So going back to yesterday’s concert. I’m going to begin at the end and work backwards.The last set I saw before leaving was the trio of John Coxon, (electric guitar) Mark Sanders (drums) and Pat Thomas. (piano and synth) I actually really enjoyed this set. They played fast and hard, and partly amplified. I was impressed by the playing of all three musicians, but in particular Coxon, who brought something a little different to the festival by wielding an electric guitar linked to a series of impressive looking effects pedals which he played in an almost rock-like manner, all grungey shudders and squealing feedback as much as any Baileyesque playing. Coxon is a member of the indie-rock group Spiritualized  (I think they are still together?) and also half of the drum and bass duo Spring Heeled Jack and his perspective to improvised music is quite refreshing as a result. Mark Sanders did what Mark Sanders does, let rip with unrivaled skill and passion. Pat Thomas played very very loudly, launching his sizeable frame at the piano keyboard, and also ramming huge splurges of sci-fi-esque synth sounds into the fray. Overall this was improv that rocked. There were calmer passages, but often it sounded like someone had kicked Dr.Who’s Tardis down the stairs. A lot of fun, but no small amount of skilled musicianship to boot.

I found the set before it difficult to sit through without feeling a little bored, and my tired state probably didn’t help me enjoy Aleks Kolkowski and Ute Wasserman’s performance either. They divded their time up into three short pieces, the first saw Kolkowski bow a musical saw, something I haven’t seen for a while, while Wasserman sang wordless, vaguely operatic lines, with the two musicians matching their pitches remarkably well, with the two sounds merging together here and there so it became hard to tell them apart. That was about the sum of it though. they were very skilled at what they did, but it didn’t do much for me. Kolkowski then picked up an instrument apparently known as a phonofiddle, which seemed to be a slightly ludicrous version on a violin that differed from the normal instrument by only having one string and having what looked like a trombone horn sticking out from one end, presumably amplifying the sound somewhat, though if I am honest it didn’t sound much different to how I would expect any one-stringed violin to sound. Again, they played with considerable skill, Wassrman spending a lot of time with what Phil J and I thought might be bird-call devices as well as singing, but the end result didn’t have the sonic range or textural variety to hold my interest. The final piece saw Kolkowski return to the saw again, and the performance didn’t really differ that much to their first. I generally find improvising vocalists hard to connect with, though there have been notable exceptions. This performance sadly wasn’t one of them though.

John Butcher and John Edwards just played a solid acoustic duet just as you would expect them to, accomplished, powerful, detailed playing perfectly in tandem. Watching them was just a pleasure, like admiring a couple of craftsmen carving abstract forms from blocks of wood that fitted together. Of course we knew how this would sound beforehand, and maybe I learnt nothing new about either musician from this performance, but it was still a very rewarding listen for me.

Before this came a curious little performance from John Lely and John White. Sat behind a table at the back of the stage virtually obscured by Coxon’s massive guitar on a stand in front of them they set about making a stream of seemingly random sounds using an assortment of electronic or miked-up children’s toys, parts from children’s video games, and a couple of stylophones. The music had a fluxus / Scratch Orchestra feel to it, random sounds thrown together more than a cohesive improvisation. There was a lot of humour involved, and the set provided an interesting contrast to the rest of the festival through the way it seemed to reject musicianship and artistry. Taking with White afterwards it turns out we have a shared hobby in collecting the little quotes that sit beside page 3 models in The Sun “news”paper. He is in the process of translating them into Latin to form the libretto for an opera however, while I just find them really funny. (By the way I cut them from the paper left in our work canteen every day, I certainly don’t buy it!) If you are interested by the way, today Kate, 19 from Woking is outraged that cops have issued 1.5 million speeding tickets in a year. She said: “it is just another example of this money-grabbing government” Anyway, back to the music…

