Articles

Steve Beresford & John Butcher: Old Paradise Airs

By John Eyles

Recorded in May 2019, at London's Iklectik venue (which is located in Old Paradise Yard), Old Paradise Airs pairs Steve Beresford on piano, objects or electronics with John Butcher on tenor or soprano saxophone, a duo which dates back to 1988 when Beresford and Butcher (plus trombonist Alan Tomlinson) recorded a five-minute track for a compilation on the nato label, the rather unspectacular start to a long relationship. Since then, recordings featuring Beresford and Butcher together have been comparatively scarce, ...

Okkyung Lee / Peter Evans / Steve Beresford: Check for Monsters

By John Eyles

Recorded in New York and Philadelphia on a mini-tour in March 2008, this Anglo-American-Korean trio brings together superb improvisers who are not immediately obvious as a compatible threesome but who combine together to stunning effect. Pianist Steve Beresford, the trio's elder statesman, surely needs no introduction; leaving aside his other music, his work with the London Improvisers Orchestra and with Evan Parker guarantees him almost legendary status as an improviser.

Although he works in other musical areas, New York-based trumpeter ...

Steve Beresford/Pat Thomas/Veryan Weston: 3 Pianos

By AAJ Staff

Multi-piano recordings tend to be dicey affairs at best. The usual problem is that players don't respect open space enough with all those keys at their disposal. This effect is usually exacerbated in a free improv setting, where no rules exist to keep everyone at bay. Fortunately, 3 Pianos manages to avoid these problems, which is a tribute to the aesthetic awareness of the three pianists involved. Since the piano is at some level always a percussion instrument, the possibilities ...