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Featured Interview: Elton Dean
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British saxophonist Elton Dean has been making music for nearly 40 years.
Although coming to prominence (and “living legend” status) in the early
‘70’s as a member of the indescribably wonderful band Soft Machine, he
has also amassed a remarkable number of essential listening jazz
recordings over the past ¼ century (such as the lamentably long out of
print “Boundaries” on ECM/JAPO) collaborating with musicians such as
pianists Keith Tippett and Sophia Domancich, guitarists Phil Miller and
John Etheridge, trombonists Roswell Rudd, Paul Rutherford, and Annie
Whitehead, bassists Hugh Hopper and Fred Baker, and drummers Pip Pyle
and Joe Gallivan to name more than a few.
Elton Dean’s latest release is BAR TORQUE, a live recording in duet
with guitarist Mark Hewins (performing on samplers, synth guitar, and
acoustic guitar) and recently output on the newly established Moonjune
Records.
Of BAR TORQUE, AAJ Modern Jazz Editor Glenn Astarita writes:
“Elton Dean’s storied musical past surges onward with this most
interesting recording. Here,the saxophonist and synth guitarist/EFX ace,
Mark Hewins venture into lyrically charged, extended improvisations that
often bespeak an air of mystery, brimming with suspense and enchantment…
the duo’s pursuance of micro-themes and subplots seamlessly transform
into renewed notions that tend to capture the mind’s eye…Throughout,the
duo presents the listener with a hodgepodge of sonorous explorations and
probing exchanges…the musicians’provide mood-evoking panoramas, boasting
and wondrous musings. Highly recommended.” – AAJ OCTOBER 2001 EDITOR’S
PICK
To help commemorate the release of BAR TORQUE, Elton Dean agreed to
a micro-interview in order to “snapshot” the status of his current
projects. All About Jazz hopes to conduct an in-depth interview with Mr.
Dean in the near future.
This interview was conducted via e-mail in September 2001.
Special thanks to Leonardo Pavkovic of Moonjune Records
for helping to facilitate this interview.
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Publisher's Pick of the Week
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Louis Armstrong:
A Musical Autobiography
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Louis Armstrong
1957/2001
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“Folks, if you’re ready to join me, I’d like to do a
little reminiscin’”. Thus begins A Musical Autobiography,
Louis Armstrong’s sprawling, three CD trip down memory
lane in which he revisits the rich musical highlights of
his past.At this point in his career, Armstrong was living
quite a life; he had already written his autobiography,
told a raunchy joke to the Pope, and cancelled a tour of
the Soviet Union over the school integration in Little
Rock. Muscially, however, Armstrong was now touring with
his All-Stars, playing a milder version of the swing and
Dixieland of his youth that found favor with the pop
market.
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