Mark Wastell has been organising larger formations of musicians, collectively known as THE SEEN, for over 10 years. Using predominantly improvised material with occasional instructions or themes distributed to individual musicians just prior to performance. No formation has ever been repeated, THE SEEN never stays static.
Register of previous participants include Tetuzi Akiyama, Mattin, Michael Duch, Graham Halliwell, Andrea Neumann, Rhodri Davies, Paul Hood, Takehiro Nishide, Annette Krebs, Lee Gamble, Matt Davis, Joe Williamson, Wolfgang Fuchs, Burkhard Beins, Tomas Korber, Paul Abbott, Ben Owen, Jonathan McHugh, Jane Dickson, Olie Brice, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Bertrand Denzler, Angharad Davies, David Toop, Chris Burn, Richard Sanderson, Dominic Lash, Yoni Silver, Graham MacKeachan, John Butcher and Jason Kahn.
“With The Seen, everything is up for grabs. Even the act of listening – so sacrosanct in the world of improvisation – becomes problematized, for in such a tapestry of sound and silence how can one process what’s happening at any one moment? Yet this impossibility of total response provides opportunities to form clusters within the whole, that break apart and reform in different configurations as things develop. For listeners, too, there are possibilities for moments of both detailed focus and wider-scale immersion.” (Paul Margree)
Each recording is an entire concert given by THE SEEN spanning the years 2005 to 2009. You can buy the whole series for £20, or each individually for £6. If you are a Cafe OTO member, download each volume seperately to receive your usual discounts.
THE SEEN // JACKSONS LANE, LONDON 04.06.2005
Mark Wastell : double bass
Rhodri Davies : harp
Matt Davis : laptop
David Toop : laptop
Lee Gamble : laptop
Benedict Drew : laptop
Phil Durrant : laptop
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Volume II
THE SEEN // TEATERHUSET AVANT GARDEN, TRONDHEIM, NORWAY 12.05.2006
Mark Wastell : tam tam
Wolfgang Fuchs : record players
Bertrand Denzler : saxophones
Angharad Davies : violin
Burkhard Beins : percussion
Graham Halliwell : feedback saxophone
Tomas Korber : electronics
Benedict Drew : electronics
Dominic Lash : double bass
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Volume III
THE SEEN // RED ROSE THEATRE, LONDON 15.11.2007
Mark Wastell : double bass
Dominic Lash : double bass
Joe Williamson : double bass
Matthew Lovett : double bass
Ashley John Long : double bass
Matt Davis : laptop
David Toop : laptop
Lee Gamble : laptop
Benedict Drew : laptop
Phil Durrant : laptop
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Volume IV
THE SEEN // CAFE OTO, LONDON 19.02.2009
Mark Wastell : tam tam & shrutti box
Matt Davis : trumpet
Phil Durrant : maschine
Dominic Lash : double bass
Phil Julian : analogue electronics
Paul Abbott : electronics
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Volume V
THE SEEN // CAFE OTO, LONDON 26.06.2009
Mark Wastell : tam tam
John Butcher : acoustic & feedback saxophone
Dominic Lash : double bass
Matt Davis : trumpet
Jane Dickson : piano, electronics
Phil Durrant : maschine
Phil Julian : electronics
Jonathan McHugh : analogue synthesiser
Paul Abbott : electronics
Benedict Drew : Roland 101, electronics
Ben Owen : shortwave radio
Available as a 320k MP3 or 16bit FLAC download.
Mark Wastell is a versatile improvising musician who has played a central role in the British improvised music scene for over a quarter of a century. He has performed and recorded extensively and his varied resume includes projects with Derek Bailey, Phil Durrant, John Butcher, Lasse Marhaug, Rhodri Davies, Simon H. Fell, Burkhard Beins, John Tilbury, Mattin, Mark Sanders, Tony Conrad, Evan Parker, Tim Barnes, Bernhard Günter, Keith Rowe, John Zorn, Peter Kowald, Joachim Nordwall, Otomo Yoshihide, Paul Dunmall, David Toop, Alan Wilkinson, Max Eastley, Hugh Davies, Julie Tippetts, Alan Skidmore, Mike Cooper, Chris Abrahams, Stewart Lee, Clive Bell, Arild Andersen, Jan Bang, Maggie Nicols, Thurston Moore and David Sylvian.
