English Suites (album)

Last updated
English Suites
Lytton Vandermark English Suites.jpg
Studio album by
Paul Lytton and Ken Vandermark
Released2000
RecordedJanuary 11, 1999; November 20, 1999
StudioChicago, United States; Hasselt, Belgium
Genre Free improvisation
Label Wobbly Rail
WOB009

English Suites is a double album by percussionist and electronic musician Paul Lytton and reed player Ken Vandermark. Disc 1 was recorded on January 11, 1999, in a Chicago studio, while disc 2 was recorded on November 20, 1999, at a concert in Hasselt, Belgium. The album was released on CD in 2000 by Wobbly Rail, an imprint of Merge Records. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Tom Hull – on the Web B+ [6]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

In a review for All About Jazz , Micah Holmquist wrote: "The two pair up... with fine results... English Suites would serve as a good introduction to Lytton's work and any fan of either Vandermark or Lytton will want to pick it up." [5]

Ken Waxman of JazzWord called the album "a good, but not great session that will probably be appreciated by many improv followers," and stated that the track titled "Stage 3" sounds "as if the percussionist was slowly working his way through a junk pile as Vandermark outputs consistent saxophone blats sounding just this side of Big Jay McNeely." [8]

Writing for AllMusic, Scott Yanow described the music as "pretty unlistenable," "abrasive," and "jarring." He commented: "Some of the music is comprised of very intense sound explorations while at other times the sparse setting leads to some introspection, space, and long tones. The problem is that very little development takes place and none of the individual pieces... stick in one's mind." [1]

Track listing

Composed by Paul Lytton and Ken Vandermark.

CD 1
  1. "Radio 1" – 10:04
  2. "Radio 2" – 13:17
  3. "Radio 3" – 6:04
  4. "Radio 4" – 3:40
  5. "Radio 5" – 11:56
  6. "Radio 6" – 5:55
  7. "Radio 7" – 8:16
CD 2
  1. "Set One: Film 1" – 4:58
  2. "Set One: Film 2" – 9:17
  3. "Set One: Film 3" – 6:39
  4. "Set One: Film 4" – 5:22
  5. "Set One: Film 5" – 4:54
  6. "Set One: Film 6" – 8:26
  7. "Set One: Film 7" – 9:39
  9. "Set Two: Stage 1" – 5:36
  10. "Set Two: Stage 2" – 7:23
  11. "Set Two: Stage 3" – 4:38
  12. "Set Two: Stage 4" – 4:00
  13. "Set Two: Stage 5" – 2:45

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Vandermark</span> American composer and musician

Ken Vandermark is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Guy</span> British composer and double bass player (born 1947)

Barry John Guy is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Hyman</span> American jazz pianist and composer

Richard Hyman is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeb Bishop</span> American jazz musician

Jeb Bishop is an American jazz trombone player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Lytton</span> British musician

Paul Lytton is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okka Disk</span>

Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.

<i>Deep Telling</i> 1999 studio album by Joe Morris DKV Trio

Deep Telling is an album by American jazz guitarist Joe Morris with the DKV Trio recorded in 1998 and released on Okka Disk. The DKV Trio is a band composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler, and saxophonist Ken Vandermark. The whole quartet plays together only on three collective improvisations, on the other five tracks the musicians split off into a variety of duo and trio lineups.

<i>Standards</i> (Ken Vandermark album) 1995 studio album by Ken Vandermark

Standards is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1994 and released on the Quinnah label.

<i>A Meeting in Chicago</i> 1997 studio album by Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Kent Kessler

A Meeting in Chicago is an album by trumpeter/saxophonist Joe McPhee, reedist Ken Vandermark and bassist Kent Kessler, which was released in 1997 on Eighth Day Music and reissued the following year with new artwork by Okka Disk. The album documents trio, duo and solo improvisations recorded all in a single take with no rehearsal, before playing their first concert later that night at The Empty Bottle. Vandermark cites McPhee’s solo recording Tenor as a major influence.

Discography for jazz reedist Ken Vandermark. The year indicates when the album was first released.

<i>Stumble</i> (album) 1998 live album by AALY Trio Ken Vandermark

Stumble is the second album by the AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark, which was recorded live at Chicago's Unity Temple in 1998 and released on Wobbly Rail, a short-lived imprint started by Merge Records/Superchunk principal Mac McCaughan. AALY Trio is a Swedish free jazz band led by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Originally just a guest, Vandermark became a full member of the group.

