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HARRY FULCHER |
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HARRY FULCHER - REVIEWS |
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HOT MUSIC FOR A COLD MONTH Many Jazz fans missed a special treat last Tuesday when Harry S. Fulcher, a sensual, lyrical saxophonist with great depth guested for the first time at the St. Ives Jazz Club. Fronting the splendid local line-up of Ralph Freeman, Terry Rodd and Marcus Vergette, this tenor and alto player from South Devon revealed a relaxed style that fully explored the range of each number and beautifully harmonised with the double bass playing of Vergette. Light on his toes, Harry S. Fulcher’s body movements echoed and emphasised his sensual playing. One female member of the audience was heard to say ‘The sexiest saxophonist I have seen or heard or thought possible!’ However nothing can be perfect and he did have a line in jokes that made even the late Ronnie Scott’s sound good. At the end the volume of applause from the modest sized audience revealed just how much they loved his playing and I am sure that it will not be long before he is back in St. Ives.
Colin T. Johnston, St. Ives Times & Echo, April 2004 Farmer, sculptor and highly rhythmic double bass player Marcus Vergette joined forces on Tuesday night with painter, jazz club organiser and keyboard player Ralph Freeman and teacher and drummer Pip Harbon to support and welcome back to St. Ives jazz club special guest tenor and alto saxophonist, session man and teacher Harry S. Fulcher. Following his enthusiastically received first appearance at the club, many in the audience had returned to welcome him back, whilst the rest of the packed house rapidly caught onto the enthusiasm shown for this fine player. He explores each tune so thoroughly and yet, gliding through each number, embraces all aspects and places his distinctive stamp upon it. Harry and Marcus were virtually dancing with their instruments through some of the numbers and even Ralph Freeman seated at the keyboard was all but dancing, such were the sensual qualities that Harry Fulcher brought out. It may have looked relaxed but he pours so much energy into his playing, kicking his legs out at the back like a newly shod pony as the musicians continued to inspire one another. At the end of a great session after much applause he said: “and now please, just clap for each other, for we are all alive and well.” And certainly, thanks to him, we all were. |
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LIMBIC SYSTEM - REVIEWS |
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"Oregon meets Weather Report via Steps Ahead. Captivatingly well-written and well-executed This is a fascinating recording from the West Country based Harry S. Fulcher, with his band that he calls The Limbic System. Eschewing the theme-solos-theme and out routine that has been tried and tested, and tried again, Fulcher and his cohorts have produced an album of original material that is a truly group effort in sound and delivery and that has been tried and tested in performance (and tried and tested again). This is complex material that is thoroughly composed and orchestrated for the band, that draws its influences from far and wide. With its emphasis so firmly fixed on the cooperative nature of the music, one is reminded of Josef Zawinul’s comment re Weather Report’s debut album where he observed enigmatically that “we never solo and we always solo”. In much the same way, albeit via a very different route and methods, Fulcher has come up with a similar beast. Wishing to come up with an album of “Wall to wall music, as opposed to wall to wall tenor” (his words not mine), he has very much achieved this with an albums worth of material that whilst firmly in the jazz tradition defies categorisation. The playing time of most of the tracks on the album exceed the five minute mark, with four out of the seven clocking in at over seven minutes, yet there is never a sense of filling in time with each piece being played out for as long as is necessary to make the composition work. Tight knit and packed with detail, solos drifting in and out of the ensemble, (mainly from the tenor of Fulcher himself and guitarist Richard Thorn) I found this an absorbing album that would change my perception of the music on each hearing. Almost impossible then to pick out any particular track for individual attention as each has its own distinctive character that seemed to refresh itself on each airing. Having said that it is a reviewers prerogative to contradict themselves (and most of us do), and I must admit a particular fondness for ‘Speaking In Tongues’ with its tightly woven and intricate rhythmic patterns and main theme, and Fulcher’s wonderful clarinet playing that interweaves throughout; getting right inside the fabric of the piece, never dominating or intrusive but always tugging at the ear. This is an album packed with intelligent music that nags away at the listener in a most pleasant way. It is 2.00am as I finish writing this review and common sense dictates that it is time to call it quits and hit the sack, but hey the album hasn’t finished playing so just time to kick back and savour… |
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CONSPIRACY OF EQUALS - REVIEWS |
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"........ insight, focus and enviable chops."
Brian Morton, Jazz Review Magazine Saxophonist Harry S. Fulcher was a founding member of the London Musicians Collective and, as the group name suggests, brings the same democratic/inclusive philosophy to this intense improv quartet. Guitarist/altoist Aaron Standon is the other reasonably well-known member, but bassist Pete Brandt and drummer Marco Anderson have their share of impressive credits. It starts in a whirlwind and you wonder how they might possibly stay the pace, but then the soft opening to "The Tibetan Xl", quiet bass, fugitive chimes and jingles round the perimeter, forces the recognition that this is a group that doesn't just rely on heat and speed, but calls on a huge reservoir of musical thought. Very impressive indeed.
