BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH :: Memorial Concert (1994)

This is good album, although music does not so fresh, as with Chris and Louis. Sound of CD is a bit muddy, so I tried to enhance it. Mp3 only this time.

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath ~ The Memorial Concert ~ 1994

Pinise Saul: vocals
Paul Taylor: trombone
Annie Whitehead: trombone
Dave Defries: trumpet & flugelhorn
Harry Beckett: trumpet & flugelhorn
Peter Volpe: trumpet & flugelhorn
Thomas Dyani: percussion
Daryl Leeque: percussion
Frank Williams: tenor saxophone
Ray Carles: alto saxophone
Julian Arguelles: baritone & soprano saxophone
Steve Williamson: alto, tenor & soprano saxophone
Robert Juritz: tenor saxophone & bassoon
Roland Perrin: piano
George Wolfaardt: bass (electric)
Gilbert Matthews: drums

1. Dakar 13:42
2. Sangena 9:28
3. Andromeda 5:41
4. Big G 10:16
5. Lafente 9:15
6. Bakwetha 10:51
7. Country Cooking 5:51
8. Mra 7:22

(Chris McGregor) - 1,2,3,6,7
(George Lee) - 4
(Dudu Pukwana, Pinise Saul) - 5
(Dudu Pukwana) - 8

(P)+(C)1994 by ITM Media

CHRiS McGREGOR's BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH - Middelheim Jazz Festival 1987

Wonderful radio broadcast contributed by mew23. Photos are from "Country Cooking" album, recorded January 1988.

CHRiS McGREGOR's BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH - Live at Middelheim Jazz Festival 1987

Harry Beckett - trumpet
Dave Defries - trumpet
Claude Deppa - trumpet
Annie Whitehead - trombone
Fayyaz Virji - trombone
Julian Arguelles - soprano and baritone sax
Chris Biscoe - alto sax, clarinet
Steve Williamson - tenor and alto sax
Jeff Gordon - tenor sax, clarinet, flute
Robert Juritz - tenor sax
Chris McGregor - piano
Ernest Mothle - electric bass
Gilbert Matthews - drums
Thomas Dyani - congas


1. Dakar [19:37]
2. Atlantic Island Dreams [10:42]
3. You And Me (Sejui) [10:29)
4. Country Cooking [13:12]
5. Big G [10:38]
6. Andromeda [06:20]

Recorded live at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp, Belgium, August 14, 1987

FM radio broadcast
Total time [70:58]

Brotherhood of Breath live at Siegendorff 1975

This is a one-hour excerpt from a BoB concert in Siegendorff in Austria on 11 July 1975. The final track in this set is unfortunately faded out before the end and I've no idea whether there were more tunes, but I have a hunch there might have been.

The line-up is not entirely certain, but quite possibly similar to the BoB line-up at the Willisau concert the same year. I've added Harry Beckett as he was playing on both 1975 gigs featured on the "Bremen to Bridgwater" cd released by Cuneiform, so there is a likelihood that he is on this gig as well though one cannot be entirely sure (unless one can pick him out from the audio). New to BoB is Bruce Grant on baritone sax, stepping in for John Surman, one might say. He also appeared on the "French" version of BoB on "Yes Please" which we have posted here earlier.

There was no set list given when this was posted on the Dime network, so I've had to reconstruct the list by listening to the tunes and crosschecking with other BoB albums. Interestingly, many of the tunes here were never released in a studio version, might not even have been recorded, but were regulars in the BoB live repertoire. From what I've been able to find out, these are the tunes:


01. warming up + Ismite is Might (Chris McGregor) (16:10)
02. The Serpent's Kindly Eye (Chris McGregor) (10:48)
03. Untitled original (Mike Osborne) (8:10)
04. Tunji's Song (Tunji Oyelana) (6:18)
05. Mra (Dudu Pukwana) (12:24)
06. Kongi's Theme (Chris McGregor) (cut off) (4:55)

The third tune was never given a title, but according to information from the "Bremen to Bridgwater" double cd, was written by Mike Osborne and appears as the final track on cd1, recorded at Bridgwater earlier that year. Nice to hear the anthem-like "Ismite is Might", appearing at roughly at the 11-minute mark on the first track here, after a false start of "Mra".

