At The Roadhouse

One of the rarest and most highly coveted records in European free improvisation finally resurfaced in 2004 with the expanded reissue of AMM's At the Roundhouse, the first in a series of releases on the Anomalous label chronicling the 1972 International Carnival of Experimental Sound. An excerpt of this performance was issued in 1972 on a (now long out of print) 7" on Derek Bailey's Incus label. This reissue CD, however, includes the entire performance, featured here as one uninterrupted 47-minute track. Listeners accustomed to hearing AMM with Keith Rowe might be surprised to learn that, in the early '70s, Rowe left the group for a short period of time. Recorded during his absence, At the Roundhouse is a duet performance featuring drummer Eddie Prevost and tenor saxophonist Lou Gare. While Rowe is nothing short of synonymous with the AMM sound, this performance documents a period in the group's history that, aside from 1974's To Hear and Back Again, is almost entirely unrepresented on record. The lack of guitars and electronics, which would have otherwise been supplied by Rowe, lends this session a more organic sound, making it comparable to any number of free jazz records of the day, that is, when compared to the rest of the AMM catalog, which usually resembles 20th century electro-acoustic concert music. Gare and Prevost evoke a number of moods during this set, from flights of unbridled intensity to detached, sparse tones. This CD is by no means representative of the group's career. It should, however, easily please fans of introspective free improvisation, be it jazz, classical, or otherwise. Highly recommended. ~ Brandon Burke|