WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 92 :: :: Tuesday, May 5th, 1998 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: c cutler <cc@megacorp.u-net.com> Subject: Henry Cow on CD Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 08:20:14 +0100 >Also Henry Cow - can anyone provide a list of what is available on CD. I >have not seen anything. henry cow available on CD official: legend (remixed) ESD unrest (original) ESD in praise of learning (remixed) ESD (all w an extra track or two) Concerts (double) (original) ESD (coming: legend and ipol originals. ReR)possibility of one or 2 cd's of unreleased pieces some time in the next 2 years... unofficial two japanese bootlegs 'industry'and - can't remembe the other title and i'm not in england at the moment tolook. i have to say neither are very interesting though and very expensiveavailable by mailorder if you can't find in stores via CUNEIFORM/WAYSIDE and ReR cc ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Yutaka Masuda <masudayu@kb3.so-net.or.jp> Subject: May I have a link to your homepage? Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 17:58:18 +0900 Hello. My name is Yutaka Masuda. A Japanese British rock fan living in Tokyo city. I have been loving with canterbury music for ten years. By the way , I have written some words about Caravan on my homepage. Caravan is the greatest band I've ever heard. I'm crazy for them. So I want to have a link to Calyx. Please see my homepage. I wrote their history and all discographies and bootleg guide. But terribly to say it's in Japanese only. And if you like , let me have links to each other. http://www02.u-page.so-net.or.jp/kb3/masudayu/Caravan/Caravan.1P.htm Sincerely(^.^)/~~~ Yutaka Masuda masudayu@kb3.so-net.ne.jp ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jib Crafno <JibCrafno@aol.com> Subject: Re: looking for... Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 19:25:08 EDT Robert Wyatt's Peel Sessions is still in print, I believe. I got mine new at my local CD store. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mihra@cerbernet.co.uk (Roger Bunn) Subject: Publish in WR Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 02:22:50 +0100 Anyone want to add anything to the following?? * * * * * A message filtered through that the hounds of the French state had been after Patto's butt. Timebox the band that he had formed after he had left Norwich had played yet another Royal gig in Paris. On their way out of the venue they happened to load a large black box into the back of the group's wagon. This turned out to be a massive antique chandelier that had been hired for the glittering upper crustoccasion. And so the French police set out in hot pursuit. As it happened they were taking tea in a lay-by just as the police cars raced by on their mission impossible and they paniced. It was the middle of the night and they only had a few miles to go before theywould board the ferry back to the shores of safety and while they argued abouthow long they would get in prison for this heinous crime, the "Admiral" JohnHalsey had unloaded the box and dumped it in a nearby cottage trash can. The Admiral resumed his seat and looked out of the window, the curtains twitchedand caring that no one would see her, a little old lady crept out of herdoor and headed for her trash. The band watched as she lifted the lid and heaved the huge box onto the floor and opened it. As her face lit up with amazement she turned and waved her thanks and dragged the box back into her little home. Timebox were arrested and searched at Dover, but as nothing could be found to link them with such an absurd extravagaza of criminal intent they were freed and cautioned. And from this I knew that young Patto was alive and well and up to his old let's fk with the French tricks again. While Diana was taking Gabriel to meet his grandparents in East Aurora, I knew that Elson and Ziska who were her friends from Formentera (sp) and who rather than live in London after the freedom of Spain were now living in Paris. They had met when Ziska Baum and Elson (Loren Standlee) were part of the downtown New York jet set underground, a group with their core in the burgeoning loft scene of lower Manhattan but who sought "enlightenment" and just plain fun in places like Ibiza and Nepal. Ziska and Elson were involved with Aspen magazine, which was edited by LamonteYoung and Marian Zazeela. Aspen included flexi-discs with the magazine which also featured the Velvet Underground. Young was a seminal figure in the minimalist classical