Jon Hassell and other looping in London

[David.Orton@mail.bl.uk (David Orton)]

     There seems to be some interest in Jon Hassell amongst the list, so I 
     thought I'd mention last night's concert at QEH in London. JH 
appeared 
     with Bluescreen Two who were advertised as being Jamie Muhoberac and 
     Peter Freeman, creators of an `electronic soundscape' amidst which is 
     set JH's `plaintive trumpet'. There was also an uncredited guitarist 
     (who may have been called Joe Harrison - the announcements were 
     off-mic and difficult to hear from 2/3rds back) who made extensive 
use 
     of a Fernandes Sustainer (now I *really* want one of those) and a 
     multitude of delays and effects to great..erm - effect.
     
     Whilst much of the music relied on repetitive phrases (with 
occasional 
     shifts in the patterns), it was intriguing to see that most of it was 
     performed in real time. Despite all the technology in evidence, there 
     appeared to be little `looping' as such. Percussion sounds were 
     triggered from what looked like an over-sized boomerang (NB the 
Native 
     Australian hunting tool, not the dedicated looping device), `played' 
     like a standard keyboard, but with (presumably) the ergonomic 
benefits 
     of it curving around the body.
     
     The material was similar in mood to the earlier 4th World albums, 
less 
     like the `City' and `Bluescreen 1' versions. Well worth viewing if it 
     comes to a town near you.
     
     Also: At lunch time yesterday I saw the acoustic guitarist Antonio 
     Forcione dueting with saxophonist Ed Jones. I think Matthias 
mentioned 
     before that AF has experimented with looping, but this is the first 
     time I've seen him use it (sparingly) in performance. He has a 
Paradis 
     LoopDelay which in this situation was used to create backing for his 
     solos on two numbers. Again, well worth a listen if you see them 
     advertised near you (particularly if you like Jan Garbarek-style 
     European, folk influenced jazz)
     
     Oh yes, and if you've got this far, I'll be back at the Croydon 
     Clocktower on Nov 28th 7-8pm - free!
     
     Cheers
     
     David
     <http://subnet.virtual-pc.com/~or387751/>