Company "Epiphany" 2xLP (Incus 46/47) Derek Bailey/Fred Frith/Keith Tippett
$
80
Favourite Auctions
To save auctions to your favourites, please login
If you don't have an account, please register
Description
Baron Elmo proudly presents a stunning LP of musical mastery that will blow your mind a dozen times over, courtesy of a rotating ensemble of master musicians here pooling their talents as COMPANY: Epiphany, a double LP UK import released in 1984 by the sacred Incus label, now long unavailable. This LP was one of a series of recordings documenting the extraordinary sounds of Company Week, a now-defunct annual event (organized by the late Derek Bailey) that brought together a constantly shifting group of musicians for a few days of improvisation. In the act of discarding structure for complete musical freedom, the players assembled for the occasion often achieved explosive, intoxicating results. From 1976 to 1991, Incus Records released some of the finest Company groupings, of which Epiphany was the last to appear on vinyl. By this time, ringleader Derek Bailey felt that the Company "procedure" was becoming a bit too comfortable, so he elected to shake things up by drafting a new group of players from outside his usual circle. "So, for Company Week in 1982, we were ten musicians, most of whom had never previously met and some of whom had not previously improvised. It turned out to be a fine week of music-making, exceptional in its openness, its constructiveness, in its atmosphere of inquiry and in its goodwill." This ensemble consists of Derek Bailey (electric and acoustic guitar), Fred Frith (guitar, live electronics, percussion), George Lewis (trombone), Anne LeBaron (harp), Akio Suzuki (glass harmonica, analapos, spring gong, kikkokikiriki), Julie Tippetts (acoustic guitar, voice, flute), Moto Yoshizawa (bass), Keith Tippett (piano), Phil Wachmann (violin, electronics) and Ursula Oppens (piano). The entire group of ten performs on a continuous 47-minute piece that takes up the entirety of the first record, while the second LP consists of one duo, two trios, a quintet, a sextet and a septet. The results are nothing short of electrifying… a wildly diverse group of players exploring the possibilities of spontaneous sound from every imaginable angle. Let these intrepid musical travelers take you on a journey to the center of the mind not dreamt of in Ted Nugent's philosophy. This LP has been out of print for many years, and none of these performances has yet made it to CD. Both records and the cover are in beautiful, near-mint shape.
