1989 · Album
Harmos
Recorded April 1989, Zürich, Switzerland · Intakt Records · Produced by Unknown
Coming Together: Guy's Orchestral Experiment
A 44-minute attempt to make improvisation and composition share the same room.
Harmos is one of Barry Guy's large-scale statements, a single 44-minute composition written for the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra and recorded in April 1989 in Zürich, just ahead of the orchestra's twentieth anniversary. Guy took the Greek title in its original sense of "coming together," and that phrase is a fair description of what the piece is trying to do: get written structure and spontaneous playing to coexist without one swallowing the other.
The music is dense and fast-moving, with the LJCO's roster of British improvisers, including Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Howard Riley and Paul Lytton, moving in and out of Guy's material. Passages of tight ensemble writing give way to open solo space, and the transitions are where the piece earns its length. Listeners who know Guy's work with smaller groups will hear the same interest in pressure and texture, now spread across a much larger band.
As a place to start with Guy, this is not the easiest door. It rewards a listener who already has some feel for free improvisation and orchestral jazz. It sits within his broader run of large-ensemble writing from this period, and fans of that work will find it central. For a newcomer, a smaller Guy recording would be a more gentle introduction before tackling this one.
Who's playing
Barry Guydouble bass
Barre Phillipsdouble bass
Howard Rileypiano
Jon Corbetttrumpet
Henry Lowthertrumpet
Radu Malfattitrombone
Paul Rutherfordtrombone
Alan Tomlinsontrombone
Paul Lyttondrums
Marc Charigcornet
Paul Dunmallinstrument
Pete McPhailreeds
Evan Parkerreeds
Simon Picardreeds
Philipp Wachsmannviolin
Trevor Wattsreeds
Stephen Wicktuba
Where next?
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
