Centipede (band)
Encyclopedia
Centipede were an English jazz
/progressive rock
/Canterbury sound
big band
with more than 50 members, organized and led by the British
free jazz
pianist
Keith Tippett
. Formed in 1970, it brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians from a number of bands, including Soft Machine
, King Crimson
, Nucleus
and Blossom Toes
.
Centipede performed several concerts in England, toured France, and recorded a double-album, Septober Energy
(produced by Robert Fripp
), before disbanding at the end of 1971. They reformed briefly in 1975 to play at a few French jazz festivals.
in 1970 to perform an extended composition, Septober Energy that he had been working on. The members were drawn from his own band at the time, The Keith Tippett Group, several British progressive rock, jazz-rock and avant-garde jazz groups, including Soft Machine
(Robert Wyatt
, Elton Dean
, Nick Evans
, Mark Charig), Nucleus
(Karl Jenkins
, Ian Carr
, Brian Smith, Jeff Clyne
, Roy Babbington
, Bryan Spring, John Stanley Marshall
) and King Crimson
(Robert Fripp
, Peter Sinfield
, Ian McDonald
, Boz Burrell
), and students of the London School of Music. Septober Energy consisted of four movements
, or "concepts" that the band improvised
around. It was first performed by the band live at the Lyceum Theatre in London
on 15 November 1970.
Centipede toured France
in November 1970, giving two "memorable performances" at the Alhambra Theatre in Bordeaux
. They also played for the Rotterdam
Arts Council in the Netherlands
, at the Lanchester
Arts Festival and the Bristol University
Student Union. Centipede's concerts attracted "uneven reviews", with some critics calling Tippett's music "long and leaden", and others praising it as a "bold extension" of what Tippett and his band were already doing.
In April 1971, Neon Records, a British sub-label of RCA
in the United States, signed up Tippett and Centipede, and Centipede recorded Tippett's composition on a double album, Septober Energy
in June that year. Robert Fripp
produced the album and it was released in October 1971 in the United Kingdom only. Tippett had featured prominently on three of King Crimson's albums (In the Wake of Poseidon
, Lizard
and Islands
) and Fripp had even invited Tippett to join the band (he declined). While some of the other Crimson members featured on Septober Energy, Fripp, who had performed live with Centipede, did not.
Centipede, now reduced in size for economic reasons, gave two performances in London to promote the album, one at the Royal Albert Hall
in October 1971, and the other at the Rainbow Theatre in December 1971. But the album was not generally well received by critics and as no further engagements were forthcoming, Centipede disbanded at the end of 1971.
In 1974 RCA issued Septober Energy in the United States, hoping to cash in on Fripp's name as the producer, but it failed, particularly because Centipede did not exist to promote the album with performances. The band did, however, reform briefly in October 1975, with David Cross
from King Crimson, to perform at several French jazz festivals.
Tippett said in a January 2003 interview that in 1970 the Centipede project was "quite innocent" and that "no-one was doing it for the money". Their debut performance at the Lyceum was a benefit concert for the Jazz Centre Society. Tippett said that at the time there was considerable interest in the project, and that while the initial performance consisted of 50 musicians, "there could have been 100".
Tippett later instigated The Ark, another large big band jazz project that recorded the album Frames (Music For An Imaginary Film) for Ogun Records
in 1978.
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
/progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/Canterbury sound
Canterbury Scene
The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
with more than 50 members, organized and led by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
. Formed in 1970, it brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians from a number of bands, including Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
, King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, Nucleus
Nucleus (band)
Nucleus were a pioneering jazz-rock band from Britain who continued in different forms from 1969 to 1989. In their first year they won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released the album Elastic Rock, and performed both at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Gate jazz club.They were...
and Blossom Toes
Blossom Toes
Blossom Toes were an English psychedelic pop band active between 1967 and 1969. Initially known as The Ingoes, they were renamed and signed to manager Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label...
.
Centipede performed several concerts in England, toured France, and recorded a double-album, Septober Energy
Septober Energy
Septober Energy is the only album of the jazz/progressive rock big band Centipede. Produced by Robert Fripp, it was originally released 1971 in the UK as a double LP, and 1974 in the USA with a different cover...
(produced by Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
), before disbanding at the end of 1971. They reformed briefly in 1975 to play at a few French jazz festivals.
History
Centipede was formed by Keith TippettKeith Tippett
Keith Tippett is a British jazz pianist and composer.Tippett, the son of a local police officer, went to Greenway Boys Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first jazz band called The KT7 whilst still at school and they performed numbers popular at the time by The Temperance...
in 1970 to perform an extended composition, Septober Energy that he had been working on. The members were drawn from his own band at the time, The Keith Tippett Group, several British progressive rock, jazz-rock and avant-garde jazz groups, including Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
(Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
, Elton Dean
Elton Dean
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
, Nick Evans
Nick Evans (trombonist)
Nicholas "Nick" Evans is a Welsh jazz and progressive rock trombonist.- Career :He worked in the Graham Collier Sextet , Keith Tippett Group , Soft Machine , Brotherhood of Breath , Centipede , Just Us , Ambush , Ninesense , Intercontinental Express , Ark Nicholas "Nick" Evans (born 1947 in...
