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At first glance, Derek Bailey possesses almost none of the qualities one expects from a jazz musician -- his music does not swing in any appreciable way, it lacks a discernible sense of blues feeling -- yet there's a strong connection between his amelodic, arhythmic, atonal, uncategorizable free-improvisatory style, and much free jazz of the post-Coltrane era. His music draws upon a vast array of resources, including indeterminacy, rock & roll, and various world musics. Indeed, this catholic acceptance of any and all musical influences is arguably what sets Bailey's art outside the strict bounds of "jazz." The essential element of his work, however, is the type of spontaneous musical interrelation that evolved from the '60s jazz avant-garde. Sound, not ideology, is Bailey's medium. He differs in approach to almost any other guitarist who preceded him. Bailey uses the guitar as a sound-making, rather than a "music"-making, device. Meaning, he rarely plays melodies or harmonies in a conventional sense, but instead pulls out of his instrument every conceivable type of sound using every imaginable technique. His timbral range is quite broad. On electric guitar, Bailey is capable of the most gratingly harsh, distortion-laden heavy-metalisms; unamplified, he's as likely to mimic a set of windchimes. Bailey's guitar is much like John Cage's prepared piano; both innovations enhanced the respective instrument's percussive possibilities. As a group player, Bailey is an exquisitely sensitive respondent to what goes on around him. He has the sort of quick reflexes and complementary character that can meld random musical events into a unified whole.
Bailey came from a musical family; his grandfather and uncle were musicians. As a youngster living in Sheffield in the '40s, Bailey studied music with C.H.C. Biltcliffe and guitar with George Wing and John Duarte. Bailey began playing conventional jazz and commercial music professionally in the '50s. In the early '60s, Bailey played in a trio called Joseph Holbrooke, with drummer Tony Oxley and bassist (and later renowned classical composer) Gavin Bryars. In the course of its existence, from 1963-66, the group evolved from playing relatively traditional jazz with tempo and chord changes, to playing totally free. In 1966 Bailey moved to London; there, he formed a number of important musical associations with, among others, drummer John Stevens, saxophonist Evan Parker, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and bassist Dave Holland. This specific collection of players recorded as the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, which served as a crucible for the sort of egalitarian, collective improvisation that Bailey was to pursue from then on. In 1968, Bailey joined Oxley -- another musician interested in new possibilities of sound generation -- in whose sextet he remained until 1973. In 1970, Bailey formed the trio Iskra with bassist Barry Guy and trombonist Paul Rutherford. Also that year, Bailey started (with Parker and Oxley) the Incus record label, for which he would continue to record into the '90s. In 1976, Bailey founded Company, a long-lived free improv ensemble with ever-shifting personnel, which has included, at various times, Anthony Braxton, Han Bennink, Steve Lacy, and George Lewis, among others.
The 1980s saw Bailey collaborating with many of the aforementioned, along with newer figures on the scene such as John Zorn and Joelle Leandre. Solo playing has always been a particular specialty, as have (especially in recent years, it seems) ad hoc duos with a variety of associates. Bailey later recorded an uncompromising three-disc set with a group that included the usually more pop-oriented guitarist Pat Metheny. Bailey's extreme radicalism makes for a difficult music, yet there's no doubting his influence; his methods and aesthetic have significantly impacted the downtown New York free scene, though many (if not most) of his disciples are little known to the general public. In 1980, Bailey wrote Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice, an informative and undervalued volume on various traditions of improvised music. ~ Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide
MP3 Live: Bailey Rae shines at SXSW
Emerging UK singer evokes a folksy Badu vibe in a soulful showcase set, capping off a frenzied Day Two in the Land of 10,000 Bands.
AUSTIN, Texas--Buzz.
Corinne Bailey Rae at SXSW
Thousands of South by Southwest (SXSW) festival-goers obtain it seemingly at all hours of the day, tossing back beers and booze at hours that would make even Norm from Cheers blush.
But scores of bands came into this week seeking a buzz of a different variety, that of a hotly tipped band destined for stardom. (OK, plenty of bands come seeking both types).
Having already topped the UK charts with her self-titled debut album, songstress Corinne Bailey Rae has already been labeled by many as buzz-worthy, and her soulful performance last night only bolstered her chances of carrying that status to the US.
As the final act of Los Angeles public radio station KCRW's showcase, a beaming Rae led her four-piece band through a breezy and at times sultry set of tracks, including "Breathless," "Enchantment," and "Put Your Records On."
Each song showed off her folksy brand of soul--something of a cross between Erykah Badu and Beth Orton, but with a tender, poppy quality that will likely attract a wide array of fans.
The performance provided an almost soothing end to a night littered with explosive rock bands that managed to deliver catchy hooks and thunderous jams at the same time.
The night started with The Guillemots, a much-hyped multinational band that takes the prize for oddest assortment of band member names: front man Fyfe Dangerfield, Rican Caol, MC Lord Magrão, and Aristazabal Hawkes. The band released the album From the Cliffs earlier this week and tore through a charged set of catchy, energized tracks from it, including the single, "We're Here."
Next on the docket was a 45-minute set from the Spinto Band, a six-piece indie pop band that began in 1996 as a weekend side project for a bunch of high schoolers called Free Beer and has morphed into a guitar-driven pop that has both texture and engaging vocal harmonies. The band started by posting its first material to the original MP3.com in the late 1990s.
Oxford Collapse, a trio of Brooklynites, showed off a frenetic energy that became a theme of the night. The boyish group ripped through a set of ramshackle pop that was forcefully engaging, with lead singer Mike Pace bounding into the crowd in between lyrics.
That frenzied stage presence continued with Dr. Dog, a Philadelphia-based quintet that showed off its party-friendly riff rock that is part Beach Boys and part arena rock at the same time. Although the band's latest album, Easy Beat, cuts a sparse sonic figure, it belies the whirling energy of its live show.
Hundreds of fans packed into Stubb's to see Gomez, the British quintet that requires continual reminders that they are British. The band's bluesy roots-rock was perfectly at home in this roots-rock town as they showed off tracks from their new album, How We Operate.
Downtown was teeming with ecstatic music fans well into the early morning, with many coming to the realization that it would all start up again in just a few hours: rinse and repeat.
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