WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 207 :: :: Monday, March 1st, 2004 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Rattlers, Apologies as usual for the delay in bringing you this issue, but again there have been very few substantial outside contributions. There haven't been many gigs to write about either, although thankfully with the end of the Winter season this is about to change. Actually, I'm just about to fly to the USA to attend the 8th edition of the Baja Prog festival in Mexicali, where SoftWorks and Richard Sinclair, among others, will be performing. There are no further SoftWorks dates announced yet for the near future, although I believe more American and Japanese dates will be announced. (I'm also informed that In Cahoots may follow-up their American debut at 2002's Progman Cometh festival with further US dates next autumn; to be confirmed of course... watch this space!!) Earlier this year, SoftWorks did a short tour of Italy, and this is what Hugh Hopper had to say about it: "The tour was good. Nice people. 5 gigs. Not much change to the setlist because we never have time to rehearse with Allan (John, Elton and I have tried some new pieces, but no chance to play them live). We three did a couple of improvised areas at one gig when Allan was having onstage problems with lighting (...?). Oh, yes - we do Kings and Queens as a trio, which we didn't in Seattle when you saw us. Did that in Japan and also in Italy. Also 'As If', Ratledge's riff. 'Facelift' as a last number usually...". What we have to look forward to in the coming weeks is a lot of activity in the Caravan camp - both the band and its ex-members. As mentioned previously, Caravan are playing a one-off concert in Paris on March 20th (details at the end of this issue). I understand there are also plans for North American dates later this year, and that Ken Solomon is the booking contact for this, so if you think you're able to help, drop him a line at <omgtkk@bellsouth.net>. (Official Caravan website : http://www.caravan-info.co.uk/). Other good news from the Caravan's camp is the upcoming reissues of "The Album", "Back To Front" and, most eagerly awaited, "Better By Far", all given the usual excellent Mark Powell treatment. As for the ex-members, I'm obviously talking about the Sinclair cousins. Dave S. is about to begin supporting his recently released solo album "Full Circle" with live dates, beginning with Japan next month. DS : "I will be playing a mini-concert in Osaka on the 11th of April, and two in Tokyo the day after on the 12th... I'm going out at the end of March.... Looks like I'll be quite busy ! I will be performing with the keyboard player and singer of Six-North, Chizuko. It won't be a heavy sound - without drums, etc. With the recontructive surgery I recently had on my left hand, I cant take on too much for a few months. The tracks will be some songs from Caravan, 'Moon Over Man', 'Full Circle' and the first performance of a new song I have written especially for Japan. I will be recording this track with Richard singing, and will give a copy to everyone who comes along to the gigs out there. I'm also hoping to do a version with the last chorus and verse sung in Japanese. This will have to be finished off in Japan. There will be a 9 piece choir of student girls accompanying us in the Osaka gig only. So we'll be able to do a fairly good reproduction of 'Sancti'. The Tokyo gigs may be relayed via webcam/internet". (More Dave Sinclair info - http://www.dave-sinclair.co.uk) Dave will also appear at some of his cousin's upcoming gigs. Richard has some really exciting plans for his live shows this Spring, with many unusual line-ups and lots of prestigious and exciting guest participants. As I write this, Richard is in California, rehearsing with Glass who will back him for his appearance at Baja Prog on March 3rd. Glass is the band of Progman Cometh festival mastermind & drummer Jerry Cook, obviously they're big Canterbury fans and I can't wait to hear the results of this pairing. On Saturday, Richard played a solo support slot for the Zombies (Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent) and yesterday (Feb 29th) he was at Los Angeles's Spaceland with local players Ken Rosser (guitar), Richard Derrick (bass) and Bob Lee (drums). (Speaking of Richard's occasional backing bands, I should mention that Panzerpappa, who backed him on his 2002 Scandinavian outing, have just released their third CD, and it's really excellent - an exciting, instrumental mixture of Canterbury, RIO, fusion and prog). Back in England, Richard will make several live appearances with old and new friends : - March 26th : Upstairs At Canterbury Wholefoods, Canterbury (1-2 Jewry Lane), duo with Theo Travis, with guest appearance by Dave Sinclair - April 17th : The Borderline, London - this is the show no-one should miss (I won't!), as Richard will appear with Theo Travis (sax/flute), Phil Miller (guitar), Alex Maguire (keyboards) and guests Jonathan Coe (narrative), Andy Ward (drums), Dave Sinclair (keyboards) and Mark Hewins (guitar). Finally, Richard will appear at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in Portugal on April 24th and 25th, for