Alexander Hawkins

Wow - beautiful film - thank you!

Those Sonny recordings from Ronnie's are incredible...

Sounds great - interesting band! That sounds about right with Jah Wobble - they've been working together for a long while...yeah, I absolutely love Mark's playing...beautiful guy to play *with* as well - he's such a responsive, listening player!

Steve - that's really kind - that'd be a fun group! I've never had the pleasure of playing with Simon, but would love to. Alex and Mark are, I'm very lucky to say, regular partners in crime! I'm not sure, but I guess the last time Alex was in NY may well have been with Derek Bailey...

Amongst living clarinettists, I'd want to mention my friend/collaborator Alex Ward. I actually scribbled some thoughts in a BFT thread just earlier today, but for anyone inclined to check out a more 'out' clarinettist, IMHO Alex is special!

Just to chime in about Alex Ward and Joe Williamson (sorry - slow to notice that!): Joe I'm actually not terribly familiar with - I've only seen him a couple of times, and never had the pleasure of playing with him. I believe his most regular collaborators are the Dutch guys. He's part of the absolutely *fantastic* Toby Delius 4tet, (with Han Bennink, Tristan Honsiger). If anyone is in the slightest bit attracted by any of these musicians, or indeed the sound of guys like Clusone, or whatever, check them out! The only record I have is on ICP - 'The Heron'. Highly recommended! One thing I do know: Joe gets that lovely warm sound by using gut strings on his bass. Alex I'm good friends with. Let me say first up - he is an astonishing musician. As fans/players, we're prone to hyperbole - but trust me, Alex is one of the most extravagantly gifted musicians I've ever come across. What many reviews will first alight on is his astounding technical ability on clarinet, which, believe it or not, he's had since before he was a teenager. An early associate was Derek Bailey - often in duo, and also in the group 'Limescale' - and in fact, Alex played in Company 1988, at the age of 14 (IIRC). His first recorded appearance was at the age of 15, on Incus in duo with Steve Noble. Another early album - a fun record actually! - is this piece of nuttiness - featuring both Derek and Thurston Moore... He's also on some Eugene Chadbourne stuff from around this time - e.g. Hellington Country with, amongst others, Pat Thomas and Paul Lovens. Alex is not only completely happy playing freely inprovised music, but can read absolutely anything you might care to put in front of him...he eats up complex scored stuff. For - loosely speaking - some music in the 'post-Braxton' continuum, it's well worth checking him out in some of Simon Fell's projects. I like this one. Braxton was a very early influence on Alex, and a lot of us were waiting and waiting for a solo album. We got it fairly recently - 'Cremated Thoughts' on Treader. There are moments on this where you can really hear (for my money) a post-Braxton, post-Dolphy sensibility...really nailing some fascinating bebop line shapes alongside the extended techniques at which he's pretty much - as far as I can think - peerless. An interesting counterpoint to the Duck Baker album is this one, released at about the same time, with the same instrumentation. Joe Morris this time on guitar, however, and Simon H. Fell on bass. I haven't heard it, but with that line-up... This is all Alex on clarinet, but important is that he's a wonderful, wonderful electric guitarist as well. Crudely speaking, if his clarinet playing comes out of his love of 'jazz/creative music', this comes from his passion for - and encyclopaedic knowledge of - rock music. Check him out with the trio 'NEW', with John Edwards and Steve Noble. There are two or three - I forget offhand - fantastic records. Fans of electric guitar and power trios - a no-brainer! He also has a new group called 'Predicate' featuring his writing and electric guitar playing, but as yet, it's unrecorded. I believe they're in the studio within a couple of months, however, so watch out for it... Alex also has a couple of songwriting projects. I'm afraid I'm just not familiar enough with this material to comment on it. But lots of complex time signatures, loads of energy, real virtuoso stuff...here's a link...I'm afraid I just don't know enough about this to comment on it or give recommendations! And here's a link to Alex's MySpace page, which actually breaks things down quite nicely...for those in Sweden, I see that the trio with Duck and Joe have a couple of nights at the Glenn Miller Cafe coming up..!

I actually did a gig - a Handel/Hendrix thing - in the Handel museum a few months ago...fun place!

Wow...must be a few months ago that I last saw Harry, but he looked absolutely great for that age.

I was born in 1981...I can be very specific with my first musical memory - again, from my dad's record collection: hearing Duke's 'Saturday Night Function'. It's still a totem for me! I don't know what has been as a result, or what would have been otherwise...but I'm hugely grateful, just in case it was that which sent me down my path.

