If it got out that I listened to jazz, I'd never be able to show my face. (Set In Darkness, Ian Rankin)

1956 - Bristol, England:

As youthful English jazz "fanatics" – so described by unbelievers – few of us had large record collections, mostly because of the unavailability and cost of imported American lps. Instead we acted out our fantasies at local jazz venues. Monday night: Modern jazz with the Ian Hobbs Quartet — often with a great London guest star; Joe Harriott, Don Rendell, Tubby Hayes, Tommy Whittle… — in the back room of a pub with a co-operative landlord. Friday night: Mingling with art students and other "bohemians", dancing to the traditional jazz of the Avon Cities Jazz Band, likely in a church hall. Saturday night: Big band dances, usually touring bands, at the ballroom of the Avon Gorge Hotel or the local palais de danse. Creating an escapist world for ourselves that had implications beyond the music. Often just creating a "scene". Cool poseur costumes: dark glasses — horn rimmed, Slim Jim ties with Billy Eckstine collared shirts, suits with three button high jackets and stove pipe legged trousers, always imitating our heroes — Miles, Bags, Chet, Gerry…, all this as close as we could get to the American jazz world of our imagination.

The accessible cultural world also included the films of Italian directors Fellini, Antonioni, Bertolucci, De Sica, and the dissentient social writings that expressed discontent with the staid, hypocritical institutions of English society — the Establishment. Included among these angry young men were the playwrights John Osborne and Arnold Wesker and the novelists Kingsley Amis, John Braine, John Wain, and Alan Sillitoe. All of this treasure trove of information heatedly debated in the then new Gaggia Espresso bars, a coffee house style that had been imported from the continent.

These are times before the prominence of the goggle-box, when our social milieu was live and interactive, a time not dominated by video stores and the myopic vision of the internet, where knowledge was shared among friends with debate and personal opinion, not simply downloaded from an unknown, often unreliable source. Not passive. Times that seem to have become either invisible or simply too expensive to indulge in.

However one positive action that has evolved from the new computer technology is live recordings, where even those old tired tapes of yesteryear have taken on new life. And although there is now less opportunity to experience live music on a regular basis, one can now experience some of the joy and intimacy on CDs.

1957:

Nineteen years old and a fully fledged hipster, seriously in love with jazz music, especially Miles Davis, the Chet Baker/Gerry Mulligan Quartet, the MJQ, beginning to have access to Prestige, Riverside and Blue Note recordings: Oh so cool! But still in Bristol.

Peter Ind presents Lee Konitz in "Jazz from the Nineteen Fifties" (Wave CD39) was not available to us at that time, although it would have fit perfectly into our idea of cool jazz. With a fantastic quartet of Billy Bauer (guitar), Peter Ind (bass) and Dick Scott (drums), with trumpeter Don Ferrara added on some of the tunes, the music is captured live at the Midway Lounge, Pittsburgh in February of 1957.

The story of how the recording came about bears repeating. The equipment was set up in the basement, directly under the bandstand, with microphone cables running up the stairs. The band would play and Peter Ind set the tape recorder levels, estimated the required level for his bass, and then joined them on the bandstand with the machine running in record. With trial and error the optimum levels were found and then the settings left as they were for the rest of the gig. This is Lee Konitz at his very best, with his relaxed flowing style in full flight. There is an Atlantic CD from these sessions entitled The Real Lee Konitz which unfortunately is edited, disturbing the illusion of actually being there.

1977 - Toronto, Canada:

Twenty years later and the superficial paraphernalia of the hipster has been shed, and I am somewhat surprised to find myself a photographer, writer, producer and even a musician. Much of the encouragement to investigate performing and writing came from Anthony Braxton, who if memory serves, first came into my life in the summer of 1973. He was the subject of my first serious interview, inspired me to develop my musical language, and allowed me, that following year, to produce the recording "Trio & Duet" for the Sackville label. (To be issued on CD in March 2002). "Anthony Braxton Quintet (Basel) 1977" (hatOLOGY 545) recorded live June 2nd, 1977 in Switzerland, is from this epoch and floods my mind with wonderful memories. I heard this band live once at the Moers Festival just a month before this recording, and its members; Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Mark Helias and Bobo Shaw, all in one way or another became part of my destiny. The music has Braxton's signature sound, a peculiar jittery swing not always acknowledging the eighth notes, putting him apart from the accepted portrayal of jazz, but unlike his memorable quartets this has another density due to the song played backwards (as Don Pullen would have it) piano playing of Muhal. Fattening the whole, swelling the vocabulary as only the orchestral palette of the piano can do.

