Solo In Berlin 1975

These recordings, released after Rutherford's death, capture the trombonist at his most creative, soon after the recording of his groundbreaking solo LP The Gentle Harm of the Bourgeoisie. In these solo sets (from three separate performances in Berlin), the Englishman sputters and flutters, spits and clangs, grunts and roonts, pushing ever further the art of trombone playing, expanding on the pioneering techniques revealed on the aforementioned LP, if that is possible. The music is destabilizing yet true, occasionally very cartoonish yet never funny or even intended to be humorous, despite what some audience members seemed to think. The album opens with a 30-minute set recorded at an FMP workshop on March 31, 1975. Sound quality is here excellent and all four pieces from that set rival Rutherford's all-time best performances in imagination and quality. He even tinkers the insides of a piano while playing the bone in "Berl in Zil" (incidentally, this is the only track from this album previously made available -- on the three-LP FMP compilation set For Example from 1978). The remainder of the CD (45 minutes) is culled from performances on consecutive days at FMP's Total Music Meeting in November of the same year. Here, sound quality is a little less impressive, and the raucous audience gets in the way of the listener's pleasure. However, again, Rutherford delivers stunning performances, "Tertius" providing a vivid illustration of his dedication to push forward and keep on developing his sound world, no matter what. The first four tracks are definitely essential; the rest is still top-shelf material. Let's just hope there are more of these archival recordings to come. ~ Francois Couture|