Glenn Astarita (Downbeat magazine, USA) This U.K. based improvising quartet exerts unrelenting energy while shifting the musical parameters down to investigative dialogues, free-bop movements and more. They're a funseeking unit that occasionally closes in for the kill while expanding its perimeters via cunning explorations, as diversity looms as a major component of the band's methodology. On the workout titled "The Tibetan XI", the band delves into minimalist- type manoeuvres, featuring saxophonist Harry S. Fulcher's lower register phrasings, as they generate semblances of a covert action. But they gradually pick up the flow and segue into an avant, electric Miles Davis style funk groove highlighted by guitarist Aaron Standon's rhythmic chord progressions and Fulcher's popping sax lines. In other regions of sound and style, the quartet executes medium-tempi swing vamps and rapidly-paced flurries, evidenced on the supercharged jazz- fusion romp "Starters". In effect, the musicians sustain a great deal of interest by launching into different modes and stylizations, abetted by their intuitive dialogues and improvisations. For example, they change gears during the somewhat rowdy free-jazz vibe heard on "Voodoo Butter", where the rhythm section underscores the proceedings with an African tribal pulse. Consequently, they cover quite a bit of musical terrain while collectively displaying insight, focus and enviable chops. There's a lot of substance to be found throughout this outwardly upbeat and enjoyable endeavour.
Steve Day “Stasis in darkness. Conspiracy of Equals is not a ‘band’ in the strict sense of the word. What we have here is a ‘collective’ of musicians, a flexible pool of people who might play wider than this particular grouping. There are no fixtures and fittings, except that Harry S. Fulcher, Aaron Standon, Pete Brandt and Marco Anderson all played together on the last Conspiracy of Equals CD released by Leo Records. However, this quartet look like a band, behave and banter like a band and often actually play like a band. Is a duck not a duck even when it’s a drake? As if to prove the collectivism, Alex McGuire turns up on Ariel; a tall, thin raincoat-on-a-sunny-day man pursing his muse on an acoustic black scratched grand piano in amongst a ‘band’ that frequently becomes electric. Equality is always a concept which struggles with reality. To be equal is the great equation, the place where justice and definitions often add up to soft politics. Ariel contains no such outcome. Here the music has a strong hard centre. A conspiracy is literally being played out before us. None of this music is pre-planned, everybody composes everything instantly. Whenever the ears respond to ‘the soloist’ they need to also comprehend the context. The Ariel audience and the musicians are all hearing the same soundscape for the first time at the same time. In this particular situation what transpires is both individual and collective, so here are the conspirators: Harry S. Fulcher, famed sound engineer at Leo Records, the man who holds the mystery to the clarity of Sun Ra’s Springtime in Chicago (Leo GY 26/27) is tonight playing tenor and alto saxophones. He also has an antique b-flat clarinet in the stand but never gets round to picking it up. Sometimes Mr Fulcher transforms into a living breathing Dexter Gordon, such is the delicacy of his beautiful tenor. Harry Fulcher has a sound like a declaration of love. Constantly moving around the stage as if conducting matters, never at any point dictatorial, he is a musician with presence of purpose. Both tenor and alto seek out stories rarely told in totally improvised settings; he has a kind of on-going refinement. Before the gig he tells me that he was initially inspired to take up tenor after hearing one single phrase played by the late Jerry Underwood at the Bracknell Festival back in the 1970’s. Harry S. Fulcher has been telling his own dark-down stories ever since. Pete Brandt has a black pork-pie hat neatly balanced on his head. What might be sharp can also be pragmatic; he is embracing his double bass as if it is the only thing left in the world. He’s had a bad week, caught a cold, busted his bass pick-up. The road to ruin looks straight and narrow, yet he is bowing chords and single lines with all the authority of a one man string quartet. He and I have a shared appreciation of Barre Phillips bass work on Ornette Coleman’s Naked Lunch and it is not hard to hear the connection. On Ariel Mr Brandt joins up the emerging discussion of equals like a non verbal negotiator. No one should underestimate what is beneath the surface. The bright red Premier drum kit in the middle of the stage looks brand new, it is in fact at least a quarter of a century old. It’s Marco Anderson’s equivalent of one of those shining red sports cars kept persistently polished and serviced by the MG Owners Club. Mr Anderson is at least 50% a rock drummer, so what? He brushes up the double snare drums with a time count that makes him a mathematician as well as a musician. At Ariel the drums cut out the corners. They are always cruising the action, driving everybody else’s ideas forward. Mr Anderson not only displaces the beat but also the tension that segues through this whole conspiratorial encounter. Tonight someone needs to do it. Marco Anderson succeeds beyond measure. The equality of the shift from quartet to quintet is spinning this gig into previously uninvestigated places. The bright red Premier drum kit is the nearest thing to home. Alex McGuire has altered the state of play. Where there was previously deliberate ambiguity in the harmonies he brings in the implications of the whole of the western music structure. And although Mr McGuire literally gets his fingers inside the piano he is also constantly forming chords around parts which, in other circumstances, would never have known their own name. The effect is both fraught with difficulties while at the same time soothed with tranquillity. Suddenly a dark room is open to sunlight, at once you see everything yet are blinded by the experience. Alex McGuire is a pianist par excellence, a man with reputation; he turns this conspiracy from being one distinct thing into something else. And he does not look back. Even the pastoral moments dictate change and implication. Mr McGuire has to be dealt with. Aaron Standon does the dealing. He is an exemplary alto saxophone player. He should be much better known than he is. Part of the reason he is not is that he also plays devastating guitar, soprano sax, flute, electronics and life itself. At Ariel he has no choice. Mr Standon has to deal. In contrast to Harry S. Fulcher, Aaron Standon hardly moves from his allotted spot on the stage. The man stands fixed, staring into white light darkness, leaving the alto until last. The new solid bodied guitar he is using tonight sound-shifts feedback in massive blocks of electronica. This is not anything like ‘rock guitar’; at Ariel everything becomes sonic. And when he is not playing you know at any moment great white noise is an ever present potential option. Ironically it is only when Aaron Standon is actually playing saxophone is the Conspiracy momentarily free of the implications of electricity. The power of the national grid to disturb the air, the head, the heart, the whole physicality of space is evidenced in this Ariel guitar. It does not matter whatever else is said or done, this big, huge terribly beautiful eruption will not go away. On 23rd June 2007 at the Ariel Centre in Totnes, Devon the collective known as the Conspiracy of Equals produce a gig out of the scheme of things. I cannot remember ever having heard improvising musicians confronting the single problem of the integration of western harmony and sound as music as this quintet does tonight. All five players are experienced improvisers. I was with them prior to the concert; no one appeared unduly concerned about what might happen. But something does; it is evident from the start that at this particular time and place, in these specific circumstances, chords, keys, octaves, melody, and volume all become distinct issues. And no one on the bandstand solves the conundrum. All five players deal with it; have the experience, the creativity, the substance and the willingness to worry the problem over and over again. In so doing Ariel, almost by chance, becomes a real conspiracy, what equality can be put on sound? This conspiratorial act of Ariel is a brilliant mesmerising document. Orkhestra, France Neuf improvisations viscérales par quatre poids lourds du free britannique. Free mais aussi funk, blues et groove! |
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Il quartetto Conspiracy of Equals è tra i più interessanti ensemble dell'attuale musica improvvisata inglese. Poco noti in Italia, i suoi componenti si sono conquistati una solida reputazione sulla scena dell'avanguardia britannica anche per la militanza nei Limbic System (di cui Harry Fulcher è il leader) o nel gruppo di punk jazz The Bird Architets (Marco Anderson e Aaron Standon). Il bassista Pete Brandt viene invece dalla scena jazzistica di Bristol ed ha collaborato con Andy Sheppard, Keith Tippett ed altri esponenti di primo piano. Questo disco è stato ripreso dal vivo all'Ariel Centre di Tornes, nel Devon, il 7 settembre 2005 e presenta una sintesi fantasiosa di free jazz storico, mainstream, blues, libera improvvisazione e stilemi rock. Tutte le composizioni sono un lavoro originale dell'ensemble e manifestano una ricca tensione collettiva, con i musicisti che si relazionano in modo empatico. Harry Fulcher è un clarinettista e sassofonista (contralto e tenore) dalla pronuncia scura e vibrante che nei brani più ”tradizionali” (”Jazzantz”, “All The Things You Weren't”) ricorda la potenza espressiva di un David S. Ware (e in definitiva di Sonny Rollins). Aaron Standon è un chitarrista elettrico dalla sonorità acida che predilige accompagnare con rapidi accordi metallici o contrappuntare con lunghe linee melodiche ricche di effetti e distorsioni. Occasionalmente imbraccia il contralto dialogando con il tenore o il clarinetto di Fulcher. La ritmica è particolarmente efficace: sensibile nei brani astratti quanto marcata e “spinta” negli episodi improntati all'estetica rock o funk. In questa ricca e variopinta sintesi di stili, alcuni brani risultano particolarmente riusciti: il frenetico “Starters”, il lungo e articolato “Tunnel-History-Vison” e il multiforme “Voodoo Butter” che passa da un inizio cameristico ed un parossistico finale, che si snoda all'insegna del free più acceso. |
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The quartet Conspiracy of Equals is one of the most interesting ensemble of the actual improvised English musical scene. Not really well known in Italy, its members have conquered a solid reputation on the scene of the British vanguard also for the militancy in the Limbic System (of which Harry Fulcher is the leader) or in the group of punk jazz The Bird Architects (Mark Anderson and Aaron Standon). The bass player Pete Brandt comes instead from the jazz scene of Bristol and has collaborated with Andy Sheppard, Keith Tippett and others exponents of the first order. |
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