Fizzles (album)

Last updated
Fizzles
Barry Guy Fizzles.jpg
Live album by
Released1993
RecordedSeptember 1991
StudioKirche Blumenstein, Switzerland
Genre Free jazz
Length1:09:40
Label Maya Recordings
MCD9301
Producer Barry Guy, Maya Homburger

Fizzles is a live solo bass album by Barry Guy. It was recorded in September 1991 at Kirche Blumenstein in Switzerland, and was released in 1993 by Maya Recordings. [1]

Contents

In an interview, Guy explained that the track titled "Five Fizzles (For S.B.)" was inspired by eight short texts, also titled Fizzles , written by Samuel Beckett during the 1960s and 70s:

Each 'Fizzle' is a short compressed outburst—literary chamber music of great power and beauty. It occurred to me that these 'outbursts' could form the basis for little improvisations, each dedicated to particular bass colours and articulations... I find them to be a motivator for precise thinking and musical rhetoric. [2]

The piece became a staple in Guy's solo concerts, [3] and he recorded it again for the 2014 album Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett . [4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]

In a review for AllMusic, Brian Olewnick praised Guy's "sheer jaw-dropping dexterity" and "pure touch," and wrote: "Fizzles is an often pyrotechnic, sometimes quite moving solo bass performance... As in his orchestral writing, Guy leavens the abstraction with occasional doses of traditional playing... often, Guy is subjecting his instrument to all manner of unspeakable torment, gratingly whipsawing his bow or plucking strings with a ferocity that leaves the listener worried about the capacity of his finger and wrist muscles... After the final, almost ridiculously explosive track, the exhausted listener can only nod his thanks." [5]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, and stated: "Fizzles... has a quiet charm that reveals itself over repeated listenings... Guy concentrates on the tiniest details with an almost hallucinatory intensity... 'She Took the Sacred Rattle and Used It' is one of Guy's finest moments as an instrumentalist." [6]

Track listing

All compositions by Barry Guy.

  1. "Free Fall" – 6:32
  2. "Fil Rouge" – 2:33
  3. "Hilibili Meets... the Brush" – 10:45
  4. "Five Fizzles (For S.B.)" – 10:40
  5. "Invention/The Bird of Infinity" – 8:18
  6. "Afar" – 2:50
  7. "...But the Clouds..." – 5:54
  8. "Tout Rouge" – 2:59
  9. "Still" – 8:09
  10. "Toujours Rouge" – 1:46
  11. "She Took the Sacred Rattle and Used It (To Ray A. Young Bear)" – 9:14

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<i>Saxophone Solos</i> 1976 live album by Evan Parker

Saxophone Solos is a solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. Three of the tracks were recorded live on June 17, 1975, at the Unity Theatre in London, and the remaining music was recorded on September 9, 1975 at the FMP Studio in Berlin. The album was initially released on LP in 1976 by Incus Records, and was reissued on CD in 1995 by Chronoscope records with nine additional tracks bearing subtitles from Samuel Beckett, again on CD in 2009 by Psi Records, and again on LP in 2021 by Otoroku Records. The contents of the album, plus a previously-missing track from the studio session, were also included in a 1989 limited-edition box set compilation titled Collected Solos, issued by Cadillac Distribution.

<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.

<i>Fizzles</i> Short prose pieces by Samuel Beckett

The Fizzles are eight short prose pieces written by Samuel Beckett:

<i>The Jazz Composers Orchestra</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Jazz Composers Orchestra

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is a 1968 album by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra recorded over a period of six months with Michael Mantler as composer, leader and producer. Many of the key figures in avant-garde jazz from the time contributed on the album including Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd, and Carla Bley. The album's finale features a two-part concerto for Cecil Taylor and orchestra.

<i>Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio</i> 1990 live album by Cecil Taylor

Looking The Feel Trio is a live album featuring performances by Cecil Taylor with William Parker and Tony Oxley recorded in Berlin on November 2, 1989, and released on the FMP label.

<i>Vade Mecum</i> 1994 studio album by Bill Dixon

Vade Mecum is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Dixon recorded in 1993 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.

<i>Vade Mecum II</i> 1996 studio album by Bill Dixon

Vade Mecum II is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Dixon recorded in 1993 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.

<i>Composition No. 96</i> 1989 studio album by Anthony Braxton

Composition No. 96 is an album by composer Anthony Braxton featuring his title piece, dedicated to Karlheinz Stockhausen, performed by a 37-piece orchestra and recorded in 1981 and originally released on the Leo label in 1989.

