Eddie Prévost and Electric Guitars

In a 2009 All About Jazz interview, drummer Eddie Prevost said this about his weekly Friday evening Improvisation workshop which was then close to its tenth anniversary: "I suppose in the early days, it was: 'Not another bloody electric guitarist,' serried ranks of electric guitarists. It has gone through cycles, really. There was a predominance of electric guitars, then there was an occasion we had loads of saxophones...It is quite evenly balanced at the moment. I used to get worried at the preponderance of electric guitars, but it's a good balance now..."

With the benefit of hindsight, that quote is amusing as the three electric guitarists who feature here with Prévost remain regular attendees at Friday evening workshops. During the festivities to mark Prévost's 80th birthday, in July 2022 (which can be seen in the excellent 2023 film A Bright Nowhere: Journeying into Improvisation), these three guitarists were among sixteen representative players selected to play alongside him as part of a Workshop Concert at Café Oto.

Eddie Prévost, NO Moore, James O'Sullivan, Ross Lambert.
Chord
Shrike Records
2023

Recorded at OneCat Studio, Crystal Palace, London, in June 2022, Chord comprises seven tracks, totalling fifty-eight minutes, with playing times ranging from just under four minutes to almost sixteen. Each track has a subtly different soundscape, giving the album variety and interest. None of the tracks carries a composer credit, suggesting they were all improvised in the studio. All four players appear on each track, but not necessarily all together all of the time. Clearly, they all know the importance of listening to each other when improvising, and how effective a rest or pregnant pause can be. Although Prévost does not play a drum kit throughout, his percussion is easily distinguishable and his small subtle sounds complement and blend beautifully with the guitars.

At times, accurately distinguishing which guitarists are playing can be difficult, particularly when they are using electronics, pedals et cetera. It is obvious that all three are adept at improvising with one another after years of playing together on Friday evenings, and at other times. Of course, each player has tell-tale trademarks which occasionally help identify them, but such fingerprints are few and far between here; rather than playing in ways which makes them individually identifiable, the guitars contribute equally to the overall sound of the quartet. The end result is a highly listenable album which is a shining example of improv at its best. It is unreservedly recommended to those who already appreciate improv; for those who wish to discover or explore the genre, this is an excellent starting place.

James O'Sullivan _N.O. Moore
Repetition Disguises
Scatter
2023

O'Sullivan and Moore became acquainted at the Friday evening improvisation workshop, and began performing as a duo in September 2016. Their first recording as a duo was Time Parts which was recorded during the 2020 Covid lockdown, with the two exchanging recorded improvisations, and overdubbing to create a semblance of the two improvising together; the album was released digitally on Earshots in April 2021 (and can be heard on Bandcamp).

An indication of the success of Chord is that three months after it was recorded O'Sullivan and Moore returned to OneCat Studio to record their second duo album, Repetition Disguises. Jon Clayton, who recorded Chord to everyone's satisfaction, just as successfully recorded the duo album which was mixed by O'Sullivan. As with Chord, the absence of credits indicates everything was improvised. According to O'Sullivan, he and Moore played five long pieces which were edited into the eight tracks comprising the album; these vary in length from four-minutes-forty up to twelve minutes plus, totalling sixty-three minutes.

This duo album sounds better than their first as the two guitarists really were listening and reacting to one another in real time, rather than adding their contributions to recordings of the other. Compared to Chord the two guitarists have more space in which to react to each other. As a result, their playing styles which contrast with one another (and with conventional guitarists) can be appreciated far more, Moore having a greater penchant for effects and O'Sullivan exploring the sounds of wood and wire. Rather than one album of this pair being judged better than the other, the two deserve to be regarded as complementing each other and, hence, considered as different but equal. The same is true of Moore and O'Sullivan, different but equal...

Tracks and Personnel

Chord

Tracks: Accord; Inspire, Expire; Texture's Edge; Quiproquo: Time Signature; Seconds; Epiphenomena.

Personnel: Eddie Prévost: percussion; NO Moore: electric guitar; James O'Sullivan: electric guitar; Ross Lambert: electric guitar.

Repetition Disguises

Tracks: Equivocal; Consonant cluster; Unknown Artist; Envelop; Phrase Phase; Demurmuration; Whoop Structure; Muscae Volitantes.

Personnel: James O'Sullivan: electric guitar; N.O. Moore: electric guitar.