movement who with his wife Marian, a light artist, were at the center of the New York cultural activities of the sixties. Although the magazine remained fairly obscure at that time it carried an essential mix of mixed media collage and that which gave more avant and uncompromising artists a medium They were also part of the New York scene that included Terry Riley who was intrigued by what one could make out of a looped tape years before his contempories would make their fortunes out of the same if limited dimension, and who would meet and influence Daevid Allen, the Velvet Underground drummer Angus Macleish and photograper and poet Ira Cohen who also issued recordings under their Akashic label. Sadly Macleish would leave the Velvets before recording any material and move to the east where he became something of a poet and mystic and to die in poverty. The time of the student riots had now past during which Allen was deeply affected by Elson's spirituality and worked with both of them to produce an Akashic album of their own called "Dreaming of the Mana". Daevid Allen whom I would also meet in Paris describes his meeting with them in his book "Gong Dreaming" and they published what is now a rare book of poems soon after their return to the U.S called "The Orphic Egg". I would play with them all during the time off from making "Peace of Mind" when the little white Triumph Herald of Pym Boogerman would transport both my guitar and butt through Belgium and to the coffee smells that I loved of Paris. And the music we played consisted of chanting through to freeform and although to such as myself somewhat idiosyncratic it held a great emotion and concentration in its empathy with the crowd. Policy Office Music Industry Human Rights Association UK Homepage http://www.cerbernet.co.uk/mihra ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RAYMBEN <RAYMBEN@aol.com> Subject: new Slapp Happy? Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 02:24:26 EDT Anyone know the title and release date of the new Slapp Happy CD? --Raymond [It is called "Ca Va" and was released on Virgin's new V2 label on April 27th - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: yukio@orgone.demon.co.uk (yukio yung) Subject: Your Andy Ward page... Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 19:20:59 -0700 Just caught your Andy Ward page. Thanks for mentioning me. Andy also plays on my Chrysanthemums albums. If you want to wire up my entry, the web address is: http://www.ifnet.or.jp/~masa-g/yukio/yukio.html all the best Yukio ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gary Davis <artshop@artist-shop.com> Subject: On the Road Again Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 14:07:14 -0400 Hello Friends! We have a couple new members (and therefore new pages) in The Artist Shop for you to check out. One is Chris Cutler's ReR/Recommended <http://www.artist-shop.com/rer>. Many of you will remember Chris as an integral part of Henry Cow (which you'll find on our ESD page at <http://www.artist-shop.com/esd>). We previously had the catalog of ReR recordings listed on our Cuneiform page, but have since decided that it's worth it's own page. ReR is home to such artists as Chris, Fred Frith, Biota, Cassiber, The Art Bears, The (EC) Nudes, Jon Rose, Faust, Thinking Plague, ZGA, ZNR and many more. They also have new releases out by 5UU's, Fred Frith, Ossatura with Tim Hodgkinson, Sun Ra and his Arkestra, and Thomas Dimuzio. You'll find soundbites and cover graphics for each of these. This was actually my first exposure to 5UU's, a very offbeat band that sound like a cross between Yes and The Residents - if that's possible! It is especially exciting to welcome Tony Levin and Papa Bear Records<http://www.artist-shop.com/papabear> to The Artist Shop. Tony is a bassist/stick player extraordinaire, a full time member of both King Crimson and Peter Gabriel's band, and one of the most in demand session men on the planet. He's played with the likes of Yes, Pink Floyd, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Paul Simon and so many more! Papa Bear Records is truly a homegrown record label that Tony operates out of Woodstock, NY. His latest release is the incredible Bruford Levin Upper Extremities which also features experimental guitarist David Torn and trumpeter Chris Botti. There is also the trio of Gorn/Levin/Marotta on the CD From the Caves of the Iron Mountain and the companion video Tales from the Widow Jane Mine, as well as the very first Papa Bear release, Tony Levin's World Diary. These are all superb recordings I would recommend to everyone! Tony has recently made a very special request that I'd like to pass along to you. "An unusual request: Last Saturday night, at the Knitting Factory in NYC, the second show started with a band improv that went GREAT. Sometimes things just click like that, and it comes out like a finished piece. After the show, I ran to Robert, our sound mixer, to assure that the ADAT's had been working. They hadn't! Neither had the DAT player. In other words, we not only have no good recording of the piece, we don't even have a tape to remind us how it went! We tried the same thing on Sunday, at the Boston House of Blues -- completely different. So... to get to the point, my practical nature tells me that SOMEONE in the audience MUST have taped that performance. And I'd like to ask if, as a favor, anyone who has a tape of that first piece in the second set could mail us a copy of it, so we can learn the piece for our next album". Address: Papabear Records, PO Box 498, Woodstock, NY 12498. I hope someone out there can help him! And speaking of David Torn, CMP Records <http://www.artist-shop.com/cmp> hasjust released a new compilation called The David Torn Collection. This is a great collection of David's CMP work not only as a solo artist, but as a producer and performer with other great musicians. The 12 tracks included in this collection come from his CD's, Tripping Over God and What Means 'Solid' Traveller?; Polytown; Lonely Universe; Mick Karn's Bestial Cluster and The Tooth Mother; Andy Rinehart's Jason's Chord; The Snake Music by Nauseef and Tadic; Marty Fogel's Many Bobbing Heads, At Last....; Mark Nauseef's Sura; Dark's Tamna Voda; and Wes Martin's 3 Pound Universe. If you're just getting to know David Torn's work, this is a great introduction. And even if you're already a Torn afficionado, chances are you might not even have known that he was on all those albums! Good news on our Camino page <http://www.artist-shop.com/camino>, the Steve Hackett/Tokyo Tapes is finally out! Both CD and video are just spectacular. I've put up two soundbites for this - the Genesis classic, Firth of Fifth, and the King Crimson classic, I Talk to the Wind. Steve's band for these performances included John Wetton, Ian McDonald, Chester Thompson and Julian Colbeck. This is a totally electrifying band that performs not only Steve's material, but also classic Genesis, Crimson, Asia and Wetton solo material. Wetton is in fine form with some of the best bass playing he's done in years. His voice is in fine form as he deftly handles songs originally sung by him, Greg Lake and Peter Gabriel. This is definitely a must for any Wetton fan! We have four new releases on our Cuneiform page<http://www.artist-shop.com/cuniform>. These include the first CD appearance of an old Hugh Hopper classic, 1984. Bassist/composer Hugh Hopper has been involved in many projects during his more than 30 years in music. '1984,' originally released in 1973 and his first solo release, remains in many ways his most singular. Upon its original release with its unusual combination of lengthy abstract sound-journeys and short weirdly devolved James Brown-inspired pieces, it gained much critical acclaim. '1984' was an extremely unusual release for 1973 and an extremely unusual project for CBS Records who first released it. Like the groundbreaking novel after which it was named, Hopper's record was truly ahead of its time. It remains timeless today. 25 years after it was created -- years which saw the rise of industrial music and electronica, the seeds of which can be found in Hopper's release -- the originality and distinctiveness of Hoppers '1984' remains untouched. Mujician/Colours Fulfilled - Since Mujician formed in 1988 as an improvising collective, the band has released 4 CD's, all on Cuneiform. Colours Fulfilled, produced by Evan Parker, is their most cohesive set yet. Mujician features such stellar players as pianist Keith Tippett, drummer Tony Levin, saxophonist Paul Dunmall and double bassist Paul Rogers. These musicians each have an incredible body of work behind them including collaborations with King Crimson, Centipede, Richard Thompson, Alice Coltrane, Elton Dean, The London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Keeny Wheeler, Gary Burton, John Surman, Lol Coxhill, John Zorn and many, many more. Rattlemouth/Fist Full of Iffy - The band Rattlemouth is an integral part of Richmond, Virginia's iconoclastic musical scene. Fistful of Iffy is the band's second release. By the time they had recorded this release, the band had spent two years re-developing their original trio sound. During the recording of the album the members - Danny Finney (sax/vocals), Tom Brickman (bass) and Robbie Kinter (drums) - called upon their old musical cohort, Paul Watson, to add some musical color with guitar and cornet. They were so pleased with the results that after finishing the recording, they added Paul as a full member. Forever Einstein/One Thing After Another - Forever Einstein is a guitar/drums/bass trio whose stock-in-trade is quirky, rock-based instrumental music that shifts tempo, time and mood; relies heavily upon composition and instrumental interplay; and draws from influences as diverse as Eric Satie, King Crimson and folk musics. In 'One Thing After Another,' the band's third release, they produce energized music that you can feel AND think about by taking the power and aggression of rock and applying more adventurous compositional techniques than most rock music gets treated to. Gary ************************************************************** Gary DavisThe Artist Shop The Other Roadhttp://www.artist-shop.com artshop@artist-shop.comphone: 330-929-2056 fax:330-945-4923 SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT ARTIST!!!************************************************************** Check out the latest Artist Shop newsletter at http://www.artist-shop.com/news.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James Walz & Dorothy Deasy <bongo@shell15.ba.best.com> Subject: Wyatt article Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 15:26:25 -0700 (PDT) I would like to echo Allen Houtari's enthusiasm for the Wyatt article that appears in the May '98 issue of Pulse, a free music mag available only at Tower Records. For those Rattlers don't live near a Tower outlet, the article can be accessed in its manifold entirety by steering your browser to the URL: http://www.towerrecords.com/pulse/98/may/feature/index.html The article's author, Bill Forman, I think deserves heavy praise for crafting a fresh and intelligent glimpse into RW's creative values, his musical collaborators, and his politics, with lots of quotations from Robert himself. It was a great read for a Wyatt die-hard like me, and I hope this article will spark great interest among those previously unfamiliar with RW's work. joys to all, Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Davidkow <Davidkow@aol.com> Subject: Egg CD availability Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 22:51:09 EDT CDUniverse (www.cduniverse.com) lists Egg for $23.49 (although it's on backorder)... This is where I got my copy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Smiths <smithhouse@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Rupert Hine Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 08:48:04 -0700 Thanks Helmut and David! I have a nice interview/story with Rupert on his 'home studio' in the June 1997 issue of MIX magazine, by the way, which brought me up-to-date on his producing career. I'll have to hunt for his web site URL; I have his three solos on vinyl plus the commonly-available CD with David McIver. Several years ago I gave up on the turn-table (too hard to take care of the LPs in my household) and now I don't think I can replace the cartridge, so I'm CD only. I also have Perry's Seabird on CD. I like Mike Giles, he's never played badly and is always interesting. Would REALLY REALLY like Quantum Jump's Baracuda on CD!!! I miss it a lot. No info on the members of Cafe Jacques? They just came out of the blue and went back after two recordings, eh? KOCH Helmut <h.koch@brauunion.com> wrote: > Hi Kent! >> During the 1980s Rupert Hine & Trevor Morais have been busy (&> considerably succesful) in producing mainstream rock/pop (e.g. Saga, > Chris De Burgh, Tina Turner, The Fixx). >> John G. Perry 's long lost 2nd solo-album (can't remember the title) was > released by british VOICEPRINT label not so long ago. > > Trivia I guess..but I hope it helps?! > > Helmut David Alan Saunders <david.saunders3@virgin.net> wrote: > Hi there. Rupert's 3 solo 1981-83 CDs are now deleted (Immunity, Waving> Not Drowning and Wildest Wish to Fly). I have all 3 on CD together with> Thinkman's The Formula (brilliant). Check out his official site as it> mentions that all his stuff is being re-released soon. > > David --Kent Smith ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Brett Laniosh <brett@g4nzk.demon.co.uk> Subject: What a combination! Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 19:34:58 +0000 (GMT) [In WR#91, Kalle Becker announced:] > Burg Herzberg Open-Air Festival ( Germany ) > 17.