<i>Root Assumptions</i> 1982 studio album by Jerome Cooper

Root Assumptions is a solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in April 1978 in New York City, and was released by Anima Productions in 1982. On the album, Cooper performs on a variety of percussion instruments, including African balaphone, bass drum, and sock cymbal.

<i>Odyssey</i> (Barry Guy, Marilyn Crispell, and Paul Lytton album) 2001 studio album by Barry Guy, Marilyn Crispell, and Paul Lytton

Odyssey is an album by bassist Barry Guy, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and drummer Paul Lytton. It was recorded on August 24 and 25, 1999, at Rote Fabrik in Zurich, Switzerland, and was released in 2001 by Intakt Records.

<i>Symmetries</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Barry Guy

Symmetries is a solo double bass album by Barry Guy. It was recorded in July 2001 in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and was released in 2002 by Maya Recordings.

<i>The Unpredictability of Predictability</i> 1979 live album by Jerome Cooper

The Unpredictability of Predictability is a live solo percussion album by Jerome Cooper. It was recorded in July 1979 at Soundscape in New York City, and was released on LP by About Time Records later that year.

<i>You Forget to Answer</i> 1996 live album by Barry Guy, Mats Gustafsson, and Raymond Strid

You Forget to Answer is a live album by bassist Barry Guy, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and percussionist Raymond Strid. Five of the album's tracks were recorded on November 16, 1994, at BBC London, while the remaining tracks were recorded on July 24, 1995, at Jazz Gallery Nickelsdorf, Austria. The album was released in 1996 by Maya Recordings. In addition to appearing on soprano, tenor, and baritone saxophones, Gustafsson is also heard on fluteophone, a flute with a saxophone mouthpiece attached to one end, and a clarinet stand stuck into the other.

<i>Sideshow</i> (album) 1992 studio album by 8 Bold Souls

Sideshow is the second album by the jazz group 8 Bold Souls. It was recorded in November 1991 in Chicago, and was released in 1992 by Arabesque Records. The album features performances by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Edward Wilkerson, saxophonist Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Robert Griffin, Jr., trombonist Isaiah Jackson, tubist Aaron Dodd, cellist Naomi Millender, bassist Harrison Bankhead, and drummer Dushun Mosley.

<i>Actions</i> (album) 1971 live album by Krzysztof Penderecki and Don Cherry

Actions is a live album featuring debut performances of works by composer Krzysztof Penderecki and trumpeter and composer Don Cherry. It was recorded on October 17, 1971, at the Donaueschingen Festival in Donaueschingen, Germany, and was released on LP later that year by Philips. The music was performed by an ensemble called The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, composed of top European improvisors. In 1998, the album was reissued on CD by Transparency Records. It was remastered and reissued again in 2001 by Intuition Records.

<i>Harmos</i> 1989 studio album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra

Harmos is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released later that year by Intakt Records. Guy interpreted the Greek title in its original meaning of "coming together," and the work attempts to find solutions to the challenges surrounding the coexistence of improvisation and composition.

<i>Double Trouble</i> (Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra album) 1990 studio album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers Orchestra

Double Trouble is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra. Documenting a large-scale, 46-minute composition by Guy, it was recorded in April 1989 in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released in 1990 by Intakt 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>Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett</i> 2014 EP by Barry Guy

Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett is a live solo double bass EP by Barry Guy. It was recorded on January 11, 2009, at St. Catherine's Church in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was released in 2014 in limited quantities by NoBusiness Records.

<i>Good News from Africa</i> 1974 studio album by Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) and Johnny Dyani

Good News from Africa is an album of duets by pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand, and double bassist Johnny Dyani. It was recorded on December 10, 1973, at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and was released in 1974 by the Swiss Cameo label and the German Enja label. The album features a blend of traditional African pieces and originals by Ibrahim.

References

  1. "Barry Guy: Fizzles". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  2. O'Driscoll, Declan (June 24, 2014). "An Interview with Barry Guy". Music and Literature. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  3. Hareuveni, Eyal (February 2, 2015). "The Masters of the Double Bass". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  4. "Barry Guy: Five Fizzles for Samuel Beckett". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Olewnick, Brian. "Barry Guy: Fizzles". AllMusic. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1998). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Penguin Books. p. 647.
  7. Larkin, Colin (2004). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz. Virgin. p. 366.