53-524: The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s. The festival was known for attracting a largish audience for free improvisation , modern jazz composition and all kinds of British modern jazz in general. However, over the years Bracknell featured a wide range of performers from old-fashioned rhythm and blues musicians such as Alexis Korner or Jack Bruce , fusion stars such as Allan Holdsworth or Barbara Thompson , British modern jazz performers of all shapes and ages and
106-446: A free or avant-garde style, including Mike Osborne , Keith Tippett and John Surman . Tracey continued to work in this idiom with Evan Parker at the UK's Appleby Jazz Festival for several years, but this was always more of a sideline for Tracey, who said that he "took more out of free music into the mainstream than I did from mainstream into free". Neil Ferber founder and organiser of
159-729: A certain style or key , or at certain tempos , conventions such as song structures are highly uncommon; more emphasis is generally placed on the mood of the music, or on performative gestures, than on preset forms of melody , harmony or rhythm . These elements are improvised at will as the music progresses, and performers will often intuitively react to each other based on the elements of their performance. English guitarist Derek Bailey described free improvisation as "playing without memory". In his book Improvisation , Bailey wrote that free improvisation "has no stylistic or idiomatic commitment. It has no prescribed idiomatic sound. The characteristics of freely improvised music are established only by
212-572: A drum solo, (there are bootleg recordings available). The Ray d'Inverno trio performed a tribute to Bill Evans . Canadian electric jazz band Uzeb did their first show abroad which was recorded as Live in Bracknell and then digitally re-mastered and re-issued in 2006 to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. The headline act was the incredible reunion of legendary John Coltrane Quartet members Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner . John Stevens' album Freebop
265-482: A genre of music, developed primarily in the U.K. as well as the U.S. and Europe in the mid to late 1960s, largely as an outgrowth of free jazz and contemporary classical music . Exponents of free improvised music include saxophonists Evan Parker , Anthony Braxton , Peter Brötzmann , and John Zorn , composer Pauline Oliveros , trombonist George E. Lewis , guitarists Derek Bailey , Henry Kaiser and Fred Frith , bassists Damon Smith and Jair-Rohm Parker Wells and
318-583: A single moment when the style was born. Free improvisation primarily descends from the Indeterminacy movement and free jazz . Guitarist Derek Bailey contends that free improvisation must have been the earliest musical style, because "mankind's first musical performance couldn't have been anything other than a free improvisation." Similarly, Keith Rowe stated, "Other players got into playing freely, way before AMM , way before Derek [Bailey]! Who knows when free playing started? You can imagine lute players in
371-625: A strong line-up of visiting stars such as Ornette Coleman , Stanley Clarke , Don Cherry , Pharoah Sanders , George Coleman and many more. In the words of festival organiser John Cumming – "The keynote of the Festival is to provide the jazz scene – listeners and musicians alike – with a weekend of the best in British jazz, spiced with visiting Americans, in an informal, relaxed atmosphere.". Cumming, director of Serious Productions went on to organise Camden Jazz with Charles Alexander and Peter Luxton from
424-702: A tranquil, even sedate affair. Musicians and their families picknicked outside the main marquee, cocking lazy ears to the sound of Ralph Towner's delicate twelve-string arpeggios. It was all very pleasant." From 1988, many elements of the festival survived as the Outside In festival held in Crawley West Sussex . Mainstays of the Bracknell festival included the perennial compere and soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill ; free improvisers such as drummer John Stevens , trombonist Paul Rutherford , drummer Tony Oxley and saxophonist Evan Parker ; many musicians in and around
477-636: A work especially commissioned for the event by the Arts Council of Great Britain , these included: Stan Tracey 's Bracknell Connection in 1976, Mike Westbrook 's The Cortege in 1979, and Graham Collier 's Hoarded Dreams in 1983. The Arts Council Commission was The Bracknell Connection a piece by the Stan Tracey Octet, featuring Peter King (alto), Art Themen (tenor), Don Weller (tenor), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Malcolm Griffiths trombone), all British jazz performers who would revisit
530-501: Is based on the BBC radio drama Under Milk Wood , by Dylan Thomas . The Second World War meant that Tracey had a disrupted formal education, and he became a professional musician at the age of sixteen as a member of an ENSA touring group playing the accordion, his first instrument. He joined Ralph Reader's Gang Shows at the age of nineteen, while in the RAF and formed a brief acquaintance with