, Mark Charig), Nucleus
Nucleus (band)
Nucleus were a pioneering jazz-rock band from Britain who continued in different forms from 1969 to 1989. In their first year they won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released the album Elastic Rock, and performed both at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Gate jazz club.They were...
(Karl Jenkins
Karl Jenkins
-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
, Ian Carr
Ian Carr
Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator.-Early years:Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr...
, Brian Smith, Jeff Clyne
Jeff Clyne
Jeffrey Ovid 'Jeff' Clyne was a British jazz bassist .-Biography:...
, Roy Babbington
Roy Babbington
Roy Babbington is a rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock/jazz fusion band Soft Machine.-Biography:...
, Bryan Spring, John Stanley Marshall
John Stanley Marshall
John Stanley Marshall, better known as John Marshall, born 28 August 1941 in Isleworth, Middlesex, is an English drummer. He was a founding member of the jazz rock band Nucleus and has worked with various other jazz and rock bands and musicians, among them J.J...
) and King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
(Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, Peter Sinfield
Peter Sinfield
Peter John Sinfield is an English poet, lyricist and artist, most famously known as the lyricist and co-founding member of early incarnations of King Crimson, whose debut album In the Court of the Crimson King has been regarded as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever...
, Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald (musician)
Ian McDonald is an English multi-instrumental musician, best known as a founding member of progressive rock group King Crimson, formed in 1969, and of the hard rock band Foreigner in 1976. He is well-known as a rock session musician, predominantly as a saxophonist...
, Boz Burrell
Boz Burrell
Raymond "Boz" Burrell was an English musician. Originally a vocalist, Burrell is best known for his bass playing and work with the rock bands King Crimson and Bad Company.-Career:...
), and students of the London School of Music. Septober Energy consisted of four movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, or "concepts" that the band improvised
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
around. It was first performed by the band live at the Lyceum Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 15 November 1970.
Centipede toured France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in November 1970, giving two "memorable performances" at the Alhambra Theatre in Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. They also played for the Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
Arts Council in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, at the Lanchester
Lanchester, County Durham
Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, and was in the former district of Derwentside . It is to the west of the city of Durham and from the former steel town of Consett, and has a population of slightly over 4,000 people.Although there was a small drift mine on the...
Arts Festival and the Bristol University
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
Student Union. Centipede's concerts attracted "uneven reviews", with some critics calling Tippett's music "long and leaden", and others praising it as a "bold extension" of what Tippett and his band were already doing.
In April 1971, Neon Records, a British sub-label of RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
in the United States, signed up Tippett and Centipede, and Centipede recorded Tippett's composition on a double album, Septober Energy
Septober Energy
Septober Energy is the only album of the jazz/progressive rock big band Centipede. Produced by Robert Fripp, it was originally released 1971 in the UK as a double LP, and 1974 in the USA with a different cover...
in June that year. Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
produced the album and it was released in October 1971 in the United Kingdom only. Tippett had featured prominently on three of King Crimson's albums (In the Wake of Poseidon
In the Wake of Poseidon
In the Wake of Poseidon is the second album by the progressive rock group King Crimson. By the time this album was released, the band had already undergone their first change in line-up, however they still maintained much of the style of their first album, In the Court of the Crimson King.Greg Lake...
, Lizard
Lizard (album)
Lizard is the third album by the British band King Crimson, released in 1970. It was the second recorded by a transitional line-up of the group that never had the opportunity to perform live, following In the Wake of Poseidon...
and Islands
Islands (King Crimson album)
Islands is the fourth album by the British band King Crimson, released in 1971.The last King Crimson studio album before the group's trilogy of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red, it is also the last to feature the lyrics of Peter Sinfield and the last to feature the band's...
) and Fripp had even invited Tippett to join the band (he declined). While some of the other Crimson members featured on Septober Energy, Fripp, who had performed live with Centipede, did not.
Centipede, now reduced in size for economic reasons, gave two performances in London to promote the album, one at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in October 1971, and the other at the Rainbow Theatre in December 1971. But the album was not generally well received by critics and as no further engagements were forthcoming, Centipede disbanded at the end of 1971.
In 1974 RCA issued Septober Energy in the United States, hoping to cash in on Fripp's name as the producer, but it failed, particularly because Centipede did not exist to promote the album with performances. The band did, however, reform briefly in October 1975, with David Cross
David Cross (musician)
David Cross is an electric violinist born in Turnchapel near Plymouth, England, best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson during the 1970s...
from King Crimson, to perform at several French jazz festivals.