-19. July 1998 > > Saturday: > Guru Guru > Man Wow!I never imagined in my wildest dreams these two bands every playing at the same gig. Wish I could get there. I'd be interested in the line-up of both! -- Brett ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bernard Friedman <potowat@earthlink.net> Subject: Alfreda Benge Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 13:46:33 -0700 Great Site! Thanks for making it... I wonder if you can help me. I'm a long time fan of Robert Wyatt's wife, Alfreda Benge's art work. Do you know if she sells it professionally? Is she represented by a gallery? If you have any idea how I might find this out please let me know. If you can suggest someone else I might contact who would know better, please refer me. Thanks! Bernard Friedman potowat@earthlink.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Layton <davidlayton@earthlink.net> Subject: New Aquisitions Date: Sun, 03 May 1998 23:15:34 -0700 From out here in the town of tinsel and gold that is Los Angeles, I have a couple of more acquisitions of interest to the Canterbury completist, and perhaps to anyone interested in good music. I got these both used, for a total of about $20. 1. Gongmaison - Glastonbury 1989 2. Project Lo - Black Canvas 1. is a live recording, featuring Daevid Allen, Didier Malherbe, Harry Williamson, and a couple of other notable musicians. This is less a Gong album than a Daevid Allen album and features his unique brand of poetry, song, folk rhythms set to space-tripping electronics and enhanced by a little world-beat spice. A very nice addition to the Allen corpus. 2. is one of the several projects headed by Bon Lozaga these days. It features Hansford Rowe and some American musicians and sounds, to my ears, quite a bit like what David Sylvian has been doing the last ten years. It is good to know that a musician as good as Lozaga is not making his career from nostalgia, but has changed and improved with the years. There are many other new acquisitions for me that I will be happy to talk to people about at any time via e-mail. These two, however, best fit in these pages. Good hunting, David ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: m.laplante@videotron.ca (m. laplante) Subject: Amougies 1969 film playing in Montreal Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 11:27:38 -0400 "Amougies",a 1969 100 minutes film about the Belgian festival will be playing at the Montreal Cinematheque on June 4th at 5 pm.The Cinematheque program mentions appearances in that film by Frank Zappa, Soft Machine, Art Ensemble of Chicago,Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton and Keith Emerson/The Nice. Martin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Cross <ddcross@us.ibm.com> Subject: Roswell Rudd interview Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 15:51:45 -0400 Recently I was very luck to have the opportunity to interview trombonist Roswell Rudd. Roswell Rudd is an American jazz giant. Over his four decade career he's worked with the likes of American giants such as Don Cherry, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, and Carla Bley. Why isn't this guy a household name? Well, to seasoned jazz collectors he certainly is. His choice of instrument, the mighty trombone, is vastly under-used (in favour of more popular reed instruments) and this has contributed to his semi-obscurity. So why am I here? Rudd has always been an inspiration to certain folks in the Canterbury circle - just ask Robert Wyatt or Nick Evans. Recently Rudd has been working a bit with Elton Dean. Having just recently completed his third LP with Dean (first was Rumours Of An Incident on Slam, second was the ass flattening Bladik on Cuneiform). The new release with Dean's Newsense is slated for imminent release on Slam in the UK, and I thought I should bring this to your attention. Roswell is very excited with the prospect of this group, a large band, and at it's core are the three greatest trombonists in the world today - Annie Whitehead (The Special a.k.a., a couple fine solo releases and recently seen on Wyatt's Shleep), Paul Rutherford (seminal, genre defining solo releases, Spontaneous Music Ensemble) and Roswell Rudd. Here is a portion of the Rudd interview. When it is published I will post further information. Roswell sent me a wonderful photo of the three trombonists so called, Snap (Whitehead), Crackle (Rutherford), and Pop (Rudd). If you are interested in seeing the complete interview, please email me in private. - Interview conducted April Fool's Day 1998 - DC: You've recorded with a lot of European guys too.RR: Yeah, I've been over there... and I have in the last couple of years. DC: You've done some things with Elton Dean recently.RR: Elton, yeah. Elton has a wonderful thing now - with the three trombones and sax, trumpet, cello, bass and drums. This thing that he has called Newsense. This could be... I mean... people should hear this. It is just unbelievable. And we haven't even scratched the potential of it yet. We did a recording in a concert hall in London, I guess it was the middle of November. He sent me a tape of this thing and I just can't believe it, I just can't believe how good it is. The stuff that we haven't begun to do that you can hear, you can just hear the potential. It doesn't fall short... it doesn't fall short of achieving the mark that it was meant to achieve with this record but I mean there's so much possibility in this thing. Elton has a vision here, that's been cooking for some time and I just hope that we can bring the forces together to realise some of the potential of this thing. It's like a dream band for me because I get to play with two of the greatest trombone players in the world as far as I'm concerned, Annie Whitehead and Paul Rutherford I could just stand and listen to them play all night. And all the other musicians are totally original. You know, what you get over in England is you get some very, very original, different people that sort of end up there. He's got nine of them there together. They all do what they do best, each one, and they fit together perfectly. It's just something that's out of a dream. So I hope that will happen. I hope there will be some more work with them in the future. It's a great, great project. DC: Is Elton playing the saxello? RR: He plays saxello and alto. DC: The saxello is a strange looking instrument.RR: The saxello is a... I think what it is, it's kind of what Roland Kirk devised only it was an earlier commercial version of the stritch. Yeah, Elton is the master of that.England seems to have very, very original thinkers, you know? They seem to be much less Americanised in England. Everywhere else that I go in Europe... it all seems more Americanised than England. You know... everyone is genuflecting to the great American jazz masters but not in England, man (laughs). These guy's genuflect to a spectre of their own devising, you know? I don't know... I love it. I look forward to getting back over there. [Thanks again, David, for another great interview ! - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Yvonne Hewins <yvonne@hewins.sonnet.co.uk> Subject: Mash(u) Tour Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 17:50:04 +0100 Hi Aymeric Mark asked me to write the diary for the last Mashu tour - so here is my contribution. Regards Yvonne. MASHU tour 8, 9 & 10th April 1998 - The Driver's perspective I usually spend my time running Sonnet Internet and showing support for Canterbury music by giving Musart free Web Access for the musicians. However, for the past three years I have taken a break so that I can drive Mashu on their annual tour of France and Belgium. The transition from Managing Director to Roadie is usually a welcome change and when Mark asked me to write the diary for the latest Mashu Tour, I was more than pleased to agree. Little did I suspect that the old Chinese curse, May you live in interesting times, was about to come true. So, this diary is about how Mashu became Mash and how disaster turned into triumph! 5 April 1998Shyamal came to London to rehearse and stayed with us at Musart. As always, when Mark and Shyamal get together, the place soon became full of music. 7 April 1998Sham and Mark are recording their duo album. I am finding it difficult to work. The music is awe-inspiring, I just want to sit and listen, but I must get the car ready and pack for tomorrow's trip. 8 April 1998Up early and off to Dover on the first leg of the journey to Brussels. We arrived at Travers Bar at about 6 p.m. and were given a warm welcome by Jules the owner.Hugh arrived sometime later with his daughter Rosa and partner Christine. Rosa, at two years old, is beautiful and speaks easily in both French and English. She is the centre of attention as daddy, Mark and Sham set-up for the performance.I was surprised when a journalist asked me to give an interview about Mark. It seems he wanted the wife's perspective!!Jules took us to a restaurant next to the club before the gig. We all forgot the time and the performance started a little late. The band went down well, as usual at this venue. 