<i>Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998</i> 1999 live album by DKV Trio

Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998 is a double album by the DKV Trio, composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and reedist Ken Vandermark. The first CD was recorded live at the "Music Unlimited 98" Festival in Wels, while the second was recorded a few days later at the Velvet Lounge, the Chicago club owned by saxophonist Fred Anderson. The album was released on Okka Disk. All the music is improvised but the first disc is a six pieces suite based on Don Cherry's "Complete Communion'".

<i>Live at the Glenn Miller Café</i> 1999 live album by AALY Trio Ken Vandermark

Live at the Glenn Miller Café is the third album by the AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in Stockholm in 1999 and released on Wobbly Rail, a short-lived imprint started by Merge Records/Superchunk principal Mac McCaughan. AALY Trio is a Swedish free jazz band led by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Originally just a guest, Vandermark became a full member of the group.

<i>Design in Time</i> 1999 studio album by Ken Vandermark

Design in Time is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1999 and released on Delmark. It was the debut recording by the Sound in Action Trio, which features two drummers: former Sun Ra percussionist Robert Barry and frequent Vandermark collaborator Tim Mulvenna. Most of the tunes are classics written by Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Don Cherry and Albert Ayler.

<i>Expansion Slang</i> 2000 studio album by Ken Vandermark

Expansion Slang is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1998 and released on Boxholder. It was the debut recording by Tripleplay, which features bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton, one of the rhythm sections in Utility Hitter by the Barrage Double Trio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Waldrop</span> American musician

Michael Waldrop is an American drummer, percussionist, composer and music educator. He is notable as a virtuoso percussionist in both jazz and classical idioms; with equal focus on drumset and keyboard percussion (marimba/vibraphone). Since 2014 he has been a recording artist for Origin Records.

<i>Hoxha</i> (album) 2005 live album by Paul Rutherford, Ken Vandermark, Torsten Müller, and Dylan van der Schyff

Hoxha is a live album by the free improvisation group of the same name, featuring trombonist Paul Rutherford, saxophonist Ken Vandermark, bassist Torsten Müller, and drummer Dylan van der Schyff. It was recorded on December 12, 2004, in Portland, Oregon, and was released in 2005 by the Spool label as part of their Line series.

<i>Live at Maya Recordings Festival</i> 2013 live album by Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Paul Lytton

Live at Maya Recordings Festival is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, double bassist Barry Guy, and drummer Paul Lytton. It was recorded during September 23–25, 2011, at the Theater am Gleis in Winterthur, Switzerland, and was released on both vinyl and CD in 2013 by NoBusiness Records.

<i>Stone/Water</i> 2000 live album by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet

Stone/Water is a live album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an ten-piece ensemble. Documenting a performance of a single 39-minute work, it was recorded on May 23, 1999, at the Festival de Musique de Actuelle Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, and was released on CD in 2000 by Okka Disk. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and electronic musician Toshinori Kondo, trombonist Jeb Bishop, violinist and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassists Kent Kessler and William Parker, and percussionists Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.

<i>3 Nights in Oslo</i> 2010 live album by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet 1

3 Nights in Oslo is a five-disc live box set album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 1, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an eleven-piece ensemble. It was recorded during February 19–21, 2009, at Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo, Norway, and was released on CD in 2010 by the Norwegian Smalltown Superjazzz label. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and saxophonist Joe McPhee, trombonists Jeb Bishop and Johannes Bauer, tubist Per Åke Holmlander, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassist Kent Kessler, and drummers Paal Nilssen-Love and Michael Zerang. The entire ensemble is heard on discs 1 and 5, while the remaining discs feature duo, trio, and quartet combinations.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Yanow, Scott. "Ken Vandermark: English Suites". AllMusic. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Paul Lytton - English Suites". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Wobbly Rail discography". JazzLists. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  4. ↑ "English Suites by Paul Lytton & Ken Vandermark". Catalytic Sound / Bandcamp. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Holmquist, Micah (November 1, 2000). "Paul Lytton And Ken Vandermark: English Suites". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  6. ↑ Hull, Tom. "Jazz Consumer Guide (20): Surplus". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  7. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2004). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz. Virgin Books. p. 886.
  8. ↑ Waxman, Ken (June 2, 2000). "Ken Vandermark/Paul Lytton". JazzWord. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.