Cultural change was in the air in the 1960s – and a host of young British jazz musicians seized their opportunity. They began to challenge the orthodoxy that British jazz was the lesser cousin of the Americans, that home-brewed musicians were second rate. The musicians began to develop their own techniques, looked to other musical styles for inspiration, and drew into their ranks players from around the world. Musicians such as saxophonist John Surman and guitarist John McLaughlin came of age; composers Mike Westbrook and Michael Garrick, among others, brought new ideas to the table; players and composers from the Caribbean, India and southern Africa inspired cross-cultural collaboration; and the far greater popularity and reach of rock music was no longer seen as a threat but as a source of inspiration.
‘A New Awakening: Adventures in British Jazz 1966 – 1971,’ a triple-CD compilation from Cherry Red, charts these ‘exciting and revolutionary times’, when, as the blurb says, ‘musical boundaries were stretched or ignored and new identities forged’. It does a good job.
The usual suspects are covered by the compilation’s 48 tracks, including Graham Collier, Mike Westbrook, Tubby Hayes, Michael Garrick, Mike Gibbs, John Surman, Mike Osborne and John McLaughlin. Their recordings provide the backbone for the album and their selected tracks are well chosen. And alongside them are some interesting examples of how rock was being drawn into the mix. Jazz-rock would eventually morph into the unwieldy monster known as Fusion. But here we have the British beginnings of the genre – before Miles Davis provided the rocket fuel with the release of ‘Bitches Brew’. There are, for example, tracks from Jethro Tull, Spooky Tooth, Keef Hartley and Colosseum, which some might find strange. But it is fascinating how, by taking these big names out of the traditional ‘blues-based rock’ category where they are usually placed, this compilation casts their music in a new and more interesting light. Not all selections work, unless there is a very liberal interpretation of ‘jazz’ (does Graham Bond play jazz or R&B?), but this was a time of change and all bets were off.
In a booklet alongside the three CDs in the clamshell packaging there is an essay by Duncan Heining, who has become an authority on this period through his books ‘Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers: British Jazz, 1960 – 1975’ and ‘And Did Those Feet’, highlighting six British composers. There are also informative pen sketches of all the artists.
Some tracks are already available on other compilations, and this could have been an opportunity to vary selections – Bob Downes recorded prolifically and yet we have again his ‘Keep Off The Grass’. The same is true for Harold McNair with ‘The Hipster’. There are also some glaring omissions: the fine Keith Tippett Group does not appear here (although Tippett’s wife Julie Driscoll does) and there is nothing from Alan Skidmore’s solo efforts.
But all in all this is a well-compiled album. It is a timely one, too, amid the current resurgence of interest in jazz. Long may it last. Perhaps there should be a companion volume to ‘A New Awakening’. It could be called ‘Wide Awake’ and cover the equally exciting period from 1971 to 1975. But that is down the road and, until that happens, this recommended compilation offers much to feast on.
*applause*
I bet Colin has a few words to say.
Not really, save that it looks like a great listen! I was involved at the beginning of the compiling process, but stepped away to focus on other things, a couple of years ago and several of the track selections from Draft 1 are there. Whoever has completed it has done has a grand job. 🙂
A lengthy essay from you would have gone down a treat, Colin. It was in fact your liner notes for Chris Spedding’s ‘Songs Without Words’ that first got me interested in British jazz of this period. Those notes and the ‘mini book’ you wrote for the Turtle Records reissues.
Thank you, Mustmeister – that’s very kind indeed! While compiling themed various artists sets for Cherry Red can be fun, the financial reward compared to the time involved in seeing something like that through (including booklet research/essay) is not really there. I don’t mind brainstorming the odd themed set but I’m much happier for others to do the heavy lifting re: booklet essay.
With single-artist sets, or something like the Turtle set (three artists, one label impresario), it’s easier – and there’s a sense of reward that isn’t to do with ££ if one is actually working with the artist (or estate) – like the Spedding set, or Peter Eden with the Turtle set.
With some other British jazz releases that I’ve been involved with, I’m more than happy to be an ideas generator or compiler and give way to a writer with much more knowledge of the artist(s), or their repertoire. Simon Spillett is especially good on the the ‘straight ahead’ end of British modern jazz from the 60s – not only as a historian/author but as an active musician with a real inside knowledge of the repertoire and the playing on a much, much deeper level than I could muster. I think our first joint effort was the Gordon Beck 3CD set ‘Jubiliation’ (me on the research / curating and some vintage images, he on a superb booklet essay and further images).
