Jazz Articles about Derek Bailey

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Derek Bailey Interview: September 2001

by John Eyles
March 24, 2005

This interview dates from September 2001 and originally appeared in three parts in London Calling that autumn. Here is the interview in its entirety, interspersed with occasional commentary, some of which has been updated. Although he lives in Hackney (as exciting and vibrant a part of London as you could hope to find), Derek Bailey plays relatively rarely in the capital these days. He is a world citizen, more likely to appear in Europe, Japan or New York ...

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Derek Bailey: Playing For Friends on 5th Street

by A. Henkin
February 11, 2005

Derek Bailey Playing For Friends on 5th Street Straw2Gold Pictures 2004

This DVD is dedicated to the late Irving Stone and his wife Stephanie, once ubiquitous at NYC avant-garde concerts. Sadly, it can also be considered a dedication to Bailey himself, now retired due to ill health. But is also a tribute to the scene surrounding Downtown Music Gallery (DMG) and proprietors Bruce and Manny Gallanter. DMG is the closest we get here in ...

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Derek Bailey/Milo Fine: Scale Points on the Fever Curve

by Kurt Gottschalk
May 13, 2004

This is the story of a kindly old British turtle and a hotshot Minnesotan rabbit who perhaps didn’t embark on a race so much as spend an hour or so running laps around each other. The turtle had known the rabbit, who was about a decade younger than him, for a long time. The turtle had been playing guitar for an even longer time, and was rather good at it, so at the appointed hour brought nothing ...

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Derek Bailey - Ingar Zach: LLaer

by Glenn Astarita
November 1, 2001

There may not be any stringent regulations for freely organized improvisational encounters, yet in the wrong hands, music of this ilk can sound uninteresting, meandering or unbalanced. However, when famed guitarist, Derek Bailey and Norwegian drummer, Ingar Zach aligned their respective talents for this live outing, it becomes quite evident from the onset, that there is an underlying aura that seemingly resides from within the embodiment of the music at hand. On these seven pieces, the duo rarely duplicates any ...

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Bailey/Davies/Fell/Gaines/Wastell: Company in Marseilles

by John Eyles
September 1, 2001

What is it that makes Company Company?In the early days, some people thought that it was a group. But the personnel changed radically, so it couldn't be a group. Other people thought that any grouping led by Derek Bailey was Company. But Bailey also recorded under his own name, and one year Company Week did not even include him, so that was not the answer. And then Company Week stopped happening and Company went global, appearing in France ...

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Derek Bailey/Jamaaladeen Tacuma/ Calvin Weston: Mirakle

by Mark Corroto
May 1, 2000

The truly hard-core fans of free jazz guitarist, Derek Bailey, may shudder a bit when they read the lineup for Mirakle. Once again, the UK’s most famous anti-swinging noise generator has teamed up with seemingly disparate styled partners. Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston are Philadelphia’s answer to all your funk needs. Tacuma, a gigantic electric bassist, was the harmolodic beat behind Ornette Coleman’s electric Prime Time band, before playing himself into near obscurity producing pop/funk dance records. Weston a member ...

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Bailey / Tacuma / Weston: Mirakle

by Derek Taylor
May 1, 2000

Derek Bailey never ceases to stupefy. Just when it seems he’s exhausted all improvisational avenues he boldly steps out again and unveils a new sphere of music upon which to inflict his maddeningly original technique. There are antecedents to this trio’s work. The skull-crushing fragmentary funk of Arcana, a short-lived collective Bailey fronted with Bill Laswell and the late, great Tony Williams is a kindred spirit. But whereas that earlier group emphasized a full bore aural assault and oppressively dense ...