snobb South Africa-born son of Scottish church missioner, pianist Chris McGregor, made his name after his relocation to London and playing for some years a, quite unique for the time, mix of soulful South African tunes, American free jazz and Canterbury scene elements with his Brotherhood Of Breath big band. In 1989, his orchestra toured Europe with special guest American sax player Archie Shepp, their concert in Paris was recorded and released on the tiny French label 52 Rue Est.

"En Concert a Banlieues Bleues" is a strange recording. The sound quality is not the best, but acceptable for a live festival recording. The whole concert does not sound like one collective work though - its more similar to one of those fest nights when a few artists share the stage and (probably for the first time ever) play a few songs together. Brotherhood of Breath, improved with South African singer Sonti Mndebele (who worked as back-up vocalist for Donna Summer, Tina Turner, Paul Simon, Sting and many others) plays well orchestrated African jazz with a stronger then usual African element (particularly Sonti Mndebele's singing techniques), at the same time, Shepp stays rooted in his hard bop. No serious collaboration between the two quite different musical genres could be found, so the better moments are those when the band or Shepp are just soloing alone.

And - there is also an out of tune piano all night long. They say Chris had wanted to stop the release of the album, but it still would have been released because of contractual obligations. Some months later, after "En Concert a Banlieues Bleues" was released, Chris fell ill on tour and died so it stays his last album released (lots of material was released posthumously though).

In all, not the album for McGregor or Shepp newcomers, but it could be an interesting release for serious fans of both artists.

Sean Trane In between two attempts at creating his big band formation, McGregor did record with a smaller formation this rather “difficult” album, whose line-up would be the spine of his BoB project, born the following year. Actually all but contrabassist Danny Thompson (better known with The Pentangle or John Martyn) were either old South African expats or soon-to-be collabs. With a triple-sax attack (Surman, Pukwana and Parker, and fellow countrymen drummer Muholo and trumpeter Feza, we’re facing a highly-policed formation that never hesitate to cross the border of dissonance and a semi-controlled improvisation XXX. Although by the end of the 60’s, Joe Boyd had evolved from a jazz camp into a folk or folk-rock king, he still took time to produce this rather un-trad album in London studios, but the session for that album was never released until the mid-00’s.

Only four lengthy tracks (two aside), none any easier than the rest, even if the short half-track Yickitikee is probably the most accessible of the album with its gypsy-jazz influence. One of the characteristic of this album is that the mood is generally happy, which might be somewhat surprising, since one doesn’t associate dissonant improvisations with frivolity or joy, but rather seriousness and depth or even anger and revolt born out the civil rights fight across the Atlantic, despite the South-African fight against its own white-suppressors. So, if you’re fearing an over-the-top avant-garde album, you’re right, but for some reason Up To Earth is not as arduous or repulsive to a trad-jazzhead as one might expect from the genre, despite the album not being the usual big-band that McGregor was well-known for.

Sean Trane Yet another Cuneiform BoB live release, this time made from three different sessions and two fairly different eras. Indeed if the big-band’s sound had somewhat evolved from mid-71 and mid-75 by progressing and exploring ever further down the road, it’s always surprising to see how most of the members remained fidel (well somewhat, anyway) for such a long time. Indeed, you’ll find the usual suspect, like Beckett, Charig, Evans, Feza, Griffiths, Miller, Moholo, Osborne, Parker, Pukwana, Skidmore and Windo, but you’ll also hear Elton Dean, and a few more

The 71 Radio Bremen broadcast opens on the goofy Funky Roots March (that usually served to close sets), but the set relies on many studio-origined tracks, like the repetitive Now, Bride, Think Of Something, etc…Well the band hovers from a slightly avant-garde big band to a still to be perfected improvising and dissonant band, but to more casual fans, the former trend dominates this set. To close the first disc, two pieces from a UK gig

On the second disc, another 75 gig, recorded at the same place (but to be honest I find the sound a bit shaky), which hogs the whole CD and barely feature any tracks that were originally recorded in the studios, As surprising as it may seem, the BoB is definyely less extreme that night, almost trad big-band like, but this only until that Restless track arrives, then all hell brakes loose, and the BoB boys go wild blowing in their horns. But most of the tracks of this set are a little to repetititititive to my taste, even if it allows sometimes some interesting solos. Well this third Cuneiform release (after Travelling and Eclipse) might appear the more complete, but the relatively poor sound of the second disc might be a slight deterrent to some

Sean Trane Chronologically second Cuneiform label BoB album (but first released), Travelling Somewhere dates from Jan 73 and was recorded in Bremen for a Radio broadcast, so it is predated by the Eclipse At Dawn release. Again with a relatively stable line-up (only Evan Parker replacing Alan Skidmore), the BoB played a three-set gig. As time wore on, BoB was getting more experimental or extreme and the dissonant and free passages were taking the lion’s share of the sets, as can be heard between the EaD set and the present

As you can imagine with three normal sets, choices had to be made due to time restrictions of a single CD, so some tracks had to be faded out to be fitted on the album, most notably the closing Do It, which you can hear on other live BoB albums. From their two studio album released before the present broadcast, only MRA, The Bride, Think Of Something and Do It are present, the rest being concert faves, and not necessarily the obvious crowd pleasers. Even the more gentle numbers like Bride are given a fairly rough treatment with some sceachy saxes. If McGregor’s adventures on the London jazz scene are unavoidable, I wouldn’t certify you that his works is really essential to traditional or casual jazz fans, but avant-garde heads will certainly think so. Choosing between EaD and the present TS might prove difficult, but if you’re more trad than avant, the former might please you better.

Sean Trane A posthumous live release, Eclipse At Dawn is much in the tradition of the excellent Cuneiform label it was issued on: indeed, one of the label’s speciality was to find British jazz scene artistes’ radio and TV broadcasts recorded throughout Germany and sometimes elsewhere, be this for Surman, Soft Machine, Brotherhood Of Breath and more. In the present case, the label has issued two different broadcasts or concerts, this one from Nov 71 in Berlin, the other (Travelling Somewhere) dating from January 73 in Bremen. The amazing thing about such a big band is that the line-up remained really constant throughout the 70’s, with only a few minor and temporary changes. As pianist Chris McGregor is a South African, his group also featured a nucleus of SA expats, like drummer Moholo, bassist Miller, trumpeter Mongezi Feza (actually absent from the present gig), and saxman Dudu Pukwana. The British contingent included London-scene stalwarts and mainstays such as Charig, Griffiths, Evans, Beckett, Osborne, Windo, Skidmore and accompanying club-owner (and non-sax player that night) Ronnie Scott doing the introduction and outroduction.

A typical early 70’s BoB set list only included a few tracks taken from their studio albums, like Nick Tete, The Bride, Do It, while the rest were being concert-standards that only saw a release their sole live Willisau album of the times. And even those album-linked tracks were not always close to the studio version as can be seen with The Bride (extended to 15-mins) or Tete (over 8-mins instead of 6), but they’re still easily recognizable. Actually, the overall live-feel thing is much less dissonant and free than the present concert, although there are passages nearing the chaotic, especially in the ending section of the numbers played of the aptly-named Restless.

Closing the set is the goofy Funky Boots March, a piece that dissolves into Ronnie Scott’s closing comments. Well, should you own only one BoB album, you might as well choose one of the two live Cuneiform albums, which tend to represent the band best, and feature a full set. But if McGregor’s adventures on the London jazz scene are unavoidable, I wouldn’t certify you that his works is really essential to traditional or casual jazz fans, but avant-garde heads will certainly think so.