Tippett said in a January 2003 interview that in 1970 the Centipede project was "quite innocent" and that "no-one was doing it for the money". Their debut performance at the Lyceum was a benefit concert for the Jazz Centre Society. Tippett said that at the time there was considerable interest in the project, and that while the initial performance consisted of 50 musicians, "there could have been 100".
Tippett later instigated The Ark, another large big band jazz project that recorded the album Frames (Music For An Imaginary Film) for Ogun Records
Ogun Records
Ogun Records is a record label created by the husband and wife team of Hazel Miller and Harry Miller, to document the music being created by a group of open-minded musicians in London in the early 1970s....
in 1978.
Members
The members below are the personnel that appeared on Centipede's album, Septober EnergySeptober Energy
Septober Energy is the only album of the jazz/progressive rock big band Centipede. Produced by Robert Fripp, it was originally released 1971 in the UK as a double LP, and 1974 in the USA with a different cover...
.
Violins
- Wendy Treacher
- Jihn Trussler
- Roddy Skeping
- Wilf Gibson (lead)
- Carol Slater
- Louise Jopling
- Garth Morton
- Channa Salononson
- Steve Rowlandson
- Mica Gomberti
- Colin Kitching
- Philip Saudek
- Esther Burgi
Cellos
- Michael Hurwitz
- Timothy Kramer
- Suki Towb
- John Rees-Jones
- Katherine Thulborn
- Catherine Finnis
Trumpets
- Peter Parkes
- Mick Collins
- Ian CarrIan CarrIan Carr was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator.-Early years:Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr...
(doubling flugelhorn) - Mongezi FezaMongezi FezaMongezi Feza was a South African jazz trumpet player and flautist.-Biography:Feza was born in Queenstown, South Africa in 1945. A member of The Blue Notes, he left South Africa in 1964 and settled in Europe, living in London and Copenhagen. As a trumpeter, his influences included hard bopper...
(pocket cornet) - Mark Charig (cornet)
Alto Saxophones
- Elton DeanElton DeanElton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
(doubling saxello) - Jan Steele (doubling flute)
- Ian McDonaldIan McDonald (musician)Ian McDonald is an English multi-instrumental musician, best known as a founding member of progressive rock group King Crimson, formed in 1969, and of the hard rock band Foreigner in 1976. He is well-known as a rock session musician, predominantly as a saxophonist...
- Dudu PukwanaDudu PukwanaMtutuzel Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist .-Early years in South Africa:...
Baritone Saxophones
- Dave White (doubling clarinet)
- Karl JenkinsKarl Jenkins-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
(doubling oboe) - John Williams (bass saxophone, doubling soprano)
Trombones
- Nick EvansNick Evans (trombonist)Nicholas "Nick" Evans is a Welsh jazz and progressive rock trombonist.- Career :He worked in the Graham Collier Sextet , Keith Tippett Group , Soft Machine , Brotherhood of Breath , Centipede , Just Us , Ambush , Ninesense , Intercontinental Express , Ark Nicholas "Nick" Evans (born 1947 in...
- Dave Amis
- Dave Perrottet
- Paul RutherfordPaul Rutherford (trombone player)Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.-Biography:Born in Greenwich, South East London, Rutherford initially played saxophone but switched to trombone...
Drums
- John MarshallJohn Stanley MarshallJohn Stanley Marshall, better known as John Marshall, born 28 August 1941 in Isleworth, Middlesex, is an English drummer. He was a founding member of the jazz rock band Nucleus and has worked with various other jazz and rock bands and musicians, among them J.J...
(and all percussion) - Tony Fennell
- Robert WyattRobert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
Vocalists
- Maggie NicholsMaggie NicolsMaggie Nicols , is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.-Early life and career:...
- Julie Tippetts
- Mike PattoMike PattoMike Patto , is primarily notable as lead singer for Spooky Tooth and Boxer.-History:...
- Zoot MoneyZoot MoneyGeorge Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
- Boz BurrellBoz BurrellRaymond "Boz" Burrell was an English musician. Originally a vocalist, Burrell is best known for his bass playing and work with the rock bands King Crimson and Bad Company.-Career:...
Basses
- Roy BabbingtonRoy BabbingtonRoy Babbington is a rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock/jazz fusion band Soft Machine.-Biography:...
(doubling bass guitar) - Jill Lyons
- Harry MillerHarry Miller (jazz bassist)Harold Simon 'Harry' Miller was a South African jazz bass player.Miller began his career as a bassist with Manfred Mann, and came to settle in London...
- Jeff ClyneJeff ClyneJeffrey Ovid 'Jeff' Clyne was a British jazz bassist .-Biography:...
- Dave Markee
- Brian Belshaw
External links
- Centipede's album Septober Energy at www.progarchives.com
- Collapso - Canterbury Music Family Tree