Line-up:

Chris McGregor - piano
Dudu Pukwana - reeds
Mike Osborne - reeds
Evan Parker - reeds
Elton Dean - reeds
Bruce Grant - reeds
Mongezi Feza - trumpet
Marc Charig - trumpet
Harry Beckett - trumpet
Nick Evans - trombone
Radu Malfatti - trombone
Harry Miller - bass
Louis Moholo - drums

This is an audience recording. The sound is fairly good, and the BoB is at their shambolic best, as always.

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath - Yes Please

There were a couple of requests for this one, so as we pride ourselves for being service-minded (to the best of our ability), here it is. This is BoB Mark II, with many new faces and a few carry-overs from Mark I. Missing are key regulars such as Dudu Pukwana, Harry Miller and Lois Moholo, though Harry Beckett, Nick Evans and Radu Malfatti are well-known from earlier installations of the BoB. New to the combo are some top-notch jazzers from the French scene as well as the venerable John Tchicai.

The repertoire is a mix of some new and some not so new. "Andromeda" was of course on their debut album, "Sonia" turned up on their "Procession" lp, recorded in France in 1977 and "Burning Baby" was given an airing on Chris McGregor's solo piano album, "Piano Song vol. 1", recorded for the French label Musica Records in 1977. "Maxine" cropped up again on "Country Cooking", which appeared in 1988, also recorded in France, the chosen country of residence for Chris and Maxine McGregor.

A more, shall we say, restrained and well-ordered version of the BoB here, not given to 15-minute collective otbursts which of course had its charms as I will be the first to admit. The accent here is on arrangements, carefully written-out passages, perhaps more to Chris McGregor's liking than the earlier slightly more anarchic version. But it's all good stuff, nonetheless. A couple of surprises, the funkified vibe of "Sea Breeze" with some tasteful cello playing from Caroline Collins, and the flair of "Yes Please", the latter a Malfatti composition, definitely in his pre-minimalist phase.

Basic facts:

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath – Yes Please - Angoulème 1981

Label:In And Out

Catalog#:IaO 1001


Tracklist

A1 Andromeda – Mc Gregor
A2 Sonia – Feza
A3 Maxine – McGregor
A4 Sea Breeze – McGregor
B1 Burning Bush – McGregor
B2 Duku – Pukwana
B3 Uqonda – McGregor
B4 Yes Please – Malfatti

Credits

Piano, Flute – Chris McGregor
Cornet, Trumpet [Alto Horn] – Mark Charig
Trumpet – Peter Segone
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – David Defries, Harry Beckett
Trombone – Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti
Saxophone [Alto], Clarinet [Bass] – Andre Goudbeek
Saxophone [Baritone], Oboe, Flute – Bruce Grant
Saxophone [Soprano And Tenor], Clarinet [Bass] – François Jeanneau
Saxophone [Soprano],clarinet, Clarinet [Bass] – Louis Sclavis
Cello – Caroline Collins
Bass [Acoustic] – Didier Levallet
Bass [Guitar] – Ernest Shololo Mothle
Drums, Percussion – Brian Abrahams, Jean-Claude Montredon

Notes

Recorded 1ST and 2nd June 1981 in Théatre Municipal, Angoulème
Recorded By – Daniel Deshayes*

New scans courtesy of Nemo!

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath with Archie Shepp en concert a Banlieues Bleues

What with the World Cup in football finale a day away, I thought it was about time to sneak in some South African music here. Another good reason is that this one was requested on a jazz-related mailing list. So therefore ...

This was the final installment of the Brotherhood of Breath, recorded at the Banlieues Bleues festival in France in 1989. The previous year had seen the release of "Country Cooking", a studio recording with many of the players on this live concert. By the late 80s, the only remaining from the original BoB was Harry Beckett, apart from McGregor, of course. A couple of tunes from that record was carried over to this cd, the title track the most obvious one.

An added delight was the appearance of Archie Shepp who contributed a couple of his own tunes and can be heard on tenor throughout the whole concert. A worthy replacement for Dudu Pukwana, one might say, though BoB without Dudu was not quite the same. The South African influence is quite strong on the first four tracks, while the latter three veers into more standard jazz territory and the penultimate one with the added treat of some Sheppian vocals culminating in a jouyous and swinging concert through and through. The first and fourth tracks features the vocals of Sonti Mndebélé, a fresh member adding a touch of sisterhood. Finally, the album features a piano very much out of tune. A pianist's curse, I suppose.