Have a good one - Norway is an awesome place for a gig - was there in May. Check out the seafood if you get the chance

I've been listening a lot to the two Carter-Bradford duo releases on Emanem recently. These are readily available, and I'd really recommend them!

I don't know, but if Gilles Peterson is involved, I would think it's guaranteed to be.

YES! His drummers are quite incredible. I was thinking a couple of days ago listening to 'Makin' a Move' (the Very Very Circus album, rather than the group) how awesome Pheeroan sounds with Threadgill...all the Sextett stuff obviously, but the VVC soundworld too...in fact, his rhythm sections just groove like absolute crazy...watching that Very Very Circus video...how could you not PLAY over that vibe!?! One of the amazing things about Threadgill's music to me is how it completely shatters/sidesteps the 'accessibility'/'innovation'/'avant garde'-type debates...it's new as you like, in the tradition as you like, totally individual as you like, weird as you like, familiar as you like, grooving like mad...

Hey Corey - we should have had this conversation the other day - I'm something of a Threadgill junkie!!! As suggested above, I'd definitely get this...'Song Out Of My Trees' is perhaps my favourite Threadgill...and that collection gives you a good sampling of earlier stuff... In the car on the way to a gig today, I was listening to 'Too Much Sugar For a Dime'...knocked me out completely...amazing compositionally...the Very Very Circus band has two tubas amongst other things, which alone makes it a necessity...here's the band in action. The tune is the final track from the album. There's so much great stuff by him...check this out...definitely too bad this didn't record officially. Which interview were you reading? Was it the complete text of the recent Wire thing? That's online somewhere...I found that completely inspirational...

Should say - the session is great too, and a fairly unusual beast: a solo electronics set! Really great stuff - please check it out! Pat truly 'gets' Monk and Sun Ra, in a way that most IMHO don't necessarily...he is *right* inside it...

pm sent on Anderson, Fred (w/ Peter Kowald & Hamid Drake) - Live at the Velvet Lounge (Okka) - OOP Blake, Ran - Unmarked Van (Soul Note) Haden, Charlie w/ Joe Henderson and Al Foster - The Montreal Tapes (Verve) Interpretation of Monk, Vol. 2 (Anthony Davis; Mal Waldron; Don Cherry; Steve Lacy; Charlie Rouse; Roswell Rudd; Richard Davis; Ben Riley; Ed Blackwell) (Koch) - 2CD OOP - cut-out Rivers, Sam - Winds of Manhattan. Colours (Black Saint)

I recorded an interview with Pat for this programme actually...we play a sampling of his recordings during that, so that might be a good way to check him out for those not familiar! But agreed - that Abbey Road Quartet is absolutely great IMHO. p.s. Roger Turner would have been the drummer I think!

:tup Absolutely - should definitely be someone like this (I must confess I'm not really too familiar with Gene Ludwig's playing: I think someone like Dr Lonnie would probably get my vote ). Also - I've never looked at one of these lists before, and I guess it's really just a bit of fun so not to be taken too seriously, but it's really comparing apples with oranges on so many of the lists...

Wow...I genuinely had no idea, but just clicked the link out of curiosity, and appear to have been nominated in the organ category...

Can I be crass and plug something I play on? :blush2: I wonder if you may enjoy one or other of these albums...(there is a third, but featuring a saxophone...)

pm sent on the Ehrlich, Sclavis, and Tuba-Guitarra-Bateria!

Nice one guys! Since you asked for feedback, a few things to think about... 1) I like the tones of all the lead instruments a lot 2) cool that the tracks are short...this is the way to do it to start with...lots of guys need too much time to say something!!! 3) one thing to think about might be the rhythm of the guitar comping - no harm in varying it a little more! 4) in 'All of Me', maybe think about leaving a little space in the head...no need to jump in with fills all the time! 5) something in particular for the piano and guitar - just occasionally you're treading on the bass player's toes...no need to double those root notes - it risks sounding like you're trying to show him where he is But really good - keep it up!

Sad to say. http://londonjazz.blogspot.com/2010/07/rip-harry-beckett-1935-2010.html I never had the pleasure of playing with him, other than in large groups, but what I can say is that he genuinely was one of the nice guys. No comment needed on his playing - fortunately, we have the records, and they speak for themselves. A great, great musician.

I guess it depends on where you are...I see you're in London...we'd typically play 45-60 minute long sets there... However, it also depends on the venue. If it's a 'two shows a night' thing (e.g. the 606 or Ronnie's), it may be a longer set - 75mins or so...if it's a multiple-band type thing, they can be shorter -30 minutes even...