Wednesday 12 July 2017, 7.30pm
The trio of Eddie Prévost (drums), NO Moore (guitarism), and bassist John Edwards (if ‘bassist’ captures everything it is that John Edwards can do) combines improvisation, free jazz, rock, and electronic sound into a sonorous aggregate that avoids collapsing into any one category, in order to be something in its very own right. Propulsive rhythm, new sounds, and energetic improvisation will be the order of the night, while expectations will be both met and mangled.
N.O. Moore is an electric guitarist with a parallel interest in electronics and drum machines. As an improviser, he has played with people such as Eddie Prévost, John Butcher, Rachel Musson, John Edwards, Sue Lynch, Alan Wilkinson, Steve Noble, and Steve Beresford. He can now be heard on a number of recordings, including Nous (with Prévost and Jason Yarde) on Matchless, and The Secret Handshake with Danger (with Henry Kaiser, Binker Golding, Olie Brice, and Prévost) on 577. He has recently launched the DXDY Recordings label to present improvised and electronic musics: dxdyrecordings.com
Moore is interested in the relationship between automation and autonomy, and how this affords fabrications of human sensibility and affect. His first album of purely electronic music will be released by Orbit577 later in 2021.
‘Moore shifts fluidly from argumentatively fractured jazz licks to spacey atmospherics to mad cat hisses; the appositeness of his contributions belies the sparseness of his recorded discography’ The Wire (Bill Meyer)
‘Moore unpacks an impressive bag of tricks.’ Jazzwise (Daniel Spicer)
‘Guitarist N.O. Moore would likely attract some attention in any fit company, for he brings a highly personal conception to an instrument often sullied by redundancy.’ Freejazzblog (Stuart Broomer)
A founder-member of AMM (1965-2022)
“[Eddie Prévost’s] is one of the greatest metallurgists that music has produced. […] sparks delicately arcing through the air, of slow lava ingesting its surroundings, of the shifting grind of tectonic plates across each other, of the rustle and glint of a firebird darting between shadows, and of ore smashing into the surface of the earth; but perhaps this language is overwrought: all that needs to be remarked upon is Prévost's industry, his diligence.”
Nathan Moore — liner note to AMM’s ‘Indúsria’
Matchless Recordings mrcd105.
But beyond this work Prévost has also maintained a relationship with the jazz drum-kit.
“His free drumming flows superbly making perfect use of his formidable technique, but his most startling feature is his stylelessness. It’s as though there has never been an Elvin Jones or a Max Roach.” - review of a set with saxophonist Lou Gare, Melody Maker (27.03.1975)
“Prévost, meanwhile, was simply miraculous; it was fascinating to watch him and to compare his approach with that of a Kern or a Nilssen-Love. I can only say that he was possessed of an uncanny, burning intentness that navigated the ensemble through passages of stark, sculpted beauty, grave concentration and full-on, bristling energy.”
Blue Tomato, Vienna 2012. In concert with Marilyn Crispell and Harrison Smith. Richard Rees-Jones
“An excellent release from one of the finest percussionists around, jazz or otherwise.” review of Prévost’s solo CD ‘Collider’
Matchless Recordings mrcd106 – Brian Olewnic, Squidsear (2022).
“Relentlessly innovative yet full of swing and fire.” – Morning Star
John Edwards grew up in London and started experimenting with the bass guitar before he switched in his twenties to play double bass. He is deeply rooted in the creative free jazz and improvisation genre. Since the 80ties he is as soloist and in many groups and ensembles in Europe active and became one of the most renowned bass players. He played/plays regular for example with Peter Brötzmann, Joe Mc Phee, Phil Minton, Maggie Nichols, Evan Parker, Roscoe Michtell, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Mark Sanders, Caroline Kraabel, John Butcher, Pat Thomas, Irène Schweizer, Hans Koch, Florian Stoffner, Gabriele Mitelli, John Dikeman.
"I think John Edwards is absolutely remarkable: there’s never been anything like him before, anywhere in jazz." - Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
"The duo – Lucas on trombone and Kordik on synths – conjure up vast structures that loom up out of the murk, muddy swathes of sound that are criss-crossed with itchy, writhing movement. ... (They) achieve this singular aesthetic in part by combining the new and familiar. Lucas’ trombone hisses and blarts will be familiar to anyone versed in extended techniques, true, but when they’re mixed with Kordik’s electronic soundscapes, they sound utterly new." (Paul Margree)
"The trombone and the analogue synth provide a full set of cultural resonances to destabilise, disrupt and destroy. They are avatars visiting worlds where new meaning is forged in rebellious acts of listening." (Tony Hardie-Bick)
Besides their sonic partnership, Lucas and Kordik run their Earshots label which focuses on improvised music and field recordings. They also curate sporadic Earshots concert sessions. For more information check their www.earshots.org