583-415: Is entirely dedicated to free jazz and other freely improvised music. A l'improviste, Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey CBE (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk . Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" , which
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#1733085051893636-609: Is represented, for instance, by the American record label Erstwhile Records and the Austrian label Mego . EAI is often radically different even from established free improvisation. Eyles writes, "One of the problems of describing this music is that it requires a new vocabulary and ways of conveying its sound and impact; such vocabulary does not yet exist – how do you describe the subtle differences between different types of controlled feedback ? I've yet to see anyone do it convincingly – hence
689-531: Is still commonly practised by some organists at concerts or church services, and courses in improvisation (including free improvisation) are part of many higher education programmes for church musicians. Since 2002 New Zealand collective Vitamin S has hosted weekly improvisations based around randomly drawn trios. Vitamin S takes the form beyond music and includes improvisers from other forms such as dance, theatre and puppetry. Since 2006, improvisational music in many forms has been supported and promoted by ISIM,
742-472: Is unusual for British jazz musicians to do. Under Milk Wood was followed by Alice in Jazzland , an album for big band, the next year featuring many of his former Ted Heath colleagues. Later in the decade, Tracey made the arrangements for an Acker Bilk record, Blue Acker , and his first album dedicated to Duke Ellington compositions (both recorded in 1968), in this case to commemorate Ellington's 70th birthday
795-463: The Appleby Jazz Festival built the festival around Stan Tracey and the musicians who worked with him, booking Stan to appear at every festival for the 18 years that it existed. In the mid-1970s he formed his own record label, Steam , and through it reissued Under Milk Wood (the major label that held the rights to it had allowed it to fall out of print ). Over the next decade he also used
848-604: The For Heaven's Sake album and also performed gigs together. In 2003 Tracey was the subject of a BBC Television documentary Godfather of British Jazz , a rare accolade nowadays for any jazz musician, let alone one from Britain. Tracey's catalogue from the LP era is being reissued on ReSteamed Records. Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), he was appointed Commander of
901-536: The Mike Westbrook orchestra, such as John Surman ; South Africans such as Dudu Pukwana and Johnny Dyani ; drummer Roger Turner , sax player Elton Dean , and other members of the so-called Canterbury scene ; pianist Django Bates and other bastions of the British modern jazz scene. The festival was always opened by local talent, the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra . The festival often featured
954-467: The 1500s getting drunk and doing improvisations for people in front of a log fire.. the noise, the clatter must have been enormous. You read absolutely incredible descriptions of that. I cannot believe that musicians back then didn't float off into free playing. The melisma in Monteverdi [ sic ] must derive from that. But it was all in the context of a repertoire." By the middle decades of
1007-509: The 20th century, composers such as Henry Cowell , Earle Brown , David Tudor , La Monte Young , Jackson Mac Low , Morton Feldman , Sylvano Bussotti , Karlheinz Stockhausen , and George Crumb , re-introduced improvisation to European art music, with compositions that allowed or even required musicians to improvise. One notable example of this is Cornelius Cardew 's Treatise : a graphic score with no conventional notation whatsoever, which musicians were invited to interpret. Improvisation
1060-545: The Arts Council commission, a suite later recorded in a studio and released as Happy Daze on Ogun Records . A popular act, Ninesense were to return the following year and Elton Dean again in 1980 (with a quintet). And famously 1977 saw Bracknell's beloved compere Lol Coxhill performing his legendary monologue " Murder in the Air ", following which he was asked to record it as a 12" single Chiltern Sound records. The headline act
1113-752: The International Society for Improvised Music. ISIM comprises some 300 performing artists and scholars worldwide, including Pauline Oliveros , Robert Dick , Jane Ira Bloom , Roman Stolyar , Mark Dresser , and many others. Founded in Manchester, England, in 2007, the Noise Upstairs has been an institution dedicated to the practice of improvised music, hosting regular concerts and creative workshops where they have promoted international and UK-based artists such as Ken Vandermark , Lê Quan Ninh , Ingrid Laubrock , and Yuri Landman . On top of these events,