When I first heard about the trio of Ross Lambert, (guitar and other bits and pieces) Jerry Wigens (clarinet) and Paul Abbott (electronics) I had no idea how it would work, the three musicians seemed to be a little too far apart stylistically, but then having not heard much by Wigens, and not much of late by Lambert that may well have been an unfair assumption to make. They produced possibly the most daring music of the weekend, an attempt to create an improvisation made up of a series of short, varied sounds placed in juxtaposition to one another rather than blending and merging sounds together in rapid response. Abbott is one of the most exciting prospects in UK improv right now, and his violent splatters of metallic electronics sat nicely beside similar sounds here and there from Lambert, who messed about with some kind of portable radio and attacked his guitar with all kinds of stuff, picking it up and playing it “normally” on only a couple of occasions. Wigens though just blew into his clarinet or its disconnected mouthpiece in the normal manner, placing sounds between the other two that completely contrasted with what they were doing. Structurally this all made for an intriguing performance, but somehow it just didn’t work well enough for me. The disparate sounds didn’t gel, and their contrasting forms didn’t spark off each other enough to give the music the sense of momentum it maybe needed. Still a very interesting and absorbing performance all the same.

The day had begun with what might just have been the best performance of the festival though- the pairing of Sebastian Lexer (piano+) and Seymour Wright (alto sax). My admiration for this duo was already very high, and they pushed on again here, producing a tense, vibrant set that twisted and turned all over the place. From the quiet opening as Lexer let a series of small computerised squiggles drift away at low volume Wright layered a few low buzzes over the top by vibrating a metal disc by blowing through his sax mouthpiece against it. Soon after though, as Lexer built the beginnings of a high pitched drone by stroking the strings of the piano Wright calmly put his sax back together and suddenly unleashed a series of gull-like cries from his instrument, bringing an immediate, powerful response from Lexer’s reverb soaked piano. Lexer’s piano+ set-up seems to be based on microphones inside the piano catching the acoustic sound and passing it through the software in it his laptop and back out through a speaker so that it combines with the natural acoustic sound of the piano. As Wright let rip with his loud calls his sound was also picked up by Lexer’s mics and fed through the computer processes, adding a further ghostly layer to proceedings.

Although the music of this duo was full of surprise and sudden right-angle changes I was immensely impressed at the degree of control they had over what they were doing. This was beautifully crafted music that lived on the edge, but was carefully pushed there by the musicians themselves. Later in the performance, Wright brought out his trademark radio, which was as usual pushed into the bell of his sax. At just the right moment though, as Lexer flew through a beautiful but complex pattern of fast moving sound Wright retuned the radio from its slightly detuned abstraction into a few moments grab of a local pop station, and (in a perfectly Roweian moment) a few bars of The Black Eyed Peas Where is the love? spilt out, cut short abruptly by a crashing chord from Lexer and Wright slamming his hand down to collapse the radio’s telescopic antenna which was amusingly protruding from the bell of his sax.

This set, like the last I saw from these two just kept me absolutely riveted throughout. Far from being predictable they challenged and provoked each other into every twist and turn and yet also sounded completely at home together. I have no idea how long they played but it seemed nowhere near long enough, such was my involvement in the music, working my ears around every nook and cranny, diving headfirst into each sudden chasm or burst of activity. I have said before that I can hear the spirit of AMM in the Lexer/Wright duo and that hasn’t changed, but rather than this being the direct result of the sound of a piano/radio etc being present it is more down to the way they are used, the flow, the structure, that overall feeling…. Just great anyway. Not much more to say.

All in all I really enjoyed the parts of the Freedom of the City Festival that I attended. As I mentioned above there was no funding at all from external sources, and all of the musicians played on the understanding that any payment would come from what was left from the door after bills were paid. Christian Wolff flew in specially from the USA. I think Eddie Prevost also said that some support came from John Coxon, which if this is correct would have been a very commendable gesture. However it came about the festival worked not only as an enjoyable gathering of musicians together to play but as a show of strength from the London improvised music communities and those surrounding it. It was not a surprise for instance to see Hamish and Keiko from Café Oto providing the festival’s bar. Things are very much alive and well in London right now.

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A couple of other things… The Watchful Ear received its 30,000th hit at the weekend, not bad for eight months. Thank you to everyone that pops in here regularly for your daily hit of complete drivel, I really do appreciate it. Also for those that are worrying that I may not be keeping the concert calendar as up-to-date as I might fear not, I have enlisted the help of the one and only Phil Julian to support me in keeping it relevant. Thanks Phil. (but if anyone notices a load of dodgy heavy metal gigs appearing in the lists let me know! ) Masses of good-looking concerts to get uploaded there for forthcoming weeks and months however. between us we should get them all up and running very soon.