9 April 1998Hugh and Christine set off for Lille and Mark, Sham and I left in the Volvo soon after them. We had directions to Lille, but no one told us that Belgium uses a completely different word for Lille. I ended up driving in circles for hours and eventually we found ourselves in a tiny village where no one spoke French or English.By now we were hungry and still very lost. So we found a restaurant in the hopes that we could eat and get directions. Sham thought he had ordered beef, but he actually got Pork Kebabs. There was a hasty reshuffling of plates and food before we each had something we could eat.The Chef gave us directions and we were on the right road at last.We finally arrived at the Biplane in Lille at 6 p.m. anxious and tired but looking forward to the gig. At least 100 people were turned away last year when the band played at the promoter's previous venue. So we were sure of a good turnout.Hugh had been waiting since 3 p.m. and Christine had already set off for Calais with Rosa to return to England. As the sound check was in progress, Hugh said he was returning to England and would not be playing. He asked the promoter to drive him to the station and left there and then, without his amplifier etc. having arranged for the promoter to store them.Mark and Shyamal were stunned. Suddenly, with about an hour to go before the performance was due to start, Mashu had become Mash and they were not sure how the audience would react. I had no doubts that the gig would go well - after all I had heard them recording at Musart and knew the affect the music had on me.The gig started with Shyamal and Mark walking through the audience from the back of the club. Sham was playing didgeredoo (is that how you spell it?) and Mark, acoustic guitar. The audience was clapping enthusiastically and their enthusiasm didn't wane when Shyamal explained that Hugh had returned to England for personal reasons.The whole evening became like a party. The audience swung from silent concentration to eager participation and it was 1 a.m. before the two musicians could leave the stage. 10 April 1998Up at 5 a.m. to set off for Brittany. The promoter had agreed to put on the gig with just Sham and Mark. I was worried about travelling 500 miles on a Bank Holiday without Hugh to share the driving. Still, there was nothing for it but to leave plenty of time and just keep motoring until we arrived - rest would come later.May you live in interesting times. Well, our interesting times were still in progress. We took the wrong turn just before Paris and were destined to spend hours and hours and hours... in the longest traffic jam I have ever seen. There was talk of abandoning the journey and phoning the promoter - we just didn't think we would make it in time. But, we all agreed that to abandon the gig would be unprofessional. At least the fans that we knew would be there would know we had made an effort for them, even if we arrived too late to perform.When we finally cleared the jam, I put my foot down and we hurled towards Brittany at over 100 miles per hour (thank God for Volvo and the absence of policemen).We arrived at 'Café de la barre' at about 5 p.m. to a wonderful reception from Richard the proprietor and his family. We felt that we had known them for ages. The gig started at 9.30 p.m. The place was packed and the promoter was turning people away. How would Mash go down? These people had come expecting to see Mashu!We needn't have worried. The audience was even more enthralled than at the gig in Lille. They sat in hushed silence, sang along, whistled, clapped and shouted for more as the mood and tempo of the music developed and changed throughout the evening.The gig was still in full swing at 2 a.m. on the Saturday morning and two people from the audience came and asked me if they would miss anything if they "left now"! I was amazed, not just because they were asking permission to go, but also because they were the first two to leave.When Mark and Sham finally stopped playing at 2.30 a.m. they were surrounded by people wanting to know where they would be playing next and when they would be coming back.One couple asked me to introduce them to Mark. They said they had travelled 200 miles to see him play. Another said that he had been disappointed when he learned Hugh would not be playing, but had stayed and had had an experience that was 'terrific'.We finally sat down to eat at 3.30 a.m. and were in bed by 5 a.m. We were tired but happy - Mash had been born unexpectedly but had been a resounding success. 