A wonderful opportunity to hear a brilliant composer (and improviser) utilizing yet another combination of voices. It even has a remembered tune in Composition 40B.

1986 - Travelling:

Almost another decade passed, and now a fully fledged musician/ writer/ photographer, my history catalogued in books and on recordings, even making it into the odd critics poll. Invited to Vancouver Expo '86 (the first Vancouver Jazz Festival), and privileged to perform with a number of the most portentous improvisers on the planet. Time to take stock, a reality check, a look back at the heroes that mapped out this route. After all my chosen horn is the soprano, Bb & Eb, and the heroes Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane and Steve Lacy. Better look out!

Steve Lacy Four - "Morning Joy" (hatOLOGY 556) with Steve Potts the other horn, Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass) and Oliver Johnson (drums), recorded at Paris' Sunset Club, February 19th, 1986. Quite my favourite band, and CD, of Mr. Lacy. An additional track since the original issue, another Monk tune making it three, four more of Steve's, the band totally in sync, and there you have it. Phenomenal! 'Nuff said.

1999 - Hornby Island, Canada:

Another decade on, the urban clangour dispelled, a new ruralistic musical life finding joy participating in community music. Certainly not avant garde. Memories even more intact.

The same Whitsuntide as the performance of the aforementioned Braxton Quintet, I am to hear, for the first time, the startling power of Peter Brötzmann. He is performing at the Kroeg (an Amsterdam bar) with the Pierre Courbois Quartet. In this period the music of Albert Ayler fills our hearts, and although it was not entirely clear at the time, his influence had already permeated the thinking of Brötzmann. There was the same raw energy, and he would, with aging, attain a great lyrical and rhythmic beauty.

"Live at Nefertiti" (ayler records aylCD-004), recorded at Nefertiti Jazz Club, Gothenburg, Sweden, March 13th, 1999 is Peter in full uncluttered flight, with the electric bass of his compatriot from the Wild Man Band – Peter Friis Nielsen, and powerhouse drummer Peeter Uuskyla: LIVE! As Sven Gustafsson writes: "There's nothing secret about this music, no hidden agenda." Just open, breathing music available to all with receptive ears.

Five great "jazz" bands — LIVE! Sure wish I had been there.

2001 - London, England

Conway Hall is owned by the London branch of the British Humanist Association whose ethic is morality without religion, and belief in human potential. Above the stage is the Shakespearean aphorism "To Thine Own Self Be True." Phil England

The Emanem web page — http://www.emanemdisc.com/ — has a dictionary created by Martin Davidson. One of the entries: "AVANT GARDE: Tomorrow's mainstream", attracted my attention. In a 1966 Coda Magazine was an overview of the London jazz scene as I experienced it, a portion being dedicated to the newly opened Little Theatre Club. The band was John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Kenny Wheeler and bassist Jeff Clyne; a version of the legendary Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Two recordings of the S.M.E. set me on the road to improvisation: Challenge (1966) - Emanem 4053, and Karyobin (1968) - Chronoscope CPE2001-2. Tomorrow's mainstream indeed!

It's difficult to imagine the British improvised music scene without the tireless dedication of Martin Davidson and Evan Parker. For more than thirty years these two remarkable people have, separately and together, been responsible for inventing, developing and recording much of this music, and in doing so consolidated a unique history.

Freedom of the City 2001 - Small Groups - Emanem 4205 (2-CD Set)

Freedom of the City 2001 - Large Groups - Emanem 4206 (2-CD Set)

These recordings are a showcase, a sampler if you will, of an event that will occur again May 2-6/2002 at Conway Hall in London. For this festival to have taken place at all is fantastic, to happen a second time, a triumph. The instigator is Evan Parker whose motivation is based in the knowledge that London is the home to hundreds of creative musicians, a community entrenched in what must be considered the longest running of all the improvised music scenes. The event was supported by BBC Radio 3 and can be heard on BBC On-Line at htttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/jon3/inc­_{_} focstream.shtml. Recorded by Paul Brodgen for BBC Radio's Jazz on 3.

SOLO:

Past experience has indicated that Pat Thomas was mostly involved in electronics. Here is splatter splash solo piano often easing into out-of-tempo rhapsodic melodies. He has been superficially compared to Cecil Taylor, one could imagine that, but I think not. (2 tracks)

DUO

Marvelous interactive music with John Butcher's internal saxophone language meshing superbly with Steve Beresford's electronics and toys. Feeding each other continuously, the occasional left turn but with imagination and bravado they find their way around this complex terrain. Close listening and daring is their secret. (3 tracks)

TRIOS:

The Temporary Brass Trio, from the younger generation was formed by trumpeter Ian Smith with trombonist Gail Brand and tubist Oren Marshall. The first long piece has the air of a family gathering, so much to tell each other; tuba mumble splutter, trumpet prattling away, the trombone flexible with a developed arsenal of techniques — on to the final more formal composure. Certainly melodic. (3 tracks)

Piano/bass/drums opening fleet, with detailed, subtle rhythmic energy, this trio of Veryan Weston, John Edwards and Mark Sanders has formidable interaction, as close to a sense of swing as music gets, far away from tick-tock-time. Sinuous oblique senses creating such variations of drama. Dexterous close listening. (3 tracks)

Veteran improviser Maggie Nichols has contributed greatly to the development of the voice in improvised music, and with saxophonist Caroline Kraabel and violinist Charlotte Hug has created an exquisite contemporary song and dance act, delving into partially hidden language thick with coded testaments. Music filled with a metabalistic energy taking on eerie ghost-scapes in the slower sections. (3 tracks)

A month later, back at Conway Hall, sans audience, they recorded a complete CD. Transitions - Emanem 4068

QUARTET:

Although the likes of Ligeti and Schnittke created a composed language for string quartets, their music often has a stifled academic aura. Quatour Accorde, assembled by bassist Tony Wren, with violinist Phil Durrant, violist Charlotte Hug and cellist Mark Wastell, takes string music to another level. Personal acoustic music producing a startling array of techniques and dynamics. A tad edgy. (2 tracks)

QUINTET:

It actually starts as a trio with Roger Turner, John Russell and Phil Minton, historically two duets amalgamated. Spring has sprung, the almost silence gives way to the twitter buzz of birds and insects; and then there is the bumptious crow! The duet of Lol Coxhill and Paul Rutherford a couple of chatty old mates, almost in agreement. All together now! The trio sets the tone, sporadically joined by the duo to open up the music into a slightly strangulated whole. (3 tracks)

ORCHESTRAS:

If there is doubt that improvised music can be successfully performed by large groups, then the dozen players, ten strings + 2 electronic manipulators that constitute Strings with & without Evan Parker puts this conjecture to rest. "Trick on the Speed of Making It" is half an hour of beautifully sustained motion, serene even. The second piece, with the addition of EP, ups the ante; his free flowing melodic soprano carrying the orchestra along with new urgency.

The grand finalé is the complete concert of the 39 strong London Improvisers Orchestra. 20 wind instruments, a dozen stringed, percussion and electronics, tackle 8 distinct pieces, one freely improvised, the rest composed.

Each of the conductors utilizes the orchestra in a quite different manner: Dave Tucker ("Flower of Flesh and Blood") establishes the organic power, the vibrant character of the orchestra. Gigantic! Simon H Fell's "Mortons Mobile" in contrast, closer to breathing, subdued, the feeling set by two pianos at extreme pianissimo instilling the hushed stasis the composer was seeking. Caroline Kraabel's "Group Dynamics Around The Slide" unsettling in its triangulated conduction. Steve Beresford, a talented bloke, always investigating, bringing out elements that are not always obvious, with his "Concerto for Sylvia Hallett"; herself the soloist. Superb! Phil Wachsmann's "Double Rainbow" a compelling roiling tumble finding crescendos, a certain spatial urgency involving the conductor as an integral element in the orchestra. The spiky, scurrying drama of Knot Afermann's "Birthday Piece" using number boards (1-80) with the players looking for their possible birth-dates as a cue, causing an ever changing stream of random sub-groups. Terry Day's unusual piece where he simultaneously conducts and recites his poem/composition "Am If, But, To and When" which he describes as being… "about Dagenhamness; of an attitude born from an impoverished cultural background. Dagenham - dormitory town to the Ford Motor Company - where two-tone Ford Zephyrs could at one time be seen on every street". An admission of his roots. Formidablé. And the grand finalé, apparently a tradition, the London Improvisers Orchestra left to their own devices for a 33 minute free improvisation. Paraphrasing Martin Davidson: "The performance goes through a whole kaleidoscope of aural colours and feelings. It's all to do with listening as much as playing - one of the hallmarks of the London improvising scene." Couldn't have said it better myself.

All this material has been played individually for analysis, straight through, and shuffle repeat just for pleasure; and in conclusion I would say that the majority is of great interest, none boring and much simply brilliant. So until the science of teleportation is mastered, allowing one to be wherever, these CDs and the BBC 3 streaming of this years event is the way to go.