When jazz-rock was born at the end of the 1960s, a number of British musicians
adopted it.
Keith Tippett would remain one of the most influential figures
from those early days.
A member of Chris MacGregor's Blue Notes (where he met drummer Louis Moholo, cornetist Mongezi Feza and saxophonist Dudu Pukwana), Tippett founded his first combo in 1967.
By the time Miles Davis revolutionized jazz music, Tippett had assembled an impressive group of talents: Elton Dean (saxophone), Mark Charig (trumpet), Nick Evans (trombone), Roy Babbington (bass), John Marshall (drums), etc.
Their albums You Are Here I Am There (Vertigo, 1970)
and especially
Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (Vertigo, 1971)
came out at the same time that
Nucleus and
Soft Machine were moving towards jazz-rock.
The three families of musicians began an incestuous relationship that would
continue for many years.
Tippett also played piano on King Crimson's second, third and fourth album.
Tippett led Marc Charig (cornet), Nick Evans (trombone), Elton Dean (alto sax and saxello), Jeff Clyne and Roy Babbington (basses), Trevor Tomkins and Bryan Spring (drums) on How Long This Time (august 1970), released only 53 years later.
Tippett's Centipede, a 50-piece orchestra with players drawn from the jazz, rock, folk and classical worlds (drummer Robert Wyatt, guitarist Brian Godding, trombonist Paul Rutherford, oboe player Karl Jenkins, tenorist Brian Smith, tenorist Gary Windo, tenorist Alan Skidmore, trumpeter Ian Carr, vocalists Julie Driscoll, Zoot Money and Maggie Nicols and a string section, in addition to his cohorts Dean, Marshall, Charig, Evans and Babbington and to old friends Pukwana and Feza) recorded the monolithic four-movement suite Septober Energy (june 1971),
produced by King Crimson's guitarist Robert Fripp,
the ultimate testament of British jazz-rock (over 80-minute long).
Centipede toured for a while and dissolved in 1975.
Tippett's next project, Ovary Lodge, was a more orthodox proposition of jazz
music that released three albums:
Blueprint (RCA, 1972), Ovary Lodge (RCA, 1973), possibly the best
of the three, in a trio with Babbington and percussionist Frank Perry, containing the suite Mountain Temple In Spring, and Ovary Lodge (august 1975 - Ogun, 1975), that added Driscoll on vocals.
The vocalist was his wife Julie Driscoll.
Tippett also played on
South African bassist Harry Miller's
Different Times Different Places (1973)
along with
alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo.
Keith Tippett (piano) also formed the Command All Stars with Elton Dean (electric piano, sopranino saxophone, alto saxophone), Nick Evans (trombone), Mark Charig (cornet), Harry Miller, Johnny Dyani (basses) and Keith Bailey (drums) also that recorded Curiosities (february 1972), but the album was released only in 2008.
Warm Spirits Cool Spirits (december 1976) was a drum-less quartet with Driscoll and saxophonist Trevor Watts.
Ark was an attempt at recreating the magic of Centipede. A 22-piece orchestra
recorded the four-movement suite Frames (Ogun, 1978).
Tippett wasted the 1980s releasing music that was not focused and exhibited
a relaxed, almost new-age mood:
The Unlonely Raindancer (Universe, 1979),
No Gossip (FMP, 1980), a collaboration with Moholo,
also two collaborations with pianist Howard Riley,
First Encounter (Impetus, 1981) and On Focus (Affinity, 1984),
a live concert with Louis Moholo and saxophonist Larry Stabbins, Tern (FMP, 1982 - Atavistic, 2003),
A Loose Kite In A Gentle Wind Floating With Only My Will For An Anchor (Ogun, 1984), perhaps the best of the decade, a four-movement suite performed by
Dean, Charig, Evans, Stabbins, bassist Paul Rogers and drummer Tony Levin,
The Supergrass (Island, 1985), which was a trio with Stabbins and guitarist Simon Booth,
Solo Improvisation/Duet Improvisation (Vand'Oeuvre, 1985),
Mr Invisible (FMP, 1986), with two vocalists,
Couple In Spirit (EG, 1987), with Driscoll,
66 Shades Of Lipstick (EG, 1990),
Twilight Etchings (FMP, 1993),
Couple In Spirit II (ASC, 1996).
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these albums were disposable.
Tippett's best work of the 1980s was probably the one found on
the series of solo pieces titled Mujician (december 1981 - FMP, 1981),
including the 20-minute I Hear Your Voice Again,
Mujician II (june 1986 - FMP, 1986), entirely taken up by the 42-minute
Dan Sing Music, and Mujician III (june 1987 - FMP, 1987),
consisting of the 23-minute I Love You Julie and the 47-minute August Air.
More solos appeared on
The Dartington Concert (EG, 1990),
Une Croix Dans L'Ocean (Victo, 1994),
and Friday The Thirteenth (Sakura Notes, 1997).
His technique of "spontaneous composition" was mainly tested with
Mujician, a quartet with
Paul Dunmall (reeds), Paul Rogers (bass) and Tony Levin (drums) that
debuted with The Journey (Cuneiform, 1990), an hour long improvisation
reminiscent of Arnold Schoenberg and George Gershwin as well as of cool jazz and free jazz.
