Friday, August 12, 2005

How To Play Saxophone.



Brotzmann/Van Hove/Bennink - For Donaueshingen Ever

Where did it all begin? Ray's Jazz Shop, London, coming up to ten years ago. Ooh, I thought, there's a copy of "Machine Gun" by The Peter Brotzmann Octet. That's got a reputation for being a bit fierce...

I've spent the last decade happily inflicting it upon my friends, who, to their credit, never complained. Even when I started cackling along to the mayhem. I do that. It's a bad habit.

You've got to watch out for this stuff, it's tricky. Somewhere along the way between Coltrane, Ayler, Brotzmann and the great Charles Gayle, I realised I had completely detuned my brain and there was no way back. And now ten years have passed. Still no desire to learn how to play the saxophone properly. Hurrah.

Anyways, this goody comes from "FMP 130", which is beautifully recorded in comparison to the aforementioned "Machine Gun" which could be marketed as paint stripper. Van Hove is tickling, Bennink crashes about on anything he can find and Brotzmann holds off for a minute and a half before wading in. Then it's Thwack!! Bang!! and off we go.

I'd like to end with a hearty "Hurrah!!" for the Unheard Music people who are re-issuing a lot of FMP material from the early seventies, tracking down great photos and taking care with the artwork. And my flippant tone is merely a disguise to cover the total awe I have for the greats of European free improvisation, people who've been out there since the mid-sixties and damn well refuse to stop. This is my life changing stuff, my punk rock, my licence to do whatever the hell I want. Thank you.

Oh, and I don't expect you all to like this or even to listen to it all the way through. I have the same problem with most of the things I hear on the radio. Takes all sorts...


Buy - The Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun
Buy - Brotzmann/Van Hove/Bennink - FMP 130
Buy - Lots of Records From Atavistic's Unheard Music Series
Visit - Brotzmann Interview

Mike.

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