EKE BBB Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 A very reliable source has just announced in another list that Derek Bailey has died today. RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted December 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Wow. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Who's Derek Bailey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 (edited) Who's Derek Bailey? Guitarist, one of the founders of the European free improvisation scene. Among his many recordings, he recorded a 3 CD set with Pat Metheny. Edited December 25, 2005 by 7/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnhrtg Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Peh. RIP, Mr. Bailey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 R.I.P. Mr. Bailey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 This is very sad news indeed. RIP Derek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.L.M Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Sad news. On of the few who reinvented his instrument. RIP Mr BAILEY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 That's very sad news, though not unexpected -- a friend of Derek's had told me how ill he was. I saw him once, in Cambridge at a poetry festival (invited by his friend the poet Peter Riley). He played solo acoustic, with a TV set onstage. Halfway through he explained that he had recently done a TV feature & for some reason they had filmed his left hand & right hand separately--there were no shots of him from a distance. So he played, as a kind of intermission, the tape of the performance, which simple showed one hand or the other but never the two at once. -- There was a pamphlet of poems that accompanied the conference; Bailey & Simon Fell were also asked for contributions; Derek's was a page of what looked like an impenetrable biology/chemistry paper; I believe it was a page from an article pubished by his son. Never saw him again thought I would very much have liked to; did correspond with him a bit when I did a book of essays on Peter Riley, though he didn't end up contributing something (but very kindly sent me Takes Fakes & Dead She Dances, which contains a track with Derek reading chunks of gravesite excavation records out of Peter's book Excavations). In terms of checking out Bailey, I've always found his solo work the best entry-point: Drop Me Off at 96th & Lace are favourites; the former includes an unexpected stretch of 1930s-style rhythm guitar at one point & a snatch of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". The album with Metheny should be avoided as a first point of entry, I'd think, unless you're a big fan of brutal noise onslaught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Ouch, this hurts. RIP, Mr. Bailey, and thanks for all the sonic peace you have given us... Man, oh man, oh man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) Holy shit! I had no idea he was ill. What an unexpected and awful thing to have happened. Not to sound insensitive but I wonder what'll become of Incus. Rest in peace, dear Derek. Edited December 26, 2005 by Chaney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 clementine said it all ........ Very sad news. His book on improvisation has something to say for everybody, regardless of style. R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 In terms of checking out Bailey, I've always found his solo work the best entry-point: Drop Me Off at 96th & Lace are favourites; the former includes an unexpected stretch of 1930s-style rhythm guitar at one point & a snatch of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". The album with Metheny should be avoided as a first point of entry, I'd think, unless you're a big fan of brutal noise onslaught. You're right about the Metheny album and the solo work too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 hopefully, after Bach Fest, WKCR will do a Derek memorial & hopefully this thread won't get TOO solemn. for all the brilliant rigor of Derek's inventions, he was a very funny raconteur, the music always playful. They have to! 24 hours should be about right, it would be cool if they did more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 For the uninitiated, sample of Derek Bailey's playing. Also, listen HERE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTMX Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Wow. And to think that the last thing I did today before leaving for the office was to download Derek Bailey's And recording (with Pat Thomas & Steve Noble) to my iPod. Guess I'll cue it up right about now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evonce Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 I got into Bailey about six years ago. Favorites include Mirakle, The Last Wave, Ballads, and the duet album with Gregg Bendian called Banter. As has been said, Bailey's IMPROVISATION book is essential reading for all kinds of musicians. RIP Derek, and thanks for your courage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) What a trailblazer. Courage is right... courage, gusto, and joy. Seldom have I heard a musician--a guitarist--so insouciantly brave, uncompromising. As one in a long tradition of improvising axmen, forver chafing at the laws of principle, I'll always cherish those jagged, acidic lines. Here's to a liberator, one of the greats... the proverbial twanger just lost one more string. Edit to second recommendations on the "Improvisation" book--looks like a good time to break it out. Truth is marching in, baby. Edited December 26, 2005 by ep1str0phy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Another recommendation for the 'Improvisation' book. It should probably be pointed out that it's extremely readable - easily recommended to someone who doesn't like Bailey's own playing, for instance. Everyone speaks so highly of Derek who's played with him. Apparently a top bloke, as well as musician. And an inspiration. He's scaled down his playing a lot in recent years, but I know there was still quite a number of us young guys holding out for the opportunity to play with him (he would frequently have people over to jam). I love 'Ballads', too (thoroughly non-idiomatic? REALLY? Listen e.g. to 'Body and Soul'!). I've recently also been enjoying 'Pieces for Guitar', and his playing on some of those early Brotzmann FMPs - e.g. 'Fuck De Boere'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 The word seems to be he died of motor neuron disease/ALS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 From the same source: Funeral and cremation will be in a week. His ashes will be spread on the Lower East Side of New York, at the time of a big tribute concert John Zorn is organizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 (edited) it's ineresting to contrast his book on improv with Berlins' book about same - while Berlin's was full of academic double talk and re-statements of the obvious, Bailey's was quite illuminating, spiritual and practical at the same time - indispensible, even for non-musicians - Edited December 27, 2005 by AllenLowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WD45 Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Sad news hearing that. His recordings made me hear ALL music in a different way. Another plug for his book here. I may have to re-read it soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Le Monde carries this report - in French only - on the death of Derek Bailey (in London) on its website: http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-...1-725095,0.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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