After National Health disbanded, guitarist Phil Miller founded In Cahoots,
comprising saxophonist Elton Dean, keyboardist Peter Lemer,
bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer Pip Pyle.
They and Dave Stewart appear on Miller's first solo albums,
Cutting Both Ways (Impetus, 1988), which contains the landmark
compositions/improvisations Green & Purple and
Eastern Region.
Split Seconds (Reckless, 1989), without Hopper,
includes the sophisticated jams And Thus Far and
Your Root 2.
Miller's third solo album, Digging In (Cuneiform, 1991), includes the
three lengthy compositions No Holds Barred, Digging In,
Bass Motives and the charming Speaking To Lydia.
Live 86-89 (Mantra, 1991) and
Live In Japan (Crescent, 1993) portray the band at its peak.
Miller collaborated with bassist Fred Baker on
Double Up (Crescent, 1992), which mostly reprises old
Miller compositions.
Baker was absorbed in the In Cahoots line-up, as was trumpeter
Jim Dvorak, while Hopper left.
Recent Discoveries (Crescent, 1995) was an impressive achievement by
any standards. At least
Recent Discoveries and Tide join the Miller canon.
Parallel (Crescent, 1996) was the ultimate Miller statement: a set of
lengthy, harmonious, cryptic compositions/improvisations:
Simmer, Parallel , Ed Or Ian, Half Life ,
Sitdown , Billow .
Out Of The Blue (Crescent, 2001), a tribute to Steve Miller who had died
of cancer, continues in that vein with three more
jazz juggernauts: Delta Borderline, Phrygian Blues, Slime Divas.
Pyle left to form his own band, Bash, while In Cahoots (Miller, Elton Dean on
saxes, Mark Fletcher on drums, Peter Lemer on keyboards, Jim Dvorak on trumpet
and Fred Baker on bass) released
All That (Cuneiform, 2003), containing two sprightly
13-minute numbers, Black Car and Sleight of Hand,
and
Belle Illusion (Cuneiform, 2004), that documents a live performance.
Pip Pyle has released only two albums with Equipe Out:
Equipe Out (52e Rue, 1987), with
Elton Dean on sax, Sophia Domancich on keyboards, Hugh Hopper on bass and
Pyle on drums, and Up (Too Much, 1991), with
Dean, Domancich and Paul Rogers.
The former is a distributed effort, with Pyle's Foetal Fandango,
Hopper's Midnight Judo,
Dean's Janna and Domancich's Porc-Epic.
The latter is mainly taken by Dean's Amba and Thunder, but also
includes Pyle's Cauliflower Ears, Domancich's Bimbo.
Pyle has then released his first solo album,
7 Year Itch (Voiceprint, 1998).
Pip Pyle, Philippe-Marcel Iung, John Greaves have also recorded
The Pig Part (Voiceprint, 2001).
Dave Stewart, instead, launched a pop career with vocalist Barbara Gaskin.
The early singles, compiled on Up From The Dark (Rykodisc, 1985),
revive ditties from the Sixties for the discos of the 1980s:
Leslie Gore's It's My Party,
Peggy Lee's Siamese Cat Song,
Holland/Dozier/Holland's I'm in a Different World, etc.
The World Spins So Slow is the closest to a decent song that the duo
came up with.
Broken Records (1986) collects all the hit singles.
Subsequent albums,
The Big Idea (Midi, 1990) and Spin (Midi, 1991), continued to
recycle covers. The former also boasts the nine-minute New Jerusalem.
Overall, Stewart managed to embarrass himself like noone in the history of
Canterbury's school.
Richard Sinclair started yet another project with
Caravan Of Dreams (HTD, 1992), a collection of elegant and funny
pop ditties, soon to become a trio with brother
David Sinclair on keyboards and Andy Ward on drums, as captured on
An Evening Of Magic (HTD, 1993).
On the other hand, R.S.V.P. (Sinclair, 1994), is a Richard Sinclair
album with friends, mostly performing mellow pop songs
(but it includes the 12-minute Out Of The Shadows and the surreal
Outback In Canterbury).
