Spontaneous Music Ensemble
Encyclopedia
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...
-based jazz
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...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
/trumpeter John Stevens
John Stevens (drummer)
John William Stevens was an English drummer. He was one of the most significant figures in early free improvisation, and a founding member of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble .-Biography:Stevens was born in Brentford, the son of a tap dancer...
and alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts
Trevor Watts
Trevor Charles Watts is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the RAF , he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul...
. SME performances and recordings could range from Stevens-Watts duos to gatherings of more than a dozen players.
As critic Brian Olewnick writes, the SME emphasised an "extremely open, leaderless aspect where a premium was placed on careful and considered listening on the part of the musicians. Saxophonist Evan Parker
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
observed that Stevens had two basic rules: (1) If you can't hear another musician, you're playing too loud, and (2) if the music you're producing doesn't regularly relate to what you're hearing others create, why be in the group? This led to the development of what would jocularly become known as 'insect improv' -- music that tended to be very quiet, very intense, arrhythmic, and by and large atonal."
History
The SME began an intensive 6 nights per week residency at the Little Theatre Club in London in January 1966 and recorded their first album Challenge the following month.One can loosely divide the group's history into two periods: the more horn-oriented earlier ensembles (typically with some combination of Watts, saxophonist Evan Parker
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....
), and the later string-based ensembles with guitarist Roger Smith (who became as central to the second edition of SME as Watts was to the first) and violinist Nigel Coombes. (The transitional point is the quartet album Biosystem (Incus, 1977), which also featured cellist Colin Wood.)
Countless other musicians passed through the SME over the years, including Derek Bailey, Paul Rutherford
Paul 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...
, Maggie Nichols
Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols , is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.-Early life and career:...
, Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
, Barry Guy
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe...
, Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...
and Kent Carter
Kent Carter
Kent Carter is an American jazz bassist. He is the grandson of American artist, Rockwell Kent. He worked in Steve Lacy's group, played on the two Jazz Composer's Orchestra albums and also released albums for Emanem Records.-As leader:* Beauvais Cathedral * The Juillaguet Collection with Albrecht...
. The final edition of the group was a trio of Stevens, Smith, and the saxophonist John Butcher
John Butcher (musician)
John Butcher is an English tenor and soprano saxophone player who has lived in London since the late 1970s. He began playing at the University of Surrey where he was studying physics...
, a configuration documented on A New Distance (1994).
Inspired both by American free jazz and by the radical, abstract music of AMM
AMM (group)
AMM are an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965.AMM have never been well known to the general public, but have been incredibly influential on the field of improvised music...
, as well as influences as diverse as Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
and Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
(two Stevens touchstones), the SME kept at least a measure of jazz
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...
in their sound, though this became less audible in the later "string" ensembles.
Stevens' death in 1994 brought an end to the SME.
Discography
- Challenge (1966, Eyemark Records; reissued on Emanem Records) (featuring; Kenny WheelerKenny WheelerKenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....
, Paul Rutherford, Trevor WattsTrevor WattsTrevor Charles Watts is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the RAF , he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul...
, Bruce Cale, Jeff ClyneJeff ClyneJeffrey Ovid 'Jeff' Clyne was a British jazz bassist .-Biography:...
, John Stevens) (plus Evan ParkerEvan ParkerEvan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
& Chris Cambridge on track 10) - Karyobin (1968, Island RecordsIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
; reissued 1993 on Chronoscope) (featuring; John Stevens, Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Derek Bailey, Dave Holland) - Frameworks (1968/1971/1973, Emanem RecordsEmanem RecordsEmanem Records is an independent record label based in London specialising in free improvised music. The label was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson assisted by Madelaine Davidson. The main purpose of the label was to document the London free improvisation scene...
) (featuring various lineups, including Stevens, Norma WinstoneNorma WinstoneNorma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....
, Trevor Watts, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutherford, Julie Tippetts, Ron Herman) - John Stevens/Spontaneous Music Ensemble (1969, Marmalade Records) (featuring; John Stevens, Kenny Wheeler, Derek Bailey, Trevor Watts, Peter LemerPeter LemerPeter Lemer is an English jazz musician. He worked with the Pete Lemer Quintet, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, Gilgamesh, Baker Gurvitz Army, Seventh Wave, Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Mike Oldfield Group, In Cahoots, Miller/Baker/Lemer...
, Johnny DyaniJohnny DyaniJohnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African jazz double bassist and pianist, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray and Leo Smith....
, Maggie Nichols, Carolann Nichols, Pepi Lemer) - So What Do You Think? (1971, Tangent Records) (featuring; John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Kenny Wheeler, Derek Bailey, Dave Holland)
- Birds of a Feather (1971, BYG Records (featuring; John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Ron Herman, Julie Tippetts [Driscoll])
- Bobby Bradford, John Stevens and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble Live Vols. 1 & 2 (1971, Nessa RecordsNessa Records-Discography:*n-1 Lester Bowie - Numbers 1 & 2 *n-2 Roscoe Mitchell - Congliptious...
) - 1.2. Albert Ayler (1971, Affinity) (featuring; John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Ron Herman, Julie TippettsJulie DriscollJulie Tippetts is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity...
) - Face to Face (1973, Emanem RecordsEmanem RecordsEmanem Records is an independent record label based in London specialising in free improvised music. The label was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson assisted by Madelaine Davidson. The main purpose of the label was to document the London free improvisation scene...
) (featuring John Stevens and Trevor Watts) - Quintessence (1973–74, Emanem RecordsEmanem RecordsEmanem Records is an independent record label based in London specialising in free improvised music. The label was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson assisted by Madelaine Davidson. The main purpose of the label was to document the London free improvisation scene...
) (featuring John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Kent Carter) - Biosystem (1977, Incus RecordsIncus RecordsIncus Records is an artist-owned record label, founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters, specialising in the dissemination of free-improvised music. The first release on the label was The Topography of the Lungs, recorded by Bailey, Parker and Han Bennink in 1970...
; reissued by Psi RecordsPSI RecordsPSI Records is an independent record label based in Nottingham, United Kingdom and Los Angeles, United States formed in 2002 by Pitchshifter frontman JS Clayden and his brother Mark Clayden.-History:...
in 2006 with additional material) (featuring; John Stevens, Nigel Coombes, Roger Smith, Colin Wood) - Hot and Cold Heroes (1980/91, Emanem RecordsEmanem RecordsEmanem Records is an independent record label based in London specialising in free improvised music. The label was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson assisted by Madelaine Davidson. The main purpose of the label was to document the London free improvisation scene...
) (featuring; John Stevens, Nigel Coombes, Roger Smith) - A New Distance (1994, Acta; reissued by Emanem RecordsEmanem RecordsEmanem Records is an independent record label based in London specialising in free improvised music. The label was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson assisted by Madelaine Davidson. The main purpose of the label was to document the London free improvisation scene...
in 2005 with additional material from 1993) (featuring: John Stevens, John Butcher, Roger Smith)