I’m looking forward to his epic essay in Jazz In Britain’s soon-forthcoming Tubby Hayes ‘Live at Antibes 1962’ release. 🙂
I do, though, have a book on a character from 50s British jazz coming later this year (when I can find the time to finish the half chapter still needing written).
As I was there at the time this interesting set would appeal to me except that I have most of the original albums after many years of collecting British jazz. I quite like the idea of including selected rock acts in the set as it was a time when there was starting to be some degree of crossover. I recall seeing Mike Westbrook at a concert at the Mermaid theatre in 1969 and Manfred Mann’s band were in the seats behind us. So it’s good to see Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three included (even if I would have chosen a different track). Overall, though, Gilles Peterson’s ‘Impressed’ compilations from the early 2000s takes some beating as a more representative collection.
The key thing about Gilles Peterson’s ‘Impressed’ compilations was that the track selections were backed up by full, high-quality reissues of the related albums. So if you liked an artists you could dig deeper into his/her work. In contrast, a good number of the artists on ‘A New Awakening’ have indeed had their albums reissued by Cherry Red, but this was often years ago. So, now, these albums are difficult to get. Two examples: Esoteric’s release of Bob Downes’ ‘Electric City’ is not available for sale on Discogs (although versions from other labels are); while there is not a single UK Discogs seller for Trifle’s ‘First Meeting’. Cherry Red most probably would argue that these albums can be heard on streaming services, but that’s not the same.
Thanks for the review; I would like to hear this as it’s an interesting musical moment (I know much less about it than others!). You point to the problem of a lot of these copious Cherry Red CD sets: whatever the genre, they evidently depend on a limited amount of available material to license, which leads to the often peculiar selections and glaring omissions.
You’re right – there are often themed sets that have to omit things that might seem glaring, often for reasons that wouldn’t be clear to punters. With Cherry Red, the economics of such sets are helped if 10-15% of a tracklist can be met from copyrights CR owns – and CR does, to be fair, own a lot of catalogue.
In the case of ‘A New Awakening’, it really does look like they’ve been able to license the majority of what they will have asked for. Of course there will be this or that artist one might have liked to see represented, but it looks to me like a very, very good snapshot of the era – and also, from the track selection, a great listen!
Thanks for an excellent review @Munster.
I looked through the tracklist and saw many old favourites.
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/various-artists-a-new-awakening-adventures-in-british-jazz-1966-1971-3cd-box-set?srsltid=AfmBOoqhcTXYCG_g3NQPG-m3bBcNYIGtuoxgnRSnyAxZ6H1c0L2qUsCN
I was very pleased to see a track by Pentangle rubbing shoulders with Nucleus and the the Keef Hartley Band.
I saw the Keef Hartley Big Band live at Watford Town Hall in my teens and was completely blown away. I’d never experienced a band with a full brass section before.
Keef was at Woodstock but sadly never made it into the movie. Shame, as the band were in fine form.
Speaking of Mike Westbrook and Graham Collier, My Only Desire Records are very good at this kind of thing, and their releases sound excellent.
https://www.myonlydesirerecords.com/
Yes, I agree. And Westbrook’s ‘Love and Understanding’, recorded in Sweden in 1974 and released by My Only Desire in 2020, is, I think, slightly better than the version recorded in the UK in 1975 under the title ‘Citadel/Room 315’.
My Only Desire Records also has a very good playlist on Spotify, called ‘British Jazz Bangers’.
14 hours of sizzling British Jazz Bangers.
My cup runneth over…..
I picked this up recently and greatly enjoyed the variety of the material it contains. My only minor gripes are that it includes a few things also included on the similarly-themed Universal set issued a while ago and that some of the pocket biographies are poorly researched. But that’s compilations for you: everyone has their own ideas.
I assume the Universal compilation you mention was ‘Journeys in Modern Jazz’, as I see there is indeed duplication of tracks. You have a good point. I suspect certain tracks are licensed in a way that makes them readily available for compilations such as these, as there is overlap elsewhere too: Bob Downes, for instance, was pretty prolific in his youth and yet all you ever see from him is ‘Keep Off The Grass’. The same applies to Harold McNair with ‘The Hipster’.
I also agree with your comment on the pocket biographies. Those in ‘Journeys …’ were far superior. A more detailed list of all the musicians playing on ‘A New Awakening’ would have been useful, as some individuals were pretty prolific at that time. I calculate, for instance, that Jon Hiseman appears on four ‘New Awakening’ tracks, John Surman on five and Chris Spedding on four.