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Matchless Recordings

Run by percusionist Eddie Prévost, Matchless contains contemporary and classic free jazz, improvisation and noise.

The second recording made in a series of concerts at The Network Theatre, Waterloo, London, in which Eddie Prévost invited notable saxophonists to make music with him.  --- John Butcher / tenor and soprano saxophones Guillaume Viltard / double bass Eddie Prévost / drums  --- Recorded at the Network Theatre, Waterloo, London, on the 1st August 2011 by Giovanni Le Rovere. Mixing and editing by John Butcher. Cymbol photography by Tom Mills. Design my Myuh Chun.  --- Review in Point of Departure: The first part of the three-part suite opens up with tuned toms, and moves quickly into popping, lip-smacking sax and burbling pizzicato, making for a good old free jazz romp for starters. Amidst the nicely heated metal and woody thwacks, you can hear Butcher digging into some of his most audibly saxophonic playing (to call it conventional, even though there are lines and intervals, would be overstating things). But there’s also such a sheerly avian quality, at times evolving into a menacing spitfire, that you forget those previous passages altogether as overtones proliferate. There are also some extraordinary moments in the second part, where Butcher seems to reduce the soprano to pure whizzing sound, with no breaks in the sound, only a massive metallic whistle that occasionally boils down into burrs and grumbles. I have to confess that there are moments when (partly owing to his place in the mix) Vitard sounds a bit inconsequential; and in the hot exchanges to begin “part 3” it’s clear that the sympathy between Butcher and Prévost is where the action is. But thankfully the bassist subsequently proves me wrong with a truly sizzling arco solo – bold and confessional at once – midway through the 28-minute closing section.
– Jason Bivins

John Butcher / Guillaume Viltard / Eddie Prévost – Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists Vol.2 - All But

"AMM music may initially seem impenetrable, but it sure as hell penetrates you. Soon the desired state is instilled in the listener; a rapt vacancy somewhere between supreme concentration and utter absentmindedness." - Melody Maker On AMMMusic, long tones sit next to abrasive thuds, the howl of uncontrolled feedback accompanies Cardew's purposeful piano chords, radios beam in snatches of orchestral music. AMM's clearest break with jazz-based improvisation concerned the idea of individuality. Initially through an engagement with eastern philosophy and mysticism and later though a politicized communitarianism, AMM sought to develop a collective sonic identity in which individual contributions could barely be discerned. In the performances captured on AMMMusic the use of numerous auxiliary instruments and devices, including radios played by three members of the group, contribute to the sensation that the music is composed as a single monolithic object with multiple facets, rather than as an interaction between five distinct voices." - Francis Plagne --- Cornelius Cardew / piano, cello and transistor radio Lou Gare / tenor saxophone and violin  Eddie Prévost / percussion Keith Rowe / electric guitar and transistor radio Lawrence Sheaff / cello, accordian, clarinet and transistor radio --- Recorded on the 8th and 27th June 1966 at Sound Techniques by Harry Davis and Jac Holzman.

Amm – AMMMUSIC

This is the first recording made in a series of concerts at The Network Theatre, Waterloo, London, in which Eddie Prévost invited notable saxophonists to make music with him.  --- John Edwards / double bass Evan Parker / tenor saxophone Eddie Prévost / drums  --- Recorded at the Network Theatre, Waterloo, London, on the 30th May 2011 by Giovanni Le Rovere. Mixing and editing by John Butcher. Cymbol photography by Tom Mills. Design my Myuh Chun.  --- Review:   The first was All Told with arch-bassist John Edwards and the huge and brilliant breath of the Bristolian tenor saxophonist Evan Parker. “I want life!” exclaims Prevost of his endless quest for improvisation in the album’s sleeve notes, and “a metamusical approach; one which revels in personal discovery and surprises as well as being sensitive and active towards incoming signals from others.” It is a commentary and metaphor for art as life, and this record is full with it, the three musicians playing as an amalgam, unifying their powerful technical dexterity with an intense and reflective beauty, humanity and generosity towards each other and their listeners. Edwards’s musical mastery is also in every way remarkable, as if he is the pulse of all that we hear, while Parker’s assertion of breath-with-end gives us a simile, an onomatopoeia of continuing life and hope enveloped in aural radiance. As for Prevost, in his drums is an insistence of the real, of the touching, tapping, hammering, striking, pounding, ringing of the detail of work and action which is everywhere in our lives, in every second, awake or asleep, the sonic edge of production. Like his Huguenot forebears, he works in a world of workshops: but his workshops are the workshops of drums.   Chris Searle — Morning Star 26th January, 2016

Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists Vol.1 - All Told – Edwards / Parker / Prévost

Complete audio recordings of Evan Parker, John Edwards and Eddie Prévost's May 2013 residency at Cafe OTO.  --- Evan Parker / tenor saxophone John Edwards / double bass Edwin (Eddie) Prévost / drums Alexander von Schlippenbach / piano Christof Thewes / trombone --- "Given the different line-ups and the inclusion of both sets from each of three nights, the listener is presented with the chance to hear the music exposed and developing in many dimensions. Not only can each player be heard by himself and in shifting combinations - duet, trio or quartet - with the others, but the progression in mood and approach across an entire evening can be clearly appreciated. This is particularly marked on the second disc, where the careful exploration of the first set is succeded by the all-in surge of the second, which begins as if the four are resuming an interruped conversation. From the first night to the last, the music played over these three nights is of the highest quality. What can't be captured in the discs, but should never be underestimated, is the presence of listeners whose attentiveness cleared and charged the space in which the performers could do their work of creating a music as delicate in its inner workings as it is robust in its insistance on building for itself, night after night, a world without walls." - Richard Williams. --- Audio recorded by Giovanni LaRovere. Mastered by Rupert Clervaux. 

