The new issue of Record Collector announces the latest in the mag’s series of exclusive vinyl releases – this time a 2LP set from a Don Rendell quintet recorded at Klooks Kleek in apparently excellent sound in September 1963. Musicians aside from Don are Glenn Hughes (baritone), Kenny Baker (tr), Lennie Williams (bs), Chick Andrews (dr). The presence of Glenn Hughes is exciting – he died in 1966 is a house fire, was highly rated by the cognoscenti but left very little on record to attest to this (he plays the low notes on Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames ‘Get Away’…). During 1964 he briefly comprised a trio with John McLaughlin (gtr) and Rick Laird (bs) – the Rick Laird Trio in the handful of press ads for their gigs.
There are only 500 copies. Buy the mag to read about it or purchase via Record Collector on this line: 0208-7528193
I didn’t know Record Collector had their own label but then again I haven’t bought the magazine for years. This release sounds like the kind of thing that the Gearbox label would release. Hearing Glenn Hughes should indeed be exciting. I don’t recognise Chick Andrews eithr.
I have a Mike Westbrook feature in next month’s (April) issue, which might up your street.
Going to see “The Westbrook Blake: Settings of the Poetry of William Blake by Mike Westbrook” at Kings Place on the 17th.
Texts arranged by Adrian Mitchell and Kate Westbrook
Phil Minton & Kate Westbrook voices
Chris Biscoe saxophone
Billy Thompson violin
Mike Westbrook piano
Steve Berry double bass
London College of Music Chorus directed by Paul Ayres
Should be interesting.
Thanks Colin, I’ll look out for it. Very much a fan of the early Westbrook and saw the band at The Mermaid Theatre in, I think, 1969 performing ‘Earthrise’ which I don’t believe was ever recorded. And stood next to Joe Harriott in the bar in the interval!
Excerpts were broadcast on Jazz in Britain on 3/8/70 but it was one of several MW works from that 1967-71 period that weren’t commercially recorded/released. And they’re ALL in the Record Collector feature!
I recall that we sat just in front of Manfred Mann at The Mermaid. It must have been just as Chapter Three were getting going.
Here’s Mike Westbrook with his 1970 multimedia work, ‘The Original Peter’. This is Part 1 but there is a link to Part 2 :
Gold dust, jazzer. I see that was only posted a week ago on YouTube – by Tony Staveacre, credited as director.
A performance of ‘Original Peter’ was featured on a BBC2 prog called ‘Review), broadcast 25/4/70 and repeated 22/8/70 – though I wonder if this was a different performance, as a short standalone film?
I was aware that Norma Winstone (singing) had been sent a video copy by someone a while back, although she couldn’t recall doing it. I asked Chris Spedding about it a while back too and he couldn’t recall it either. Certainly, the ‘Review’ programme is no longer in the BBC archive. Curious…
Plenrty of 60s Brit jazz legends in there – Alan Jackson (drums), Paul Rutherford (trombone), Mike Osbourne (sax)…
The song featured from around 9:40 in Part 1 onwards into Part2 is ‘Magic Garden’, a single B-side now incredibly rare. It’ll be on RPM’s forthcoming ‘Marching Song’ 3CD set on the bonus disc (along with the A-side, a single version of the tune ‘Original Peter’, which is played at the end of Part 2).
Here’s part 2 for convenience: