DEREK BAILEY (1930 - 2005)

Christmas Day again. The e-mail from Martin Davidson simply read - "Derek Bailey died aged 75 in London in the early hours of December 25. He had motor neurone disease". I had been thinking of him, knowing that he was ill, but still the finality of this sad news came as a shock. He had for some time suffered from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, crippling his hands to such a degree that he was forced to develop a whole new system of playing, utilizing his thumb to strike the strings. With his usual dry wit he titled his last recording "Carpal Tunnel". My companion had cautioned me on occasion of the tendency to over familiarize, to use the description friend in much too casual a manner, and so I would be more inclined to describe my close-on 40 year association with Derek Bailey as a comrade in improvised music. In many ways I barely knew him: a luncheon once on a visit to London at a vegetarian restaurant on Greater Newport Street, which had, long ago in my youth, been the premises of Studio 51, the first jazz club I ever visited; the occasional letter, one suggesting that we both lived on islands, he in Hackney and me on Hornby; several meetings at various musical events, a rare e-mail, but little actual personal connection between us. Ultimately it was the music that had drawn us together. As with all original artists his music required serious investigation, an attentiveness to the new details he was proposing, especially as the concept he was putting forward was relatively unknown territory. A concept that he would describe as non-idiomatic music. Improvisation, when considered in the environment of an evolving music has, in certain situations, not remained as a part of a process, such as in the traditional concept of jazz music, but has become the music in total. The reference point of playing tunes, which must be considered an art in its own way, has been shed, and in doing so has immediately made, for the listener, a more difficult task. The composition was always a recognizable familiarity that could readily attract the more simplistic portions of our mind. But it has always been improvisation that was the predominant strength of jazz music. Its musical structure has other rigid systems, or recognizable identities such as chords, time signatures, and the legendary idea of swing. In the process of Derek Bailey, all these elements were not separated, not ignored, but rather brought together in a most personal way and utilized, in the way history can be, into a unique and original art. There has always been a system of judgement placed upon art that has introduced innovation to a previously occupied position, often hindering the acceptance of a new genius. Intimating that it is not yet a completed form, that there are not enough discernible historical directives on which to base an opinion, and suggesting that it can be a process that is simply self-indulgent. As it is completely based in new technical areas, far removed from previous improvised standards, there is no clear pathway to critical analysis. I found after continuous listenings, that Derek Bailey became a most unique phenomenon in that what he presented was very open and sensitive, a sharing of a personal idea that was never quite the same. Surely something that all intelligent people strive for. Because he presented each event as a situation that was not predetermined, the experience of listening became more focused on the idea of the system of structure he employed. There was the possibility of hearing his logical attitudes to improvisation as an infinitely detailed ongoing process, so successive recitals had the feeling of having occurred in a logical sequence. This indicated that there was indeed a quite clear structure, it just belonged to a new, more personal system of performance, a performance that because of its lack of connection with the past, required, on the part of the player, a most positive attitude, a necessity to be totally confident in the realization that what he had discovered was truly unique. In some ways, it is not possible to judge Derek Bailey’s music as it is totally improvised, so perhaps there is no good or bad performance, just different situations, and all you really have to do is be open to enjoy whatever you can take from it. Although his early history includes dance bands, studio work, and theatre work with the likes of Gracie Fields and the comedy team of Morecambe & Wise, his reputation is as an improviser performing and promoting the concept of non-idiomatic music. From his earliest recording in 1965 with Tony Oxley and Gavin Bryars with the group they called Joseph Holbrooke (a 10-1/2 minute rendition of John Coltrane's composition "Miles Mode" on an Incus single) until the 2002 release of "Ballads" on the Tzadik label, he rarely if ever played tunes. By 1966 he was visiting the Little Theatre Club at 23 Garrick Street in London's West End theatre district, a venue which was organized by drummer John Stevens. There he was able to develop his unique ideas with the likes of Trevor Watts, Paul Rutherford, Evan Parker, Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Barry Guy etc., many of whom played in various combinations over the ensuing years as the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, the Tony Oxley Quintet & Sextet, the Music Improvisation Company and Iskra. In 1970 Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley and Evan Parker would form Incus Records, the first independent musician-owned record company in Britain. A 1974 series of radio interviews with musicians from various idioms, resulted in the publication, in 1980, of his influential book "Improvisation - its nature and practice in music". From 1976 until 1994 he organized his Company projects in London and various outreach locations — including Vancouver — where he invited a stylistically wide-ranging group of players to improvise together. A list too long to note, but including players that would normally be considered outside of the world of improvisation. His devotion to pure improvised music led him down many and varied paths including interaction with American legends as conventional as Lee Konitz, as inventive as Steve Lacy and as avant garde as Cecil Taylor; the historic tap dancer Will Gaines, with whom he made a video, fusion jazzer Pat Metheny, noise rockers and anything else that tickled his fancy. There will never be another like him. Recommended Recordings: Spontaneous Music Ensemble (1968) – Karyobin – Chronoscope CPE2001-2 Tony Oxley Quintet (1969) – The Baptised Traveller – Columbia 494438 Anthony Braxton & Derek Bailey (1974) – First Duo Concert – Emanem 4006 Derek Bailey solo (2002) – Ballads – Tzadik TZ-7607