interest in the music of Ayler and Ornette Coleman was central to the aesthetic behind Stevens' work, and early incarnations of the group featured non-chordal, melodic improvisation and interaction that likewise stemmed from boppish themes. Titles like "2B Ornette," "Higgins," and the aforementioned "One, Two Albert Ayler" take a rightful place in the discography, as do "Ornette-ment" and "Trane Ride" represented here. Clearly the connection with free jazz's originators was one reason why the fruits sound so fresh.