Jazz Articles about Iain Ballamy

Food: Quiet Inlet

by John Kelman
July 20, 2010

A reduction in personnel rarely results in a broader musical expanse, but that's just what happened to Food, since trumpeter Arve Henriksen and bassist Mats Eilertsen departed in 2004. Molecular Gastronomy (Rune Grammofon, 2008)--Food's first duo recording, though the use of guests fleshed the group out to a trio--was Food's most accessible album to date, without sacrificing any of its inherent risk and sound of surprise. Quiet Inlet--Food's first for ECM, and featuring Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz on three tracks ...

Vladislav Delay, Eyebrow, and Iain Ballamy's Food at Union Chapel, London

by John Eyles
November 25, 2009

Vladislav Delay, Eyebrow and Food Union Chapel London, UK November 12, 2009

This triple bill was a very 21st century affair. It could have been subtitled “Humans and Machines," so prevalent was the use of electronics throughout the evening of improvised music. Vladislav Delay was at the center of the bill, and delays themselves were also central to it, defining the sound of all the music. However, this was not a battle between ...

Iain Ballamy Anorak: More Jazz

by John Kelman
September 30, 2007

It's easy to forget that many musicians who are pushing the boundaries of improvised music do have an understanding of the conventional jazz tradition. Whether it's guitar icon John McLaughlin and his fusion group The 4th Dimension reverently discussing Sinatra at the Sands (Reprise, 1966) in the tour bus or German bassist Eberhard Weber swinging Carla Bley's “Syndrome with mighty aplomb on Stages of a Long Journey (ECM, 2007), it's become increasingly evident that the choice not to play mainstream ...

Iain Ballamy Anorak: More Jazz

by Ian Patterson
September 23, 2007

It is probably a very good thing that a young Iain Ballamy chose not to enroll in Leeds University's alarmingly titled “Jazz and Light Music course in 1980, opting instead for the hands-on education earned by gigging in the intimate jazz clubs of London.

A quarter of a century of progressive music-making later, through Loose Tubes, Earthworks and a variety of challenging musical environments characterized by their spirit of adventure, Ballamy returns to his roots on More Jazz, ...

Iain Ballamy: Veggie

by AAJ Staff
July 25, 2003

Veggie continues Iain Ballamy’s journey through the aural nourishment of the band Food. This record of seven explorations from 2002 further distinguishes Food as a truly world class flavour of music that fuses the best of the United Kingdom and Norway: Iain Ballamy on saxophones, Arve Henriksen on trumpet and vocals, Mats Eilersten on bass and Tomas Stronen on drums and percussion. This album is a trip. Forty-one minutes seldom make us feel so distantly removed from ourselves.

This record ...

Iain Ballamy: Organic & GM Food

by AAJ Staff
July 25, 2003

Iain Ballamy’s Food peppers the aural senses with 2001’s Organic & GM Food, paying tribute to its inspiration while pushing the music into subconscious areas. If this record is a meal, its contents are not to be easily digested by everyone. It drives forward with a potent musical sensibility and aesthetic sense. The less traditional your tastes are, the better. I hated avant-garde music-- until now.

Free (or avant-garde) jazz sometimes gets a bad rap for being too emotive. Iain ...