Articles

The Little Radio at The Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre

By Ian Patterson

The Little Radio Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre Bray, Ireland February 6, 2013 There were hymns, ancient folk tunes, a Gaelic anthem, pop songs and TV themes, all delivered with the joie de vivre of those performing not for an audience , but for their own pleasure--and that was just the Welsh rugby fans from Cardiff who had descended on the pubs of Dublin and its environs in anticipation of the weekend's Ireland-Wales match. ...

June Tabor / Iain Ballamy / Huw Warren: Quercus

By John Kelman

Awaiting release for more than seven years, Quercus is not the first time ECM has branched into the realm of traditional British music combined with jazz improvisation. Unlike the rawer and more unfettered freedom of producer Steve Lake's inspired pairing of singer Robin Williamson with improvisers including violist Mat Maneri, bassist Barre Phillips and Swedish traditionalist Ale Möller on recordings like The Iron Stone (2007), however, Quercus is a more refined, elegant and dark live recording that pairs renowned British ...

June Tabor, Huw Warren, Iain Ballamy: Quercus

By John Eyles

June Tabor has been superb for so long that it is easy to take her for granted as England's finest female traditional folk singer. Despite holding that status for many years, she has never seemed to rest on her laurels. Alongside the traditional folk songs on which she built her reputation, Tabor has a repertoire broad enough to include John Lennon's “In My Life," Lou Reed's “All Tomorrow's Parties," Elvis Costello's “Shipbuilding" and Joy Division's “Love Will Tear Us Apart," ...

Food: Quiet Inlet

By John Kelman

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

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

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

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, ...