Henry Cow - Concerts (1976) Expanded 2 CD Edition [remastered in 2006]

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tracklist:

2006 Expanded Edition:

Disc 1:

1. Beautiful as the Moon, Terrible as an Army with Banners

2. Nirvana for Mice

3. The Ottawa Song

4. Gloria Gloom

5. Beautiful as the Moon (Reprise)

6. Bad Alchemy

7. Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road

8. Ruins

9. Groningen

10. Groningen Again

Disc 2:

1. Oslo

2. Oslo (Continued)

3. Oslo (Continued)

4. Oslo (Continued)

5. Oslo (Continued)

6. Oslo (Continued)

7. Oslo (Continued)

8. Oslo (Continued)

9. Off the Map

10. Cafe Royal

11. Keeping Warm in Winter/Sweet Heart of Mine

12. Udine

info: 

John Greaves: bass, voice, celeste, piano

Tim Hodgkinson: organ, clarinet, alto sax, piano

Fred Frith: guitar, piano, violin, xylophone

Chris Cutler: drums, piano

Lindsay Cooper: bassoon, flute, oboe, recorder, piano

Geoff Leigh: tenor & soprano sax, flute, clarinet, recorder

Dagmar Krause: voice, piano

Robert Wyatt: voice

More than most rock bands, Henry Cow was in many ways a fundamentally live entity, mixing through-composed avant-rock with collective free improv in a way that even today — more than three decades after this album's release — is a rarity and a curiosity. Not surprisingly, then, Concerts is one of their finest releases, and contains some of their most compelling improvisations on record.


On the first disc are superior takes of "Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road" from Rock Bottom (with Wyatt himself duetting with Dagmar) and "Ruins" from Unrest. Fred Frith's guitar performance on the latter is a highlight of the album, a fragmented yet cohesive solo that gives way to Dagmar's wordless vocals and leaves the listener in wonderment. Like the opening medley, these composed pieces are beautiful and accessible, and go a long way towards disproving the popular myth that Henry Cow (or avant-rock bands in general) intentionally shy away from catchy melodies.


For the listener not scared off by the likes of "Oslo", tacked onto the CD reissues of Concerts are several lengthy studio improvisations taken from the Greasy Truckers live set. These improvs are probably the most out-there of the ones offered up on this album, eschewing any conventional sense of structure, form, melody, or rhythm. If the opening cuts of Concerts are a great intro to Henry Cow, the Greasy Truckers outtakes are probably the worst possible such intro.


Taken as a whole, Concerts is a tremendous document of a groundbreaking band. Henry Cow synthesized rock, jazz, free improv, and Western classical composition into a whole that has rarely if ever been matched. The full extent of this synthesis is not really evident on their studio albums, though; it takes a familiarity with Cow's live oeuvre to fully respect how well they pulled this off. Concerts — especially the pristine new remastering job courtesy of Bob Drake — is a fabulous official live document, though for the most die-hard Cow fans it's only a jumping-off point, a starting gun that sets them off into the world of bootlegs, where hissy amateur recordings on 30-year-old tapes hide moments of transcendent musicality.Kenny Dorham, "The Jazz Prophets" - I believe very underrated


info source: what.cd

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