which he will be joined by Andy Ward and Theo Travis. More info at http://www.goueveia/artrock.cjb.net (More Richard Sinclair info at http://www.sinclairsongs.fsnet.co.uk) In other gig news, it seems all the Gong-related tours have been pushed back to later this year as Daevid Allen is ill (nothing too serious, I'm told), except for the Acid Mothers Gong tour of Japan next month. As I said above, there have been very few concerts in the last two months, but on the other band, many new releases on CD. Worthy of special mention is Hux Records, who after releasing Soft Machine's complete archives of BBC sessions, have followed up with similarly excellent compilations of Elton Dean's Ninesense (including the only available document of the late Mongezi Feza's stint in the ensemble), drawn from 1975 and 1978 sessions (the latter is of lesser sonic quality than the former, but all of it is great stuff) and Isotope/Gary Boyle (two sessions by the original Isotope - sadly nothing from the period with Hugh Hopper - and one by the Gary Boyle Band from 1977... of special interest regarding the latter is the presence of future Yes keysman Geoff Downes in the line-up). Needless to say, all this material comes from the BBC's vaults, but Hux do not intend to remain purely a "BBC-license" label : to celebrate their 50th release, they are putting out an album of all-new Elton Dean material. Slated for release on March 26th, "Sea Of Infinity" consists of two tracks by the ED Quartet (with Mark Hewins, Marcio Mattos and Tony Bianco) and two by Elton and Mark (one featuring the American poet Sibyl Madrigal). http://www.huxrecords.com Although I haven't heard them, there are several recently (or soon-to-be) released live albums on the Voiceprint label (and sub-labels), including a new Brainville live CD from the first tour in June '98 (actually, I heard this, although not in its final form, and found it much superior to the released album, although Kramer fans should note that he doesn't appear on the new one) as well as Euterpe and, I think, Planet Gong shows. Another Soft Machine "official bootleg" is also coming out; as with "Facelift" this is mastered from a cassette recording made by Brian Hopper (in this case from the famous Ronnie Scott's residency of April 1970), so you should expect a similar setlist and - alas - a similar sound quality. http://www.voiceprint.co.uk There have many releases of interest on Chris Cutler's ReR label, beginning with Chris's own projects The Science Group and Vril; at long last we also have a document of Fred Frith's Keep The Dog band from the ca. 1989-91, which is among the closest in style to Fred's work with Henry Cow (although different, too). It even includes a previously unheard Henry Cow piece from 1975, "Fanfare" (I didn't recognise it from any HC bootlegs I've heard, though). ReR have also re-released the Art Bears back catalogue in the shape of a classy and collectable boxed set. Check out ReR's website for further info. http://www.rermegacorp.com The closest to a "Canterbury" release in the latest Cuneiform batch is the magnificent double live CD by Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, "Bremen To Bridgwater", which I think marks the first-ever release of BOB recordings from the period when Elton Dean was in the band (alongside many other familiar names like Mark Charig, Nick Evans, Mongezi Feza, Gary Windo etc. etc.). Great stuff. Slated for release in the next batch (May) are a reissue of Soft Machine's "Live In Paris '72" with remastered sound and liner notes (by yours truly) and Pip Pyle's long-awaited Bash album "Belle Illusion" (with Patrice Meyer, Fred Baker and Alex Maguire). To be released later is a second volume of Gary Windo rarities, half of it featuring Robert Wyatt (the famous WMWM sessions). http://www.cuneiformrecords.com Lastly, a new live release by Didier Malherbe's Hadouk Trio has just hit the shops. It's a document of the group's radio-broadcast performance last autumn on French national radio. It will be supported by a series of live dates - Plaisir (near Paris) on March 6th, and Paris's New Morning on March 10th and 11th. http://www.didiermalherbe.com _________________________________________________________________________ From: Ferenc Riesz <riesz@mfa.kfki.hu> Subject: Canterbury bands should tour in Middle-Europe ! Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 09:42:49 +0100 Dear List, Dear Tour Managers, I read drooling every WR issue the Canterbury tour data. I wonder why Canterbury artists never come to Middle-Europe, especially to Hungary (since I am Hungarian). I am a Canterbury fan since 1989 when I heard Soft Machine for the first time, and would be happy to see and hear my favorite artists performing live! Believe me: quality music, including the Canterbury scene is much appreciated in our country! In 2003 we had Yes, King Crimson, The Flower Kings, Colosseum, Deep Purple, Ten Years After and they gave full-house concerts! I could also mention Poland, where progressive rock and jazz has a solid fan basis. I hope that in the future we can host some Canterbury artists... Best regards, Ferenc _________________________________________________________________________ From: "Alexander Vogel" <MainTheme@msn.com> Subject: New Rattler Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 17:52:22 -0800 Hey Aymeric & the rest of the memebers on this mailing list, I am new here & would like to introduce myself. My name is Alexander, I am 15 years of age, I have been drumming for 3 years & my favorite music genres are Progressive Rock(especially the Canterbury Scene of course! ) & various Jazz genres. I think I'll have a great time posting here. See ya Regards, Alexander _________________________________________________________________________ From: "dirk piens" <dirk.piens@backline.be> Subject: kevin ayers Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 16:20:44 +0100 Belgian concert on Fri, March, 5th KEVIN AYERS & BAND support: The Lovaholics Gildenhuis, Melle (near Ghent) tickets: 10 euros in FNAC or tel 0900/00600 (0,45•/min) more info: use this E-adress: dirk.piens@backline.be http://yellow_riskers.tripod.com/Cultuur/Kevin%20Ayers/ayers1.htm Thanks, Dirk _________________________________________________________________________ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX] http://canterbury.free.fr ==> Kevin AYERS <============================================= Mar 05 - MELLE [nr GAND] (Belgium), CC Gildenhuis (Merelbekestraat) May 13 - OKAYAMA (Japan), Pepper House / May 14 - OHMI HACHIMAN (Japan), Syuyukan / May 15 - OSAKA (Japan), Bridge / May 16 & 17 - TOKYO (Japan), Shibuya, O-West ==> CARAVAN <=============================================== Mar 20 - PARIS (France), Café de la Danse Line-up: Pye Hastings, Jan Schelhaas, Richard Coughlan, Geoff Richardson, Doug Boyle & Jim Leverton More info/updates at http://www.caravan-info.co.uk ==> GONG & CO <============================================== Mar 13 - BRISBANE (Australia), Powerhouse [Acid Mothers Gong] Apr 03 - OSAKA (Japan), Bridge [Acid Mothers Gong] / Apr 04 - SHIGA (Japan), Shuyukan [Daevid solo, etc.] / Apr 05 - OSAKA (Japan), Bears [Guru & Zero & other units] / Apr 06 - OKAYAMA (Japan), Pepperland [Guru & Zero & other units] / Apr 07 - YAMAGUCHI (Japan), Indo-yo [Guru & Zero & other units tbc] / Apr 08 - TOKYO (Japan), Doors [Acid Mothers Gong] / Apr 09 - NAGOYA (Japan), Tokuzo [Acid Mothers Gong] Sep 08 - UK (details tba) [Gong] / Sep 09 - NORWICH, Arts Centre [Gong] / Sep 10 - UK (details tba) [Gong] / Sep 11 - LONDON, Astoria [Gong] / Sep 12 - MILTON KEYNES, Stables [Gong] / Sep 14 - CREWE, Limelight [Gong] / Sep 15 - SHEFFIELD, Boardwalk [Gong] / Sep 16 - LEEDS, Irish Centre [Gong] / Sep 17 - GLASGOW, Renfrew Ferry [Gong] / Sep 18 - MANCHESTER, Hop & Grape [Gong] / Sep 22 - NOTTINGHAM, The Rescue Rooms [Gong] / Sep 23 - BRISTOL, Fleece & Firkin [Gong] / Sep 24 - MORECOMBE, Platform [Gong] / Sep 25 - UK (detailed tba) [Gong] / Sep 16 - WOLVERHAMPTON, Wulfren Hall [Gong] Sep 27-Oct 11 - EUROPE (details tba) [Gong] ACID MOTHERS GONG : Daevid Allen (gliss guitar & vocals), Gilli Smyth (space whisper), Josh Pollock (guitar & megaphone), Kawabata Makoto (guitars), Cotton Casino (synth), Hiroshi Higashi (synth), Atsushi Tsuyama (bass), Tatsuya Yoshida (drums & sampler) Info/updates at http://www.planetgong.co.uk ==> HERE & NOW <============================================= Apr 10 - EXETER, Phoenix Arts Centre / Apr 16 - LONDON, 100 Club HERE & NOW : Keith Missile, Steffi Sharpstrings, Steve Cassidy & Joie Hinton ==> Hugh HOPPER <============================================ May 07 - NORWICH Festival, BurningShed Night [HH & Theo Travis] May 29 - St.JEAN-AUX-BOIS [nr Compiègne] (France), Les Naïades FRANGLOBAND : HH, Patrice Meyer, Pierre-Olivier Govin, François Verly ==> Didier MALHERBE <=========================================== Mar 06 - St.JEAN-AUX-BOIS [nr Compiègne] (France), Les Naiades [DM Trio] Mar 10/11 - PARIS (France), New Morning [Hadouk Trio] More info/updates at http://www.didiermalherbe.com ==> SOFTWORKS <============================================= Mar 05 - MEXICALI, CA (USA/Mexico), Baja Prog 2004 ==> ZAO <================================================== Jun 04 - OSAKA (Japan), Bridge [support: Ain Soph] / Jun 05 - TOKYO (Japan), O-West [support: Daimonji] / Jun 06 - TOKYO (Japan), FAB [support: Daimonji] / Jun 07 - TOKYO (Japan), Manda-La2 (session) Line-up: Faton Cahen (keyboards), Yochk'o Seffer (sax), Gerard Prevost (bass), Francois Causse (drums), Cynthia Saint-Ville (vocals) ========================================================== END OF ISSUE 207 _________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S RATTLIN'? - WHAT'S RATTLIN'? - WHAT'S RATTLIN'? _________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website : http://canterbury.free.fr * To subscribe, send me an e-mail with 'WR sub' in the subject line. * To send a message for inclusion in the next issue, send it with 'WR: [subject]' in the subject line. * If your e-mail address changes, please notify me and mention both your old and new addresses so I can remove the old one and add the new one. * If you can no longer receive WR or don't want to anymore, don't forget to unsubscribe! (i.e. let me know) * All contributions are welcome! Please write to: CALYX@club-internet.fr _________________________________________________________________________