Frode Gjerstad & John Stevens - Keep On Playing

Frode Gjerstad: alto saxophone
John Stevens: drums, cornet

1994 KEEP ON PLAYING

Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Karyobin

Derek Bailey: electric guitar
Evan Parker: soprano saxophone
Kenny Wheeler: trumpet, flugelhorn
Dave Holland: bass
John Stevens: drums

Review

by Scott Yanow

This CD reissues the second album by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, retaining two musicians from the initial 1966 set (trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and drummer John Stevens) and adding Evan Parker on soprano, guitarist Derek Bailey and bassist Dave Holland. The young British all-stars (all virtually unknown at the time) stretch out on the six-part "Karyobin," playing quite freely in an idiom influenced a bit by their American contemporaries but already on its way to developing a more European sound. Bailey is mostly in the background with the key voices being Wheeler and Parker, but all five musicians make their contributions. The music is episodic and ends inconclusively but rewards repeated listenings. An important early recording for these five future greats.

1968 KARYOBIN