Jazz Articles
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Bob Downes Open Music: A Blast From The Past
by Roger Farbey
The only (slight) problem with this album is its rather whimsical title which considerably undersells its significance. In his long career, Bob Downes has made some substantial contributions to jazz and improvised music, and this album is an important addition to his discography. Comprised of previously-unreleased archival pieces dating back to the 1970s, Downes can be heard on a variety of instruments including tenor saxophone, as on “Apparition," where--as on two other tracks--he is accompanied by virtuoso bassist and composer ...
read moreBob Downes Open Music: Let Your Mind...Space Out
by Roger Farbey
Any CD release by Bob Downes is a significant event but the psych-entitled Let Your Mind...Space Out is important because it also celebrates the 80th birthday of this virtuoso jazz multi-instrumentalist. It's hard to credit that Downes, like his contemporaries Mike Westbrook and Mike Gibbs has now achieved octogenarian status, given that his early oeuvre was populated by freewheeling jazz rock albums such as Electric City and Deep Down Heavy, both released in 1970. But Downes also made ...
read moreBob Downes: Bob Downes and The Alphorn Brothers
by Roger Farbey
This surely must be one of the strangest team-ups in jazz? A trio of German alpine horn players and British expatriate and jazz phenomenon Bob Downes. It may be an unconventional alliance, but somehow this album works at a very convincing level. Recorded in 2004 in his adopted home country of Germany, Downes wrote and arranged all the music and lyrics presented here. The almost surreal photomontage cover enhances the attractiveness of the CD but gives no adequate clue as ...
read moreBob Downes Open Music: New York Suite
by Roger Farbey
British flautist/saxophonist Bob Downes recorded some compelling albums in the early '70s and then, coinciding with his permanent relocation to Germany at the end of the decade, disappeared from the UK jazz scene. The music didn't stop with his migration though, as he subsequently produced several solo flute albums for his own label, Openian. In this archival recording from 1979 recorded in London, Downes augments his usual trio into a quintet with the addition of the late trombonist ...
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