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#17330850518931166-598: The Jazz Centre Society, and the London Jazz Festival . The festival was held from 1975 onwards in the grounds and the house of South Hill Park , a Victorian manor house converted into an arts centre in the Berkshire town of Bracknell , a typical Thames Valley new town. As well as the jazz festival, the centre is a venue for performances and education in jazz, other kinds of music and other art forms throughout
1219-727: The Noise Upstairs runs monthly jam nights. In Berlin, Germany, from the 1990s onwards, a school of free improvisation emerged known as echtzeitmusik (‘real-time music’ or ‘immediate music’). This has been sustained by supportive venues such as ausland , Anorak Club, Labor Sonor, and others. In late 1970s New York a group of musicians came together who shared an interest in free improvisation as well as rock, jazz, contemporary classical, world music and pop. They performed at lofts, apartments, basements and venues located predominantly in downtown New York ( 8BC , Pyramid Club , Environ, Roulette , The Knitting Factory and Tonic ) and held regular concerts of free improvisation which featured many of
1272-564: The Swiss improvisation duo Voice Crack started making use of strictly "cracked everyday electronics". A recent branch of improvised music is characterized by quiet, slow moving, minimalistic textures and often utilizing laptop computers or unorthodox forms of electronics. Developing worldwide in the mid-to-late 1990s, with centers in New York, Tokyo and Austria, this style has been called lowercase music or EAI ( electroacoustic improvisation ), and
1325-503: The United Kingdom. Tracey was inspired to compose the suite by hearing the original 1953 BBC broadcast on an LP his wife Jackie had acquired. The track "Starless and Bible Black", a quote from the opening monologue, is probably the best demonstration of Wellins' lyricism and the highlight of Tracey's whole career. Such is the affection with which these pieces are held that Tracey has re-recorded them on several occasions, something that
1378-733: The United States with Ronnie Scott 's group, and became the pianist with Ted Heath's Orchestra in September for two years (1958–59), including a US tour with singer Carmen McRae . Although Tracey disliked Heath's music, he gained a regular income and was well featured as a soloist on both piano and vibes, and contributed compositions and arrangements that stayed in the Heath book for many years. The following year he recorded his first album as leader, Showcase , for English Decca (also Heath's label) and Little Klunk in 1959; he had first recorded in 1952 with
1431-484: The club. Recordings of some of these performances appeared on LP, while others appeared on the Jazz House and Harkit labels, recorded by the journalist Les Tomkins, but with non-professional recording equipment. Which working at Scott's club, Tracey gained some high-profile admirers; Sonny Rollins asserted at one concert: "Does anyone here know how good he is?". It is Tracey on piano that film viewers hear behind Rollins on
1484-490: The comedian Tony Hancock . Later, in the early 1950s, he worked in groups on the transatlantic liners Queen Mary and Caronia and toured the UK in 1951 with Cab Calloway . By the mid-1950s, he had also taken up the vibraphone , but later ceased playing it. At this time he worked widely with leading British modernists, including drummer Tony Crombie , clarinettist Vic Ash , the saxophonist-arranger Kenny Graham and trumpeter Dizzy Reece . In February 1957, he toured
1537-539: The drummer Clark Tracey . He was able to share the billing with arranger Gil Evans in a 1978 concert at the Royal Festival Hall , such was Tracey's pre-eminence in the UK. In private, he played Ellington recordings for Evans that the latter had not previously heard. Tracey continued to record with American musicians on occasion as well, with dates taking place with Sal Nistico in 1985 and Monk associate, Charlie Rouse in 1987. The Steam label ceased trading in
1590-594: The early 1990s, reportedly because of difficulties caused by the retail trade's need for its inventory to carry a barcode . However, in 1992 Tracey benefited from Blue Note's brief interest in UK musicians, leading to the Portraits Plus album and the commercial issue of the BBC 's recording of the concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tracey's first professional gig, as well as Under Milk Wood ′s debut on CD. In 1995 his new quartet featuring Gerard Presencer recorded
1643-571: The festival many times over the years. The piece was later recorded at the 100 Club in London and released on Steam Records . Other acts included guitarist Ralph Towner and a duet between Stan Tracey and Mike Osborne , which was released as the Tandem to good reviews. Elton Dean 's Ninesense, a nonet featuring Dean, Alan Skidmore , Harry Beckett , Marc Charig , Nick Evans , Radu Malfatti , Keith Tippett , Harry Miller and Louis Moholo , performing