After dissecting an Indian leitmotiv in the clarinet for eleven minutes, the
quartet engages in ten minutes of fiery interplay. Afte six minutes of jamming
led by Anthony Braxton-ian saxophone patterns, rolling piano figures introduce
the second, much more abstract part of the piece that lasts until music dissolves into sparse harp and piano notes,
The 71-minute "five-verse"
Poem About The Hero (Cuneiform, 1994) opened in the same
disjointed manner, but this time instead of being lulled by a clarinet the
music is ripped apart by a wildly dissonant saxophone. After an aimless
second verse, the lengthy third one introduced much dramatic tension but
virtually no structure. The 30-minute fifth verse rediscovered a jazz feeling
but continuously challenged by a sense of impending chaos.
Birdman (Cuneiform, 1995) mainly displayed the phenomenal interplay
among the four musicians (in the ebullient sections of the
28-minute Birdman and 31-minute Shubunkins), whereas the
shorter The Hands Are Just Shadows focused on extreme timbral juxtaposition.
The four-movement Colours Fulfilled (Cuneiform, 1997), perhaps the best
Mujician release, was an uncompromising display of their aesthetics, from the
violent jamming of the first movement to the hysterical frenzy of the second,
from the unstable mood changes of the third to the fibrillating Indian drone
of the closer.
The Dedication Orchestra
(Tippett, Evan Parker, Louis Moholo, Paul Rutherford, Elton Dean, Lol Coxhill
and others)
has recorded
Spirits Rejoice (Ogun, 1992) and
Ixesha (Ogun, 1992), collections of compositions by several musicians
Live At Lemans (may 1998) documents a live performance of the Tapestry Orchestra (featuring Paul Rutherford, Paul Dunmall, Elton Dean, Louis Moholo, Tony Levin and many others).
(none by Tippett).
Keith Tippett also formed another big band, Tapestry, that performed
live at several jazz festivals.
Keith Tippett, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper and John Marshall also formed SoftWare.
Spacetime (Cuneiform, 2001) was the least organic of the Mujician
releases, containing 15 short pieces rather than the usual extended jams.
The 45-minute piece
There's No Going Back Now (june 2005 - Cuneiform, 2006)
returns Tippett and Mujician to their favorite format of free-form invention.
It begins as hyper-free music, pure dissonant avantgarde, discrete and glitchy
soundsculpting.
About 17 minutes into the piece, the instruments join together in a festive
albeit chaotic fanfare.
The second part (there is a break half way into the track) is more dynamic and
even frenzied (not to mention "musical") as it approaches its neurotic (and melancholy) ending.
The quartet is a furnace of ideas and is capable of simplifying even the most
complex of them. But Mujician always requires attention, and clever attention.
In a sense, Tippett is crafting the dual or the opposite process of
Necks. While they both indulge in colossal
streams of consciousness, Tippett replaces their hypnotic ambient flow with
a highly challenging and unstable bombardment.
The one-hour improvisation of Mahogany Rain (april 2005) featured
Keith Tippett (piano, percussion), his wife Julie (kalimba, xylophone and bells), Philip Gibbs (guitar) and Paul Dunmall (saxes).
From Granite To Wind (recorded in 2007) featured the Keith Tippett Octet, consisting of Paul Dunmall (here on soprano and tenor saxes), Thad Kelly (bass), Ben Waghorn (tenor sax and bass clarinet), James Gardiner-Bateman (alto sax), Julie Driscoll (voice, lyrics, xylophone and thumb piano), Kevin Figes (alto and baritone saxes) and Pete Fairclough (drums).
The live Two For Joyce (may 2012) documents an improvisation with
Italian bassist Giovanni Maier.
Live In Piacenza (january 2012 - Dark Companion, 2016) documents a live performance on piano, a single 47-minute piece.
The Nine Dances Of Patrick O'Gonogon (october 2014), inspired by Irish folk music, featured an octet with Fulvio Sigurta on trumpet & flugelhorn, Sam Mayne on alto & soprano saxes and flute, James Gardiner-Bateman on alto sax, Kieran McLeod & Rob Harvey on trombones, Tom McCredie on bass and Peter Fairclough on drums, plus Julie Tippett on vocals in one piece.
Blazing Flame's second album Murmuration (february 2016) featured Steve Day (voice & percussion), Julie Tippetts (voice), Keith Tippett (piano), Aaron Standon (alto sax), Peter Evans (5-string electric violin), Julian Dale (double bass & cello) and Anton Henley (drums).
Four Quartets (july 2014 - Confront, 2016) documents Tippett (on piano, woodblocks, pebbles, maracas and music box) with Tom Jackson (clarinets), Ashley John Long (basses) and Benedict Taylor (viola).
The 41-minute suite of
The Monk Watches The Eagle (Discus, 2020),
premiered in may 2004 by
Julie Tippetts, Paul Dunmall (soprano sax), Chris Biscoe (baritone sax), Kevin Figes (alto sax), Ben Waghorn (tenor sax) and the Apollo Sax Quartet, was
released in 2020.
The last Mujician album, 10 10 10 (october 2010),
recorded by
Keith Tippett,
Paul Dunmall,
Paul Rogers and
Tony Levin, was released only 11 years later.
It contains two lengthy compositions,
10 10 10 (25:20) and
Remember (30:47).
The double-disc set Aeolian (october 2019) documents live piano duets with Matthew Bourne, notably the 38-minute Sympatico/Trade Winds, Tippett's final performance.
Journal Four (march 2016) documents a concert with pianist Howard Riley.
It contains Tippett's 16-minute Sea Walk and the 47-minute duet Journal Four.
Tippett died in 2020 at the age of 72.
Roy Babbington died in 2023.
