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John Butcher, Thomas Lehn, Matthew Shipp: Tangle
by John Eyles
Recorded at Café Oto in February 2014, on the first night of pianist Matthew Shipp's three-day residency at the venue, Tangle is the first recording of the trio of saxophonist John Butcher and synthesiser player Thomas Lehn with Shipp. (The YouTube clip, below, was filmed on the night in question.) Typically, there were previous links between the three, with evidence being available on past Fataka releases; Butcher and Lehn had first collaborated as far back as 1996 and, in June ...
Continue ReadingCatching up with John Butcher at 60
by John Eyles
In November 2014, saxophonist John Butcher celebrated his sixtieth birthday over two evenings at Cafe Oto, London, in the company of musicians including Gino Robair, Tony Buck, Magda Mayas, dieb13, Olie Brice, Guillaume Viltard, Adam Bohman and Ute Kanngiesser, with Butcher playing both solo and in various small groupings. At those gigs, he demonstrated all the attributes that have made him one of the most adventurous and intriguing saxophonists of the past few decades and showed that the arrival of ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher: So Far
by Sammy Stein
Saxophonist John Butcher's career could have taken an academic path. He completed a Ph.D in theoretical physics--Charmed Quarks to be precise--but left the academic world behind shortly thereafter. As a saxophonist, Butcher has played with and collaborated with many musicians. He is not afraid to try completely off the wall musical experimentation. All About Jazz: What is your background? Where did you grow up and how did you come to music? John Butcher: ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher, Thomas Lehn, John Tilbury: Exta
by John Eyles
The trio of saxophonist John Butcher, synthesiser player Thomas Lehn and pianist John Tilbury had a certain inevitability about it. Although they had not recorded together prior to this album, each of the three possible pairs had done so--Lehn and Tilbury when the Englishman recorded the extraordinary The Hands of Caravaggio (Erstwhile, 2002) with MIMEO of which Lehn was a member, Butcher and Tilbury when the saxophonist joined AMM to record Trinity (Matchless, 2008), and Butcher and Lehn when the ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher: Winter Gardens
by John Eyles
Just as they say about London buses, you wait ages for one to come along and then two arrive at once. Hot on the heels of Bell Trove Spools, comes another John Butcher solo album, Winter Gardens. The main difference between them is that this one is a vinyl LP release rather than a CD. Otherwise, there are considerable similarities; like its predecessor, Winter Gardens features concert recordings from two separate locations, Vogel Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin in October 2011 and ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher: Bell Trove Spools
by John Eyles
In saxophonist John Butcher's extensive discography, there are examples of many contexts, from solo through duos--including the recently released Daylight (Emanem, 2012), with drummer Mark Sanders, and At Oto (Fataka, 2012), with pianist Matthew Shipp--and trios, up to larger ensembles including Butcher's own seven-piece group, which recorded Somethingtobesaid (Weight of Wax, 2008). Taken together, they paint a detailed picture of the breadth and depth of Butcher's abilities. Yet, if it were necessary to zoom in on a single ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher: Bell Trove Spools
by Eyal Hareuveni
British saxophonist John Butcher is one of the most innovative and influential saxophonists to emerge in recent decades. Butcher introduced a new conception of the saxophone--not just a horn instrument but a resonant metallic tube in which the properties of air moving through are investigated in relation to amplification devices as a microphone positioned inside the bell; using it as a device for controlling and modifying feedback; and in relation to the unique acoustic spaces in which he plays.
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