John Butcher Group

Estimable improviser and saxophonist John Butcher (commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival) does his thing with an eight-piece group of some of the listening-est free improvisers around, releasing the results on his Weight of Wax imprint. Divided into nine tracks, the continuous piece has many moments of the usual free-improv tapping and tenuousness. In short, when little is happening, listeners are left wondering if this is wonderfulness gradually coming into being or moments of not very much at all. But Butcher has added pre-recordings to his arsenal, as well as being aided and abetted by Dieb13 on turntables, Chris Burn (an active pianist) and Gino Robair on percussion and "energized surfaces." In addition, Clare Cooper (harp/guzheng), John Edwards (bass), Thomas Lehn (analogue synth) and Adam Linson (bass/electronics) all provide interesting textures and instrumental gestures. This group would doubtless be more compelling live, but the electronics give the recording some nice nutritious details to sink one's ears into.