1. Sangena (Chris McGregor/Sonti Mndebélé)
2. Mayebuye (Chris McGregor)
3. Country Cooking (Chris McGregor)
4. Jikele (Traditional)
5. Presentation
6. Steam (Archie Shepp)
7. Sweet as Honey (Chris McGregor)
8. Bessie Smith's Blues (Archie Shepp)

The full line-up can be found in the scans with the attached files.

Here are a couple of photos from Maxine McGregor's book:

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath - Live in Moers '81

Taped by "Ilario" this is the same BoB that recorded (few days before)
the album "Yes Please" for In and Out, and, as you'll note, even the
pieces' list is almost the same : a mix of old and new compositions.

Rec. live at "The 10th Moers Festival", Moers, Germany, on June 7, 1981
(mics recording)

Chris McGregor,piano,conductor
Harry Becket/Mark Charig/David Defries/Peter Segone,trumpet
Ray Anderson/Nick Evans/Radu Malfatti,trombone
Andre Goudbeek/Bruce Grant/Francois Jeanneau/Louis Sclavis/John Tchicai,reeds
Didier Levallet/Ernest Mothle,bass
Caroline Collins,cello
Brian Abrahams/Jean-Claude Montredon,drums

1. Sonia [M.Feza] (06:00)
2. Yes, Please [R.Malfatti] (14:23)
3. Duku [D.Purkwana] (10:25)
4. Maxime [C.McGregor] (09:06)
5. Untitled Original (10:24)
6. Andromeda [C.McGregor] (10:17)

Total Time 1:00:38

Brotherhood of Breath in Altena Castle, Germany, 1972

There's been an encouraging spate of Chris McGregor and Brotherhood rereleases lately, some of which has been featured on this blog before. Just around the corner is a Blue Notes box set containing all of their four releases on the Ogun label. One of them has also been posted here previously.

But what's on offer here and now has not been officially released yet at any rate. It's an excerpt from a concert inside Balver Höhle in Germany in 1972.

The info given is as follows:

Call 8:44
Andromeda 9:13
Think Of Something 14:19
Track 4 4:14

Lineup:

Harry Beckett
Marc Charig
Malcolm Griffith
Nick Evans
Dudu Pukwana
Mike Osborne
Gary Windo

The first three pieces are announced as such by the radio presenter, but "Call" sounds uncannily like "Ismite is Might" off the Willisau album and features most likely Nick Evans on the trombone. The second piece is "Mra" leading into "Andromeda". The third piece is "Do It" leading into "Think of Something", the latter featuring Mike Osborne on alto, Gary Windo on tenor and either Mark Charig or Harry Beckett on trumpet. The last piece is quite clearly "The Serpent's Kindly Eye", also on the Willisau album (which was the first ever release on the Ogun label).

The sound's fair on the first three, but a bit grimy on the last, though. The band is at its ramshackle best as ever. Some may find the BoB cacophonous at times, but to these ears it's beautiful cacophony.

Mp3 and flac versions in the comments section. Another golden dime.

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath - Live Berlin 1971

This recording has done the rounds several times on the net, so some of you will have it. For those who haven't I recommend you grab it - it's a gem.



Line-up

Harry Beckett - trumpet
Marc Charig - trumpet, cornet
Malcolm Griffiths - trombone
Nick Evans - trombone
Dudu Pukwana - alto sax
Mike Osborne - alto sax, clarinet
Alan Skidmore - baritone, tenor and soprano sax
Gary Windo - tenor sax
Chris McGregor - piano, keyboards
Harry Miller - bass
Louis Moholo - drums


I guess you all know the origin of B of B, so I'll spare you the story. I don't know the origin of the recording, the sound's far too good for a 70s audience bootleg, so I guess that it's a radio broadcast. Oddly enough, though it's supposed to have been recorded in Berlin, the announcer of the concert is (or sounds) English, and the band seem to be appearing between other acts.

The recording is ripped at 192 kbps (very good quality), with 2 single tracks of about 30 mins each.

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