JOHN WARREN, JOHN SURMAN & THE BRASS PROJECT ~ The Traveller’s Tale FLED 3103

Description

A previously unrecorded suite of compositions by JOHN WARREN, recorded live by the JOHN SURMAN led BRASS PROJECT.

In the early 1980s John Surman and John Warren realized a long-held ambition and formed the Brass Project. The ensemble was conceived as a brass led group focusing on new compositions from Surman and Warren. The large group ‘had to survive without grant or subsidy’ yet released a mesmerizing and critically acclaimed album for the ECM label and toured extensively on the European jazz circuit. Surman and Warren had first collaborated on the masterly 1971 Tales of the Algonquin suite, and saw the Brass Project as a further exploration of ideas they had begun to explore more than ten years earlier.

The 11-piece Brass Project captured live on this previously unreleased recording from June 1993 features – John Surman saxophones, alto and bass clarinets, Stephen Waterman, Guy Barker, Steve Sidwell trumpets, Pete Beachill, Malcolm Griffiths trombones, Richard Edwards, Kenny Hamilton bass trombones, Chris Laurence bass, John Marshall drums, percussion and
John Warren conductor,

This hitherto ‘lost’ The Traveller’s Tale recording captures a sumptuous suite of compositions inspired by stories of the early life of John Warren’s grandfather. The piece is not programmatic but loosely traces episodes in his adventurous life, allowing for some glorious ensemble and solo playing.

Warren’s composition…“stands comparison with the music of Gil Evans or Maria Schneider.”