Manafonistas

Damals gab’s noch Wendepunkte, wo merkbar Neues geschah.
 
 
 

 
 
 
Es klang richtig rubbelig wie HIER, 1964, vor fünfzig Jahren
 
Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, John Gilmore, Paul Motian
Calls (Carla Bley), Turning (Paul Bley), King Korn (Carla Bley)

Bei Andy Emler ist immer Blau im Spiel, bei Maria Faust Rötliches. Visuell.
 
 
 

 
 
 
Und K l a n g ? Hören hilft hier weiter, ein Klick!
 
RADIO ON DEMAND – Andy Emler MegaOctet u. Maria Faust Jazzkatastrophe
 
Eins von den besten Albumcovers des vorigen Jahres!
 
 
 

 
 
 
Und das Neueste, SACRUM FACERE, wieder rötlich …
 
 
 

 

This is the third branch of what was formerly known as Tapped & Packed (the other two are on Rathbone Place and Tottenham Court Road), and don’t be surprised if it’s not the last. The formula is simple and very effective. Buy good beans and treat them with respect. Create a space that’s unintimidating and relaxing – a very long space in this case, with skylights running almost its full length. Employ waiting staff who know that a smile and a friendly word are just as important as efficiency. It pays off. Even though this branch is the largest of the three, it wasn’t easy to bag a table at 2.30pm on a weekday. There were a couple of informal office meetings taking place, but also a lot of people sitting on their own. Average age: low 30s. Food: majoring on sandwiches and salad of reasonable prices (by Soho standards), plus the usual baked goods. A completely satisfying experience. Leaving was a wrench.

Notes took the major step of doing its own roasting in King’s Cross. The result, as judged by a single-farm Yirgacheffe brewed using the slow-drip V60 pour-over filter, is a major success. The room is singularly attractive, big and light with well-spaced seating at both small and refectory-type tables. It was very busy in mid-afternoon on a weekday, with a clientele ranging from suits in meetings to friends hanging out. Food is simple but takes pride in buying the best raw materials, such as charcuterie from the Ham and Cheese Company in Bermondsey. With Trafalgar Square just minutes away and the Coliseum even closer, Notes is an extremely useful place to take note of.

Mitte der 1970er Jahre gehoerte die Zeit vor dem „Internationalen Fruehschoppen“ in der ARD der Jugend. Ich erinnere mich gerne an die Serie „Goldener Sonntag“: vom Suedwestfunk produziert, bildete diese achtzehnteilige Serie in Echtzeit den Sonntagmorgen einer deutschen Familie ab. Hanns Dieter Huesch spielte den Vater; seine Kleinkunst und Poetik lernte ich so kennen und schaetzen.

Zwischen den einzelnen Spielszenen wurde zur Ueberbrueckung immer auf den eingeschalteten Fernseher im Wohnzimmer gezoomt; das (fiktive) Magazin „Sonntagswecker“ mit Albrecht Metzger als Moderator lief dort; vorproduzierte Musik mit dem „United Rock & Jazzensemble“ war zu sehen und zu hoeren.

Eine solche realistische Darstellung von Alltag und dazu diese Musik, die sich wohltuend von der allgegenwaertig vorherrschenden Schlagermusik abhob und meilenweit von den in den 1980iger populaer werdenden Zuckerguss-Familienserien wie „Die Wicherts von nebenan“ entfernt war – das war schon etwas !

Andy Sheppard / Michel Benita / Sebastian Rochford – Trio Libero [2012]

At the time, that was the most spacious I’d ever played, it was so different from anything I’d done previously. The whole album was done in six hours. It just flowed, with no headphones and no bass amp in the room, so it was the quietest I’d ever played. In that way I feel it’s quite a pure album.

There was one tune that we’d played loads of times, for about two years, so we knew it really well. Then, when we recorded it, Andy suddenly played it without any tempo, without us discussing it. There was no question, we just followed it, because we had that kind of freedom as a band.

Then meeting [ECM records producer] Manfred Eicher was very inspiring. I like the way he always explains things in visual terms. For the first time, it felt OK to not have to play all the time. I could play as little as I wanted to. That’s what I was thinking about on that album; ‚How little can I play and still affect the movement of the music?‘ Because sometimes as a drummer, if you stop playing everyone else thinks something’s wrong! In that band it felt okay, and that’s part of the new Polar Bear stuff as well. I’ve said, ‚If I’m not playing, don’t think it’s because I want the music to stop, it’s just what I feel like doing.‘

(Sebastian Rochford, source: TheQuietus)

David Byrne and Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today [2008]
 
To be honest, when I did it I didn’t really know much about Brian Eno. I’m glad I didn’t, because afterwards I realised the size of his influence. It’s incredible what he’s done. I knew who he was, obviously. I knew he’d produced U2 and that he was in Roxy Music. So working with him got me into Roxy Music. Those early albums are amazing. I never realized they did stuff like that. Even now, though, I know more about his music than his philosophy, his ideologies.

It was amazing to get Brian’s perspective on the music. There’s one track where he asked me to play this pattern where the drums were always just before the beat. Everything else was on the beat and it felt really weird. But then you just trust him and listening back, you think, ‚Wow, that’s really incredible. I’d never have thought of that in a million years.‘

He also got me to play on the wrong side of the snare drum, which I’d never done before, and a lot of electronic drums. Then he got me to play a really sparse bass drum pattern, which at the time felt excruciating, but I learned a lot from doing that. I think I used to be a lot busier on the bass drum, and it’s easy to forget the role of the bass drum, which can be melodic.

I generally think of drums as a tonal instrument, and if my drums are in tune it really helps me play. Even cymbals. If a cymbal is in pitch, it helps. I remember when I was younger, I went with my parents to India and they just left me in this village with a tabla player. Looking back on it, I wonder whether my drumming has been influenced by that experience, even though I only had a few tabla lessons. They’re tuned instruments, so very melodic. I’ve been listening to that music ever since.

(Sebastian Rochford, source: TheQuietus)
 
P.S.: wer das Original liest, findet auch Lesenswertes über Sebs Zusammenarbeit mit Leafcutter John (eine Liebkingsplatte von mir!) und Rokia Traore (Beautiful Africa) – m.e.

 

 
 
 
R A D I O ____ ON DEMAND – CLAUDE TCHAMITCHIAN
 

Radioprogramm mit Musik des Bassisten Claude Tchamitchian (aus Marseille) in verschiedenen Konstellationen
 
 
 

 
 
 
ON DEMAND, geht sofort los (und gesprochener Text minimal), reinhören und …

Es gäbe einiges zu Tchamitchian, zu seiner Person und seiner Musik zu sagen, aber hier erstmal die Musik. Worte, Text später …
 
 
 

 
 

all photos © FoBo – Henning Bolte