I thought this should probably go here, rather than the Experimental, Jazz-Rock etc thread, as this is almost as sure as sure can be the last recording of Barbara Thompson featuring herself with her own band of 40 years' existence, Paraphernalia, and it's just out now. The title is the one I've used to head this thread:
Having given it one listen I would say that is probably as "arranged" as anything Barbara has done, with quite a bit of post-production.
Jon Hiseman ("Mr Barbara Thompson") informs me that he intends re-recording the pioneering 1966 album he recorded alongside pianist and leader Peter Lemer for Stollman's ESP label in NY, just prior to Lemer's visit there at Paul Bley's invitation, where he got to jam with some local musicians in one of the downtown clubs. Bley's conceptual influence was already strong, and the wild spirit bursting forth from the performance, with a very young John Surman alongside Nisar Ahmed ("George") Khan in the front line, and Hiseman's teenage years-associated Tony Reeves (later to join Colosseum) on bass, is strongly conveyed, notwithstanding the piss-poor recording quality of the original. Jon has long wanted to re-do the session, and intends getting the original line-up together to do it - which would be an achievement in itself!
Barbara is insistent that while the progress of the Parkinson's with which she was diagnosed back in 1997 has led to the situation of her having had to retire from playing, this is by no means the end of her story, since the successive rounds of innovative treatment, many of them only just out of the lab, that have held back the condition's progress, together with the love and support of friends and creative associates, especially from Jon, have allowed her to carry on with teaching and diversifying into the other genres that have kept her busy with score paper, showing a grasp of many of the essentials of modern composition in the concert music field, in which she has collaborated with a growing number of leading lights, including the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, percussionist Evelyn Glenny, and the Medici String Quartet. There's a concerto for orchestra in the pipeline - or rather Barbara's computer; it only had two bars left to be completed a fortnight ago, and even in mock-up it sounded amazing!
Having given it one listen I would say that is probably as "arranged" as anything Barbara has done, with quite a bit of post-production.
Jon Hiseman ("Mr Barbara Thompson") informs me that he intends re-recording the pioneering 1966 album he recorded alongside pianist and leader Peter Lemer for Stollman's ESP label in NY, just prior to Lemer's visit there at Paul Bley's invitation, where he got to jam with some local musicians in one of the downtown clubs. Bley's conceptual influence was already strong, and the wild spirit bursting forth from the performance, with a very young John Surman alongside Nisar Ahmed ("George") Khan in the front line, and Hiseman's teenage years-associated Tony Reeves (later to join Colosseum) on bass, is strongly conveyed, notwithstanding the piss-poor recording quality of the original. Jon has long wanted to re-do the session, and intends getting the original line-up together to do it - which would be an achievement in itself!
Barbara is insistent that while the progress of the Parkinson's with which she was diagnosed back in 1997 has led to the situation of her having had to retire from playing, this is by no means the end of her story, since the successive rounds of innovative treatment, many of them only just out of the lab, that have held back the condition's progress, together with the love and support of friends and creative associates, especially from Jon, have allowed her to carry on with teaching and diversifying into the other genres that have kept her busy with score paper, showing a grasp of many of the essentials of modern composition in the concert music field, in which she has collaborated with a growing number of leading lights, including the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, percussionist Evelyn Glenny, and the Medici String Quartet. There's a concerto for orchestra in the pipeline - or rather Barbara's computer; it only had two bars left to be completed a fortnight ago, and even in mock-up it sounded amazing!
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