Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Jan Steele/John Cage - Voices and Instruments (Obscure, 1976)

Voices and Instruments marked the fifth release for Brian Eno's Obscure Records. Side A features three pieces by Jan Steele that developed from works with an improvisational outfit known as F&W Hat. From the back cover-

         "[F&W Hat] was formed in 1972 at the University of York by Jan Steele, pianist Dave Jones and flautist Mike Dean. The group was directed towards playing a very quiet, repetitive form of improvised rock-based music, a principle which has to some extent survived in these compostions."

Side B contains five works by John Cage. These compositions, all written at various times throughout the the 1940's, are performed here by Richard Bernas on piano with Robert Wyatt or Carla Bley. If you aren't familiar and are interested, there is a wealth of information on the web about John Cage. The back cover offers extensive notes, including lyrics, for each piece. Thanks to Wolf Fifth for the high quality scans. Listen here.

1 comment:

  1. people will get this for the cage, but i always loved the steele side. a lot. i wish his recorded output was greater.

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