11 April 1998We slept until mid-day when Richard and his two sons came to take us on a tour of the stones at Carnac.We finally left for Paris and a welcome rest with Pip Pyle and Adiba at 3 p.m. Thank you everyone for a wonderful tour ! 12 April 1998Back to England from Paris - 6 hours door to door. Funny how the drive seemed so very short this time!! [Thanks a million, Yvonne, for this wonderful insight into life on the road with Mashu... or should I say Mash ! - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From : Aymeric Leroy <bigbang@alpes-net.fr> Subject : various Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 22:48:15 Hello WRers, Work is continuing on enhancing the CALYX site with new pages, reorganised sections and general reshaping. One of the sections I'm developing is an agenda of past tours by the major Canterbury bands. I welcome the help of any kind soul who would be willing to search for past tour dates in old magazines, etc. The only things I don't need are : Soft Machine concert dates from 1967-72; National Health dates from mid-1976 to late 1977; Caravan dates from 1968-71; all concert dates since 1996. On the new front, Mark Hewins tells me that the Brainville tour of next June is presently off due to Kramer's withdrawal. The remaining trio of Daevid Allen, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle, may do it as a trio though... Exciting ! Aymeric ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX - see URL below] GONG - FRENCH TOUR [Allen-Smyth-Malherbe-Sharpstrings-Howlett-Moerlen] May 6 - Alencon (France), La Luciole May 7 - Blois (France), Le Chato'Do May 9 - Perpignan (France), Le Mediator May 10 - Montpellier (France), Mimi La Sardine May 11 - Toulouse (France), Le Bikini May 12 - Bordeaux (France), Theatre Barbey May 14 - Paris (France), Le Bataclan May 15 - Rennes (France), Salle de la Cite CARAVAN - EUROPEAN DATES[Hastings-Sinclair-Richardson-Coughlan-Leverton-Boyle-Bentall]May 23 - Diss, Norfolk (England), Park Hotel [tel: 0137.985.4206] May 31 - Utrecht (Netherlands), Tivoli (tbc)Jul 19 - Burg Herzberg (Germany), festival appearance [headliner] DAEVID ALLEN - UK TOUR May 24 - Exeter, Cavern Jun 5 - Cheltenham, Axiom Centre KEVIN AYERS - CALIFORNIAN TOURMay 24 - San Francisco (CA), Great American Music Hall [tel: 415.885.0750]May 29 - Los Angeles (CA), The Gig [11637 W.Pico Bld] [tel: 310.444.9870] HERE & NOW May 25 - Leigh-On-Sea, Zero Six Club INVISIBLE OPERA COMPANY OF TIBET Jun 1 - Leigh-On-Sea, Zero Six Club PETER BLEGVAD TRIO [Peter Blegvad-John Greaves-Chris Cutler] Jun 05 - Kyoto (Japan), University Jun 06 - Kyoto (Japan), University Jun 07 - Kyoto (Japan), University Jun 12 - Tokyo (Japan), Star Pines Cafe Jun 13 - Tokyo (Japan), Star Pines Cafe Jun 14 - Tokyo (Japan), Star Pines Cafe Jun 15 - Tokyo (Japan), Star Pines Cafe PIERRE BENSUSAN/DIDIER MALHERBE DUO - UK TOUR May 20 - Brighton, The Concorde May 21 - Ashburton, The Lanterns May 22 - Southampton, The Gantry May 23 - Bury, The Met May 24 - Sheffield, The Board Walk May 26 - Chester, Tellford House May 28 - South Shields, The Cellar Club May 29 - London, The Weavers May 30 - Basingstoke, Fairfields Arts Centre Also :May 16 - Coutances (France), Jazz Sous les Pommiers (Festival) FORGAS BAND PHENOMENA May 19 - Paris (France), Le Cavern Jun 15 - Paris (France), Peniche 'La Balle Au Bond' Jun 29 - Paris (France), Duc des Lombards Sep 3 - Paris (France), Petit Journal Montparnasse Sep 11 - Paris (France), Le Glaz' Art Sep 18 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes Sep 19 - Paris (France), Studio des Islettes FRED FRITH - SOLO/DUO GIGSMay 18 - St. Etienne (France) (with Louis Sclavis/J-P Drouet) May 29 - Tullins (France), MJC (with Noél Akchoté) May 30 - Figeac (France) (with Louis Sclavis) JAZZ RUMOURS All Sunday nights at The Vortex [139 Stoke Newington Church St, London N16] feat. various combinations of the following musicians :Elton Dean, Jim Dvorak, Paul Dunmall, Simon Picard, George Haslam, Marcio Mattos, Alex Maguire, Liam Genockey... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * END OF ISSUE 92 _________________________________________________________________________WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?_________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/calyx.html THE ULTIMATE ONLINE CANTERBURY DISCOGRAPHY http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/cantdisco.html WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? 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