Various – 3 Nights at Cafe OTO

Two concerts of experimental improvisation from Eddie Prevost and Christian Wolff, two giants of conceptual improvisation and composition, recorded at Ikletick in London in 2015 and at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire in 2016; with superb pacing and brilliant execution, these dialogs between keyboard and percussive instruments explore unique sound worlds with depth, inquisitiveness, and a sense of wonder. "The set documents two concerts - 1, recorded at Iklectik in London in September 2015, is in two parts, 37 and 18 minutes in length; 2, recorded at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, in July 2016 is a singular 50-minute piece. Each musician restricts himself to a relative narrow palate. Prévost uses a bass drum as both drum and resonator and explores bowing and scraping cymbals for sustained metallic sounds, with very rare eruptions of multiple sounds. Wolff plays piano with even greater delicacy, from isolated sustained tones, alternated intervals, subtle use of plucked strings and minimal preparation and an occasional brief melodic figure. A keyboard wind instrument, perhaps a melodica, arises brieflyin both concerts." - Free Jazz Collective --- Eddie Prévost / percussion Christian Wollf /piano --- Artwork by Myah Chun Grierson. Edited and mastered by Giovani La Rovere and Rupert Clervaux. Recorded by Giovani La Rovere and Sangwook Nam. 

Uncertain Outcomes – Christian Wolff & Eddie Prévost

"Alan Wilkinson’s best known for his work with the high-energy Hession-Wilkinson-Fell trio. His discography includes just two duets, both with guitar players, but anyone who can stand up to both Derek Bailey and Stefan Jaworzyn comes out of a large and resource-rich bag. He is by far the most energy-oriented player to join Prévost in this particular ring, but the latter’s overriding determination to play exactly what the music of the moment requires serves him well here. Despite what I said a moment, ago, don’t get the idea that there’s any sparring going on here; while Wilkinson hits hard on both alto and baritone sax, this is a record where the two men work together, not against each other. Each is respectful of the other’s individuality and ability. Wilkinson does contribute some feral blowing; his unbridled snorts and whinnies on the title track are positively Ayleresque in their dimensions. But Prévost’s contributions take the music to a different place, unstable yet completely assured. His work in AMM has labeled him a percussionist, and rightly so, but listen to “Supa, Supa;” with its shuffling high-hat and dancing brushes – this is idiomatically aware jazz drumming of a very high order. Some of the best music occurs when they bring things down. On the lengthy and languorous “For Marlene,” baritone first sings quietly and then bubbles while toms rumble; a melody winds and twists whilst discovering itself in empty space. Exquisite." - Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine --- Eddie Prévost / drums Alan Wilkinson / alto & baritone saxophones --- Recorded at Barefoot Studios, London, on 10th January 2006, by Mark Richie. Front cover by Gina Southgate.

So Are We, So Are We – Eddie Prévost / Alan Wilkinson

Collection of tracks from 1985-94, recorded by the Organum core of David Jackman, Michael Prime, Dinah Jane Rowe and Jim O'Rourke; further mastering of sound cluster presentation and development. "Veil of Tears" was first released on Aeroplane records (AR13) as a cassette which included a black on green paper inlay featuring photographs of a small boy seated on a model steam locomotive and a man checking a railway track with a gauge. Play this one REALLY LOUD.  --- "There's certainly no social statement behind the work and, philosophically, there's nothing consciously being projected into the sound. Apart from the blind desire to make sounds, the only thing that was at work in the beginning (...) was the wish to make something that sounded completely new. So it was invention that was the driving force, even to the point of eccentricity in the way the sounds got made, like an alarm-clock case being scraped round a rusty bicycle-wheel rim for 20 minutes. As it happened, nothing new got made at all. Instead, Organum music came out sounding really ancient, like something from the very beginning of music-making" - David Jackman---Veil Of Tears (Part 1) Performer [Recorded With] – David Jackman, Dinah Jane Rowe, Michael Prime Delta Performer [Recorded With] – David Jackman, Dinah Jane Rowe, Michael Prime, Roger Sutherland Obon Remix – Jim O'Rourke, Robert HampsonSounds [All] – David Jackman Lamentations Performer [Recorded With] – David Jackman, Robert HampsonSounds [Archive Sound] – Philip Rupenus, Richard Rupenus Veil Of Tears (Part 2) Performer [Recorded With] – David Jackman, Dinah Jane Rowe, Michael Prime ---David Jackman aided and abetted by Michael Prime, Dinah Jane Rowe, Roger Sutherland, Jim O'Rourke and Robert Hampson. The two parts of Veil of tears were recorded in 1992 with Michael Prime, Dinah Jane Rowe and David Jackman; Delta recorded live at Recommended Records, London 1990 with Roger Sutherland, Michael Prime, Dinah Jane Rowe and David Jackman; Obon was recorded in 1985 - all sounds by David Jackman, remixed 1994 by Robert Hampton and Jim O'Rourke; and Lamentations was recorded 1994 with Robert Hampson, David Jackman and with archive sound from 1985 by Philip and Richard Rupenus. Artwork by David Jackman

Organum – Veil of Tears