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1696-496: The following year. The early 1970s were a bleak time for Tracey. Around 1970, he almost chose to retrain as a postman under pressure from the Unemployment Benefits' office – "I would have quite a good pension by now" he quips – but his wife, formerly involved in public relations, took a more direct role in the development of Tracey's career. He began to work with musicians of a later generation, who worked in
1749-445: The improvising groups Spontaneous Music Ensemble and AMM . In the context of music theory , free improvisation denotes the shift from a focus on harmony and structure to other dimensions of music, such as timbre , texture , melodic intervals, rhythm and spontaneous musical interactions between performers. This can give free improvised music abstract and nondescript qualities. Although individual performers may choose to play in
1802-406: The leading European improvisers of the time, including Derek Bailey , Evan Parker , Han Bennink , Misha Mengelberg , Peter Brötzmann and others. Many of these musicians continue to use improvisation in one form or another in their work. Electronic devices such as oscillators, echoes, filters and alarm clocks were an integral part of free improvisation performances by groups such as Kluster at
1855-402: The musicians interacted spontaneously with the words. The New Departures group recorded an album in 1964 with saxophonist Bobby Wellins , a partnership that continued for several decades. Both men contributed original compositions to the album. Tracey's 1965 album (its full title is Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" ) is one of the most celebrated jazz recordings made in
1908-496: The outlet to issue recordings of a number of commissioned suites. These included The Salisbury Suite (1978), The Crompton Suite (1981) and The Poets Suite (1984). He led his own octet from 1976 to 1985 and formed a sextet in 1979 (later called Hexad), touring widely in the Middle East and India. In this context he had a longstanding performance partnership from 1978 with saxophonist (and physician) Art Themen , and his own son,
1961-414: The prominent figures in the scene, including John Zorn , Bill Laswell , George E. Lewis , Fred Frith , Tom Cora , Toshinori Kondo , Wayne Horvitz , Eugene Chadbourne , Zeena Parkins , Anthony Coleman , Polly Bradfield , Ikue Mori , Robert Dick , Ned Rothenberg , Bob Ostertag , Christian Marclay , David Moss , Kramer and many others. They worked with each other, independently and with many of
2014-618: The set was over. And Saxophonist David Murray played an unforgettable long solo-concert. The headline act on the Friday night was Rocket 88 a boogie-woogie big band including Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart the "6th Stone" on piano along with bassist Jack Bruce , Alexis Korner and an array of British horn-players. Also appearing were the Jan Garbarek Group with Bill Connors, Jon Christensen, Eberhard Weber & John Taylor. The Arts Council commission that year
2067-524: The sonic musical identity of the person or persons playing it." Free music performers, coming from a disparate variety of backgrounds, often engage musically with other genres . For example, Italian composer Ennio Morricone was a member of the free improvisation group Nuova Consonanza. Anthony Braxton has written opera , and John Zorn has written acclaimed orchestral pieces. Though there are many important precedents and developments, free improvisation developed gradually, making it difficult to pinpoint
2120-608: The soundtrack of the Michael Caine version of Alfie (1966). However, the experience of working in Scott's club affected Tracey's health; the long hours led to him taking various illicit stimulants, and the low wages also meant that he had to take the workman's bus back home to Streatham at 3 am. At the same time, he became active too in Michael Horovitz's New Departures project, mixing poetry performances with jazz, where
2173-503: The trumpeter Kenny Baker . At Decca Records, Tracey met his future wife, Jackie Buckland (3 April 1929 – 13 August 2009 ); the couple had two children Clark and Sarah. From March 1960 until about 1967 (some sources give 1968), Tracey was the house pianist at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho , London, and he had the opportunity to accompany many of the leading musicians from the US who visited
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2226-513: The underground scene at Zodiac Club in Berlin in the late 1960s. For the 1975 jazz-rock concert recording Agharta , Miles Davis and his band employed free improvisation and electronics, particularly guitarist Pete Cosey who improvised sounds by running his guitar through a ring modulator and an EMS Synthi A . But it was only later that traditional instruments were disbanded altogether in favour of pure electronic free improvisation. In 1984,