Pip Pyle died in august 2006.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Paolo Latini)
Dopo aver sciolto i National Health, il
chitarrista Phil Miller fondo' gli In Cahoots, che comprendevano Elton
Dean al sassofono, Peter Lemer alle tastiere,
Hugh Hopper al basso ed il batterista Pip
Pyle. Questi e Dave Steward erano gia' presenti sul primo album solista
di Miller, Cutting Both Ways
(Impetus, 1988), che conteneva le distintive
composizioni/improvvisazioni Green &
Purple e Eastern Region, e Split Seconds
(Reckless, 1989). Quest'ultimo includeva le sofisticate jams
And
Thus Far e Your Root 2. Il terzo lavoro solista
di Miller, Digging In (Cuneiform, 1991), includeva
le tre lunghissime composizioni No Holds Barred, Digging
In, Bass
Motives e l'incantevole Speaking To Lydia.
Live 86-89 (Mantra, 1991) e Live In Japan
(Crescent, 1993) ritraggono la band al suo culmine.
Miller collaboro' con il bassista
Fred Baker su Double Up (Crescent, 1992), che per lo piu'
riprende vecchie composizioni di Miller.
Baker fu assorbito nella line-up
degli In Cahoots, come fu anche il trombettista Jim Dvorak, quando
Hopper
abbondo' la band. Recent Discoveries (Crescent,
1995) fu un'impressionante prodezza. Solo
Recent Discoveries e Tide si ricollegano al
canone milleriano.
Parallel (Crescent, 1996) fu l'ultima
testimonianza di Miller: un insieme di lunghe, armoniose e criptiche
composizioni/improvvisazioni: Simmer, Parallel , Ed
Or Ian, Half Life , Sitdown , Billow
.
Out Of The Blue (Crescent, 2001) continua su
quella falsa riga con tre juggernauts piu' jazz: Delta
Borderline
Phrygian Blues, Slime Divas.
Pip Pyle ha realizzato solo due albums con il gruppo
Equipe
Out: Equipe Out (52e Rue, 1987), con Elton Dean al sax, Sophia
Domancich
alle tastiere, High Hopper al basso e lo stesso Pyle come batterista, e
Up (Too much, 1991), con Dean, Domancich e
Paul Rogers. Le composizioni del primo sono equidistribuite tra gli
elementi del
gruppo: Foetal Fandango e'
di Pyle, Midnight Judo di Hopper, Janna di
Dean e Porc-Epic di Domancich. Il secondo e'
quasi interamente coperto da Amba e Thunder di Dean, ma
include anche Cauliflower Ears di Pyle, e Bimbo di
Domancich. Pyle ha quindi realizzato il suo primo album solista, 7
Year Itch (Voiceprint, 1998). Pip Pyle, Philippe-Marcel Iung, John
Graves hanno poi registrato
The Pig
Part (Voiceprint, 2001).
Dave Stewart, invece, si e' votato
ad una carriera pop con la vocalist Barbara Gaskin. I primi singoli,
collazionati su Up From The Dark (Rykodisc, 1985), rivivono
motivetti dai Sixties alla Disco degli
di Lesile Gore a Siamese Cat Song di Peggy Lee, fino alla
I'm in a Different World
firmata da Holland/Dozier/Holland, e cosi' via. The World Spins So
Slow e' quella che piu'
s'avvicina ad una canzone decente tra tutte quelle realizzate dal duo.
Broken Records (1986) e'una raccolta di hit singles.
Gli album che seguirono, The Big Idea (Midi, 1990) e Spin
(Midi, 1991),
continuavano a riciclare covers. Il primo disco ospita i nove minuti di
New Jerusalem,
ma comunque Stewart e' riuscito a ridicolizzarsi come nessun altro nella
storia della
Scuola di Canterbury.
Richard Sinclair inizia un nuovo
progetto con Caravan Of
Dreams (HTD, 1992), una collezione di motivi pop eleganti e
divertenti, per formare presto
un trio insieme al cugini David Sinclair (tastiere) e Andy Ward
(batteria),
con i quali fara' An Evening Of Magic (HTD, 1993). D'altra parte,
R.S.V.P (Sinclair, 1994), e' un suo
album solista realizzato con amici, rimpinzato per lo piu' di pastose
canzoncine
pop (ma in mezzo a queste i 12 minuti di Out Of The Shadows e la
surreale Outback
In Canterbury).
Pip Pyle e` morto nel 2006.
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