Simon H. Fell : double bass. Mark Wastell : violoncello, percussion. Derek Bailey : (virtual) guitar. Will Gaines : (virtual) tapdance. Recorded at Cafe OTO, Dalston, London; 2nd March 2018.
An in concert, virtual Company performance from IST (on this occasion the duo of Simon H. Fell and Mark Wastell due to the snow-bound absence of Rhodri Davies) together with pre-recorded fragments of Derek Bailey and Will Gaines.
IST’s Virtual Company calls on ‘the powers of improvisation’ (D. Bailey) to interface with the two musicians of IST with dozens of musical fragments drawn from both Bailey and Gaines performing solo. These are combined with sections of silence of unforeseeable length, and then combined with each other and the live musicians, all by means of random algorithms which will ensure that each performance will be both unpredictable and unrepeatable.
IST, Derek and Will performed together regularly in the later half of the 1990’s and early 2000’s - Derek curated various Company events in London, Marseille and New York which sometime featured this group exclusively and, on occasions, other musicians. The quintet concerts from Marseille in 1999 (although performed under the short-lived group name cavanoconner) were eventually released as a double cd on Incus, Company In Marseille (Incus 44/45). To add to this crucial document, Confront Recordings released Derek Bailey And Company - Klinker, another double cd set, recorded on a hot and steamy night in August 2000 at The Klinker in London and which featured the quartet of Bailey, Gaines, Fell and Wastell.
Max Eastley : arc (electro-acoustic monochord)
Fergus Kelly : invented instruments, found metals, electronics
Mark Wastell : tam tam, metal percussion, piano frame
Recorded at Studio 3, Stoke Newington, London on 8th March 2017 by Rupert Clervaux.
Edited, mixed and mastered by Fergus Kelly.
Produced by Mark Wastell.
9,00€Original price was: 9,00€.5,00€Current price is: 5,00€.
Mandhira de Saram - violin
Benoît Delbecq - prepared piano
Mandhira and Benoît met three years ago in Paris and soon discovered that they loved playing together. They recorded Spinneret a year later, over a day of quiet and meditative composing, at curious distance from the animated playing they are both usually drawn to in their own projects. With a natural flair for exploring the possibilities of their instruments, they weave together a delicate tapestry of sound and texture, which hangs as though stretched and suspended in the air. Spinneret evokes something of a folk-tale, as these two internationally acclaimed players tell of a unique sonic landscape: vast, subtle, and timeless.
Arild Andersen : double bass / electronics
Clive Bell : khene (thai mouth organ) / shakuhachi / pi saw (thai flute) / shinobue
Mark Wastell : percussion / shruti box
This genre defying trio release their debut offering, Tales Of Hackney. Quick to capture the energy and undeniable empathy of their celebrated live performances at Cafe OTO on 24 September 2017, the troika reconvened the following day for an intense 10-hour east London studio session.
The beguiling, often meditative results see Andersen deploy his usual sensitivity of touch and evocative tone, as he works in empathetic tandem with Wastell's refined percussive textures and Bell's Asian woodwind armoury. (Jazzwise)
9,00€Original price was: 9,00€.5,00€Current price is: 5,00€.
Rhodri Davies : lap harp, table harp, vibraphone, radio David Sylvian : voice, vocal treatments, electronics
Mark Wastell : tam tam, cracked ride cymbal, chimes, indian temple bells, singing bowls, metal chain, tubular bell, concert bass drum
A collaborative work between Rhodri Davies, David Sylvian and Mark Wastell, and slowly pieced together over a decade-long timespan, the eerie reading that makes up the piece There Is No Love is a welcome addition to the catalogue of the three artists. An example of onkyo-infused prose poetry littered with bells, light percussional touches and a sparing usage of what could be interpreted as “melody”, There Is No Love features a haunting recitation of Bernard-Marie Koltes’ 1985 play In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, focusing on a shadowy late-night rendezvous between the mysterious dealer and the seedy client. The exchange between these characters and their dialogue evokes a sense of danger, of incoming violence, or of sexual abandon; repetitions that affirm an absence of the concept of “love” amidst lamentations of injustices, melancholy, and humility are littered throughout the story being told – the dealer slowly ensnares his “melancholy virgin” client, luring him to indulge in the pleasures he is peddling. The client observes his surroundings, full of things that are devoid of emotion, and full of “decomposing memories”; his despair is what leads him to the dealer on that night.
Factory press CD in printed double panel Ekopack cardboard sleeve.
Julie Tippetts : voice, Sri Lankan hand drums, bells, singing bowls, water bowls, thumb piano, seed pod shaker, Balinese mini xylophone, struck hand drum.
Mark Wastell : tam tam, cracked ride cymbal, shruti box, chimes, hand drum, Indian temple bells, singing bowls.
Recorded live at Cafe OTO by James Dunn on Tuesday 17th of January 2017. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Phil Julian.
Strikingly sparse and meditative percussive duo from esteemed vocalist Julie Tippetts and Mark Wastell. Both equipped with a wealth of percussion but perfectly restrained, the pair are near-still, bright and clear at first, until the surface of their glistening sound begins to prickle and rush with an unseen current. Tippett's voice effortlessly matches the bellows of the Wastell’s shruti box, and its gentle drone highlights her natural vocal warmth. Intimate, explorative and intuitive, each note struck or sung is turned over gently, explored, and put back down to rest - like a rare find in a rock pool.
9,50€Original price was: 9,50€.5,00€Current price is: 5,00€.
Factory pressed 2 CD in printed triple panel Ekopack cardboard sleeve.
Derek Bailey : guitar. Simon H. Fell : double bass. Will Gaines : tap dance. Mark Wastell : violoncello. Recorded live at The Klinker, London on Thursday 24th August 2000. Compèred by Matt Scott. Original DAT recording by Tim Fletcher.Mixed and mastered by Simon H. Fell. Produced by Mark Wastell.
One of the special qualities of improvisation is the array of responses musicians and performers have to the environment they find themselves in. The club, as you can hear immediately from the opening announcements, was in quite a small space, in a back room. It had kitsch disco mirrors all along the walls and a hard floor and ceiling, everything sonically enhancing and reflective, so the room was actually even smaller than it sounds. Tim used to arrive early every night to set up his recording equipment and tape the leads to the floor to stop people tripping on them and dragging everything across the room. At one point he was experimenting with pointing a microphone towards the ceiling to capture a more evenly balanced and diffused sound. A kind of reverse Dizzy Gillespie approach.
I didn’t expect to hear the kinds of sounds that emerged on that night from the band, far less angular, rough, or confrontational, instead it was introspective and elegant, carefree and humorous, delicate and fragile. The audience was crammed in tight, there wasn’t much room to move about, but everyone was absolutely attentive and quiet and really seemed to be enjoying it, seizing the opportunity to express it whenever they were given a chance in the gaps. Unanimously in love with Will, his patter, and his spanner in the works of any possible attempt at over seriousness.
This was the only occasion that Derek Bailey’s Company graced our humble event. Perhaps the acoustic peculiarities of the room, the concentrated focus and proximity of the audience, and the hot summer evening all contributed to the unique result. How fast things change in the small corner of the music scene that the Klinker has been part of over the years. Wonderful to have this treasure from the past. Oh yes, and choc ices.
(Matt Scott)