2279-520: The use of words like 'shape' and 'texture'!" The London-based independent radio station Resonance 104.4FM , founded by the London Musicians Collective , frequently broadcasts experimental and free improvised performance works. WNUR 89.3 FM ("Chicago's Sound Experiment") is another source for free improvised music on the radio. Taran's Free Jazz Hour broadcast on Radio-G 101.5 FM, Angers and Euradio [ fr ] 101.3 FM, Nantes
2332-440: The year. Most of the performances were held in large marquees on the lawn, while some events including workshops for musicians were held in rooms in the house. The beer tent was run by the local branch of CAMRA (the campaign for real ale) offering strong ales from many parts of southern England. Journalist Steve Lake wrote in 1976, "Up against the madness of American and Continental jazz festivals Bracknell had seemed, initially,
2385-465: Was Ornette Coleman . Other acts included the trio of British free improvisers John Stevens , Trevor Watts and Barry Guy , who returned the following year with pianist Howard Riley . Also appearing was the Pat Metheny Group – Metheny/Mays/Gottlieb/Egan – a few months after its debut UK performance. A sign of things to come; the record stalls sold out of the quartet's eponymous ECM album before
2438-583: Was The Cortege by the Mike Westbrook Orchestra, described as "a composition for Voices and 16-piece Jazz Orchestra including settings of poetry, arranged by Kate Westbrook , by Lorca , Rimbaud , Hesse, John Clare and other European poets, sung in the original languages by Kate Westbrook and Phil Minton ". The piece was later recorded as a triple album. Other acts in 1979 included the Ed Bickert Trio and guitarist Mike Stern . John Stevens
2491-485: Was Hoarded Dreams, a big band led by bass player Graham Collier and including musicians such as Kenny Wheeler , Tomasz Stanko , John Surman , Ted Curson , Henry Lowther , Manfred Schoof , and Malcolm Griffiths . The piece was recorded at the festival and released on Cuneiform Records . An extended documentary and profile of Collier, based around the Bracknell Jazz Hoarded Dreams concert in 1983,
2544-419: Was back again in 1980 with European free improvisers Marc Charig , Paul Rutherford , Peter Brötzmann , Barry Guy and Peter Kowald . Other acts included two electric guitarists – Jeff Clyne's 's jazz-rock group "Turning Point" and the young Pat Metheny . The British group Spirit Level led by sax player Paul Dunmall , who were also to return in 1981. Drummer Max Roach played a short set, much of it
2597-518: Was back again with a quintet. The Festival Commission that year was a piece by Trevor Watts 14-piece Moire Music . Other acts that year included the European Jazz Ensemble featuring Tony Oxley , Alan Skidmore , Gerd Dudek and others; Factory Records ' jazz-dance act Kalima ; and British fusion group Full Circle. Jazz tubist John Bodwin returned to play a short solo set. Acts included Terry Day 's Kahondo Style . The headline act
2650-569: Was broadcast by Channel 4 on March 6 1985 Another live recording made that year was the highly praised Gheim by the Paul Rutherford Trio. The headline act was the Bobby Hutcherson Quartet featuring Tete Montoliu and Billy Higgins , which was broadcast on BBC radio. Stan Tracey was back again with a quartet including his son Clark Tracey and saxophonist Art Themen performing his Poet's Suite . And Elton Dean
2703-430: Was one of his last public performances. Headliners were The George Russell Orchestra. Free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of experimental music in its own right. Free improvisation, as
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#17330850518932756-632: Was recorded at the festival the band including Evan Parker , and received a five-star review from Down Beat magazine. This year saw a duet between Abdullah Ibrahim and Carlos Ward that has been described as "delicate, poignant, austere ...conjuring a resonance from the simplest tune". Trumpeter Lester Bowie , from the "Chicago Art Ensemble", appeared with his group, "From The Roots to the Source", which featured vocalists Fontella Bass , David Peaston , pianist Art Matthews, tenor saxophonist Ari Brown , and drummer Phillip Wilson . The Arts Council commission
2809-479: Was trumpeter Don Cherry , this time his set, with his group "Nu" including Mark Helias , Carlos Ward and Nana Vasconcelos was recorded and later released on BBC records. Other acts included guitarist Billy Jenkins , who would return the following year. Acts included: In Cahoots featuring Canterbury music legends Phil Miller , Hugh Hopper , Pip Pyle and Elton Dean ; The Michael Gibbs Orchestra including trumpeter Ian Carr ; and John Bodwin , in what
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