Floating Phantoms | ||||
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Live album by Tony Oxley / The B.I.M.P. Quartet | ||||
Released | 2002 | |||
Recorded | November 5, 1999 | |||
Venue | "Total Music Meeting," Berlin | |||
Genre | Free improvisation | |||
Length | 1:04:10 | |||
Label | a/l/l 001 | |||
Producer | Tony Oxley | |||
Tony Oxley chronology | ||||
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Floating Phantoms is a live album by the B.I.M.P. Quartet, led by percussionist Tony Oxley, and featuring violinist Phil Wachsmann, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. It was recorded on November 5, 1999, at the "Total Music Meeting" in Berlin, and was issued in 2002 by the German label a/l/l, an imprint of FMP, as their inaugural release. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
JazzWord's Ken Waxman called the album "A first-rate example of a new strain of contemporary BritImprov," and wrote: "the four represent two generations of British improvisers who wholeheartedly embrace the different textures available from arching kilowatts, and have long been bending machines to do their bidding," with the music appearing to document "what would have happened if Sun Ra, synth and electric piano in either hand, had climbed into Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine." [6]
In a review for AllMusic, François Couture stated: "in general the group displays enough synergy and textural interplay to make Floating Phantoms a worthy record, but it fails to establish Wand as a strong improviser. Still recommended, if only for the crystal-clear recording of the percussionist's every bang and clang." [1]
Declan O'Driscoll of The Journal of Music commented: "Samples rush by like subliminal messages or urgent signals from a distressed witness. Thankfully they lack recognisable sources (no po-mo cleverness). They are used because they help to make fascinating music, the endless curiosity of uncertainty. They make music with positive momentum, a glorious din and... occasional silence." [7]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings described the album as "something of a disappointment" and "remarkably callow" given "how comfortably Wachsmann has absorbed electronic processing into his work and how long Oxley has used electronics with his drum kit." [5]
All music composed by Matt Wand, Pat Thomas, Philipp Wachsmann, and Tony Oxley.
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Tony Oxley was an English free improvising drummer and electronic musician.
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.
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann is an African avant-garde jazz/jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz idiom, including Tony Oxley, Fred van Hove, Barry Guy, Derek Bailey and Paul Rutherford, among many others. Wachsmann is especially known for playing within the electronica idiom.
Looking Corona is a live album featuring performances by Cecil Taylor with Harald Kimmig, Muneer Abdul Fataah, William Parker and Tony Oxley recorded in Berlin on November 3 & 4, 1989 and released on the FMP label.
Berlin Abbozzi is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Dixon recorded at the "Podewil", the headquarters of the Kulturprojekte Berlin non-profit organisation, in 1999 and released in 2000 on the FMP label. The album features a two-part hour-long Dixon composition followed by a free improvisation. Dixon is heard on trumpet and flugelhorn, and is accompanied by Matthias Bauer and Klaus Koch on bass, and Tony Oxley on drums. This instrumental combination previously appeared on the Dixon albums November 1981, Vade Mecum, and Vade Mecum II.
The Enchanted Messenger is a live album by a fifteen-piece ensemble called the Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, led by English percussionist Tony Oxley, and with trumpeter Bill Dixon appearing as a featured artist. It was recorded in November 1994 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt on the last day of the Berlin Jazz Festival, and was released in 1995 by Soul Note. The album documents a realization of a 19-part graphic score by Oxley. The performance, which was preceded by two days of rehearsal, was also broadcast on Berlin radio and television.
Bib is a live album by drummer Günter Sommer, saxophonist Sylvain Kassap, and bassist Didier Levallet. It was recorded on July 9 and 11, 1992, at the Workshop Freie Musik held at the Akademie Der Künste in Berlin, and was released in 2002 by FMP.
The Tony Oxley Quartet is an album by the group of the same name, led by percussionist Tony Oxley, and featuring guitarist Derek Bailey, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. It was recorded on April 8, 1992, at WDR, Cologne, and was released in 1993 by Incus Records.
