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Dominic Lash, Alex Ward: Antonyms
by John Sharpe
Can an album's contents be any less summed up by its title? While Antonyms suggests opposition, the collaboration between bassist Dominic Lash and clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward evidences rather more empathy than contradiction. That is unsurprising given regular appearances in each other's bands as well as collective arenas going back at least to Barkingside (FMR, 2008). If the title is not referring to the principals, then perhaps it is the form of their encounters? Not really, as each brings ...
read morePascal Marzan Alex Ward: (VU)
by John Eyles
Although (VU) is the first album on which guitarist Pascal Marzan and clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward have collaborated as a duo, it comes as no surprise as (until Covid-19) each of them was a well-established repeat visitor to the late, great John Russell's monthly Mopomoso improvised music sessions at London's Vortex. (The YouTube clip below shows Marzan and Ward performing there together, in 2015, in a trio with cellist Alice Eldridge). In 2017, they were both among the musicians ...
read moreAlex Ward Item 10: Volition (Live at Café Oto)
by John Eyles
Although he was already a member of a lengthy list of ensembles, led by himself or others, when composer, improviser, clarinetist and guitarist Alex Ward put together his Item 10 band he had new ideas in mind; the ten musicians would be a pool from which ensembles of various sizes could be drawn for different musical ends. In choosing the personnel of past groups Ward has shown an excellent knowledge of the players at his disposal from different backgrounds and ...
read moreAndrew Lisle Alex Ward: Doors
by John Eyles
The pairing of clarinetist-guitarist Alex Ward and drummer Andrew Lisle dates back at least to 2014 when the pair recorded the album Red Kite (Raw Tonk, 2014) in a trio with saxophonist Colin Webster. As Ward is kept busy as a member of quite a few other groupings of various sizes, it is no surprise that Doors is their first duo release. Recorded on two separate days in August and September 2016, the album consists of four tracks of similar ...
read moreAlex Ward Trios & Sextet: Projected / Entities / Removal
by John Eyles
This release follows so hard on the heels of Glass Shelves and Floor (Copepod, 2015) by Alex Ward Quintet that it is tempting to see the two as a matched pair. Released on Ward's own Copepod label, the two have consecutive serial numbers and very similar sleeve designs and graphics. Each of the albums is titled after the Ward compositions it features. Where the previous album contained two readings--one studio-recorded, one live--of its title piece by the same quintet, the ...
read moreAlex Ward Quintet: Glass Shelves and Floor
by John Eyles
From the personnel of his new quintet, it is obvious that clarinetist Alex Ward keeps his finger on the pulse of the London music scene. In selecting players to join him, he has hit upon four highly-rated musicians who have been impressing audiences in the capital for some years. The quintet's cellist Hannah Marshall is a long-standing member of London Improvisers Orchestra as well as such fine groups as Barrel, Haste, Trio of Uncertainty and a trio with the quintet's ...
read moreForebrace: Bad Folds
by John Eyles
Largely because of his contrasting instruments, there have long been two sides to clarinetist and guitarist Alex Ward. But it goes further than the differences between his chosen instruments, for Ward straddles other important divides including those between composition and improvisation, between electric and acoustic, and between rock music and--for want of a better word--jazz. As well as many fine duos, Ward has been a member of a diverse selection of bands including Camp Blackfoot, Pocket, SFQ, Limescale, the Duck ...
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