Memories for the Future Free Jazz Quartet (Smith/Coleman/Moore/Prevost)

Event information

Memories for the Future
free jazz quartet

Harrison Smith - tenor/soprano saxophones and bass clarinet
Jamie Coleman - trumpet
Tony Moore (aka Paz Caplin) - cello
Eddie Prévost - drums



This gig celebrates the recently released lost recording of the an
earlier version of the band. Memories for the Future, which was
recorded in 1992. Since then, sadly the trombonist of the band Paul
Rutherford has passed away. In his place for this concert steps up
young trumpeter Jamie Coleman. Whlist not replacing the irreplaceable he takes the baton to create more memories for the future.

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Reviews of the CD so far:

This is a newly discovered recording of a concert given in Bristol in
1992 and like everything else that Mr. Prevost releases on Matchless,
it is extraordinary. This is the second disc from the Free Jazz
Quartet, the personnel is the same as their earlier Matchless disc -
it features the late Paul Rutherford on trombone, Harrison Smith on
tenor & soprano saxes & bass clarinet, Tony Moore on cello and Eddie
Prevost on drums. Similar in respect to the past with an eye to the
future British percussionists Eddie Prevost and John Stevens both led
bands and influenced those around them with their vision and playing.
Both men led by example and helped to focus the playing of the
members of their various projects. This, the Free Jazz Quartet is a
great example since they are much more than just a free jazz quartet.
Mr. Prevost has selected an excellent, well-balanced and explorative
unit. Eddie's own playing is constantly shifting between rhythms,
colors and shades similar to what the under-recorded Tony Moore does
on the cello, more often plucking than bowing. Eddie plays with the
utmost restraint for the first few pieces on this disc, as if he is
using knitting needles on his cymbals and drums. Both horns (trombone
& reeds) sail around one another in a most organic fashion. Eddie's
mallet playing on "Summoning" is both spacious, careful and melodic,
his solo and duo with the cello is quite stunning. When the horns
finally come in it is perfection personified. It sounds like a
conversations between ghosts or elders, with ideas being tossed back
and forth effortlessly. It was sad to lose trombone legend Paul
Rutherford a few years ago. This disc show that he was still an
amazing improviser later in life and captures him and the rest of
this magnificent quartet just right. Truly outstanding!

Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, New York.



[....] Rutherford, who died in 2007, produced varied levels of
performance in his later career, but this recording finds him in
relaxed, highly creative form; equally individual, though, is the
blustery tenor of the less well-known Harrison Smith. The opening,
very free 'A Fertile Valley' begins with unaccompanied duet by
searching trombone and bass clarinet, soon joined by tremolo cello
and gently rustling percussion. In contrast, Moore on cello sets up a
folksy vamp on 'Pulsate', which he refers to loosely throughout: it's
still relatively unusual to hear this instrument taking on the role
of bass, and Moore's guitar-like facility is shown in some strudent
arpeggiated skittering effects on 'Summoning." On this driving track,
he's paired with Prévost on mallets, and before the horns join the
melée the pulse edges into and out of focus; the drummer's solo piece
'Octavian Law', in contrast, sets up a highly controlled, waxing and
waning son continu. This is careful, considered, often rather
delicate music — free jazz in the sense of searching and exploratory,
rather than ecstatic.

Andy Hamilton The Wire

[......]
The eight pieces on Memories for the Future, an animated set recorded
live in Bristol in 1992, ride along on a relaxed sense of free swing.
The trombonist provides his inimitable wry phrasing and blues bluster
tinged with acrobatic smears, while Smith is more considered, less
boisterous, and brings an open melodicism to the proceedings. The way
that the two work off each other is a study in contrast and balance.
Moore makes the most of the entire range of his cello, moving
effortlessly between propulsive momentum and linear counterpoint,
bringing out the complex rhythmic underpinning of Prévost's
hyperactive playing. It's a great snapshot of the four in full flight
and a vital reminder of what a great player Paul Rutherford was in a
jazz-based setting.

Michael Rosenstein PARIS Transatlantic Magazine

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Memories for the Future [Matchless Recordings MRCD76]
http://www.matchlessrecordings.com