February Papers is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley. It was recorded during February 1977 at Hampden Gurney Studios in London, and was released on LP later that year by Incus Records. On the album, Oxley is joined by guitarist Ian Brighton, violinists David Bourne and Philipp Wachsmann, and bassist Barry Guy. In 2020, the album was reissued on CD by Discus Music.
The Advocate is an album by percussionist and electronic musician Tony Oxley on which he is joined by guitarist Derek Bailey. Three of the album's four tracks were recorded by Oxley and Bailey during 1975 in a London studio, while the remaining track, a tribute to Bailey, was recorded live by Oxley at a concert held at the Barbican Centre in London in 2006, shortly after the guitarist's death. The album was released in 2007 by Tzadik Records as part of their Key Series.
Berlin Djungle is a live album by the Brötzmann Clarinet Project, led by Peter Brötzmann, and featuring an eleven-piece band that was assembled for a concert at JazzFest Berlin. Documenting a performance of a single 47-minute work, it was recorded on November 4, 1984, at the Delphi Theater in Berlin, and was released on vinyl in 1987 by FMP/Free Music Production. In 2004, it was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by clarinetists Tony Coe, J.D. Parran, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Louis Sclavis, and John Zorn, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, trombonists Alan Tomlinson and Johannes Bauer, double bassist William Parker, and drummer Tony Oxley.
Digger's Harvest is a live album by pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Tony Oxley. It was recorded on November 5 and 7, 1998, at the Podewil in Berlin, and was released in 1999 by FMP/Free Music Production.
The Tony Oxley/Alan Davie Duo is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley and multi-instrumentalist Alan Davie. It was recorded during 1974 and 1975 at various live and studio locations, and was initially released on vinyl on Davie's ADMW label. In 2003, it was reissued on CD in remastered form with two bonus tracks by the German label a/l/l, an imprint of FMP.
GratHovOx is a live album by clarinetist and saxophonist Frank Gratkowski, pianist Fred Van Hove, and percussionist Tony Oxley. It was recorded on November 14, 2000, at Erholunghaus Bayer in Leverkusen, Germany, and was released in 2002 by Nuscope Recordings.
Triangular Screen is a live album by Tony Oxley Project 1, led by percussionist Oxley, and featuring guitarist Ivar Grydeland and double bassist Tonny Kluften. One track was recorded during March 2000 at the Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Kongsberg, Norway, and the remaining tracks were recorded during May 2000 at Blå in Oslo, Norway. The album was released later that year by the Norwegian Sofa label.
A Birthday Tribute: 75 years is a live album by percussionist Tony Oxley released in celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday. The album begins with two quartet tracks recorded during 1993, on which Oxley is joined by guitarist Derek Bailey, keyboardist Pat Thomas, and electronic musician Matt Wand. The remaining three tracks were recorded during 1977, and feature Oxley in a duo with trombonist Paul Rutherford, a trio with violinist Philipp Wachsmann and guitarist Ian Brighton, and a solo percussion work with electronics. The album was released in 2013 by Incus Records.
Elaboration of Particulars is an album by percussionist Tony Oxley and multi-instrumentalist Alan Davie. It was recorded during 1977 and 1978 at Gamels Studio in Rush Green, Hertford, United Kingdom, and was released by Confront Recordings in 2021.
Unreleased 1974–2016 is an album by drummer and electronic musician Tony Oxley. The first three tracks were recorded in 1974, and feature Oxley with trumpeter Dave Holdsworth, trombonist Paul Rutherford, pianist Howard Riley, and bassist Barry Guy. These tracks were remastered and edited into their final form in 2005, 2019, and 2020. Track four, recorded in 1981, is performed by Oxley, saxophonist Larry Stabbins, violinist Phil Wachsmann, pianist Howard Riley, and guitarist Hugh Metcalfe, while the fifth and final track, recorded in 2016, pairs Oxley with percussionist Stefan Hölker. Drawn from Oxley's personal archive of recordings, the album was released in 2022 by Discus Music.