HATFIELD AND THE NORTH

After having played in almost all the most important Canterbury's bands, the drummer Pip Pyle reforms his first band "Delivery" who had left years before after a hard discussion with the band's singer, with the Miller brothers but with Richard Sinclair just out of Caravan and the former Arzachel and Egg Dave Stewart. The story says that while they were going to a gig by car they have seen a motorway signal indicating to "Hatfield and the North". That's were the band's name is for.

Just a bit of history, to say that this "late" Canterbury band is made of elements who have played in all the biggest bands of the genre, and in addition there's also the hypnotic effort of Robert Wyatt's vocals in one song.

As in the Canterbury tradition, a jazz layer is mixtured with folk and psychedelic elements. Mushrooms and Trolls united with a strong instrumental jazz skill. All those elements together can be found on the longest track "Son Of There's No Place Like Homerton" which also in the title reminds to Caravan but with brasses in Soft Machine style and a high pitched choir which has a Gong flavor, but also to late Soft Machine, thinking to "Land Of Cockayne".

There's a number of very short tracks and this is the main reason why I'm not writing a track by track review, but all the tracks fade one into the next so the album is not "fragmented". I think Pat Metheny has liked tracks like "Aigrette" and parts of it have later become standards in his soft jazz.

It's a classic of the Canterbury subgenre created by what can be called a supergroup.

Hatfield and the North were an experimental Canterbury scene supergroup formed in 1972, with members from previously well-known bands such as Caravan, Gong and Matching Mole.

The Rotters' Club was the second and last album from this excellent band, released in 1975. Principal musicians on the record are Richard Sinclair (bass, vocals), Dave Stewart (keyboards), Phil Miller (guitar) and Pip Pyle (drums).

Not only are these musicians extraordinary, the album itself is beautifully crafted and balanced, with lovely backing vocals of the Northettes (Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons and Ann Rosenthal). This is definitely one of the masterpieces of the Canterbury sound, together with Caravan's "In the Land of Grey and Pink".

My initial personal favourite on the album was "Share It", probably because I have been a long-time fan of Caravan. This particular melody sounds very much like Caravan, in particular with the characteristic vocals of Richard Sinclair. However, with Hatfield standards, it is a rather conventional song. The rest of the album is more avant-garde, well exposing the astonishingly solid musicianship of the individual group members. This is truly outstanding music.

Hatfield and the North was one of the most promissing super groups in canterbury field in the mid '70s. With excellent , well crafted musicians, all members involved here are well known and respected in their own field, coming from Caravan, Egg, Matching Mole and Gong. The band had a short career with only 2 albums released, but the mark they left upon this genre is without question essential. The second release and in same time my fav from them and among my fav albums ever is the 1975 The Rotter's club. Well, to my ears this is an excentric, complicated offer with top notch performance with a typical english atmosphere. Richard Sinclair is simply amazing like on opening Share it, with his typical english humor in the lyrics and on Fitter Stoke has a Bath the best pieces to me from this album, this is an excellent tune, with a Gentle Giant similarity in some parts, but in the end a very solid and original offer. So, this album surely needs to be discovered or re discovered by many listners as possible, the jazzy interplays from here are quite brilliant. I love this album, with the 40's kinda cover art that goes very well in this context. Essential album in every ones collection. 4 stars easy and recommended, among the better albums from Canterbury zone.

Alongside National Health sit Hatfield & The North, one of the Canterbury 'super-groups' whose fluid membership policy oversaw contributions from members past-and-present of the likes of Gong, Caravan, Camel, Egg, Khan and Matching Mole during their sadly-rather-brief two-album studio career. With a name taken from a Bedfordshire motorway sign, 'Hatfield & The North' were indeed a strange and complex beast, injecting the base jazz-influenced Canterbury sound with even more surreal humour and lyrical wordplay than usual. The music too is both finely-crafted and highly-intricate, the jazz motifs, keyboard drones and organ runs also peppered with occasional classical exotica in the sound of bassoons, oboes, cellos and clarinets and with Richard Sinclair's foppish vocals adding that all-too quintessential English cherry to the group's rich sonic cake. Whilst the album's overall tone-and-touch is somewhat lighter than the moody atmospherics found on their debut, 'The Rotter's Club' is still a dense musical experience, featuring what can be best described as a kind of peculiar jazz-flecked, classically-informed sound, the kind that ought to be found at the very far end of the rock spectrum. It's also interesting to note that 'The Rotter's Club' seems less an album and much more a single, epic song, such is the thematic link between most of the individual pieces, many of which segue directly into one another without pause. As a result, 'The Rotter's Club' really needs to be listened to from beginning-to-end to truly absorb, with the practice of picking out or skipping over various tracks substantially lessening the album's overall impact. The centre-piece, the 20-minute 'Mumps', does prove an exception, yet even this piece reflects the album's make-up, itself taking in a dense series of interlocking sections. 'The Rotter's Club' then, just like its predecessor, may prove a touch listen for some; this is difficult-yet-jovial music, with a light satirical touch but also filled with complex musical movements. Fans of the Canterbury scene should, of course, lap this up; but those who have not yet sampled the delights of this particular sub-genre have been warned; and this is not the place to start. At times delightful, at others confusing and strange, this second-and-last release from Hatfield & The North is, like the group's debut, a genuine pot-pourri of musical eccentricity. It might not always make sense - both musically-and-lyrically - yet happily, both come recommended. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

'Hatfield and the North' is a stunning debut from the darlings of Canterbury. The album is a milestone of the genre and features some incredible musicianship from the likes of Dave Stewart of Egg and Khan on keyboards, Phil Miller from Matching Mole on guitar, Pip Pyle of Gong on Drums and Richard Sinclair from caravan on bass and vocals. Guests include Robert Wyatt singing 'Calyx'.

The album tracks fly along at breakneck speed, 4 of which are less than a minute long, and it soon launches into a jazz improvisation on 'Going up to people and tinkling'. A great deal of Caravan and Gong's humour is injected into the music and it is wildly experimental throughout. In reality every track is glued to each other rather than a separate entity and it would have been interesting as one long suite rather than a bunch of snippets as it is. It certainly works well on CD without having the breaks a vinyl experience forced upon the listener.

'Calyx' is Wyatt's vocal intonations, and not too bad overall. This is segued immediately into "Son of 'There's no place like Homerton''. The sweet backing vocals are sung by "The Northettes" and it has a jazzy keyboard line and some wonderful sax; one of the best tracks on offer here, clocking over 10 minutes. The flute at 4 and a half minutes is a fabulous embellishment.

'Aigrette' is a showcase for Phil Miller's guitar prowess and Sinclair's vocals; one of the highlights. 'Rifferama' follows with Miller's blazing guitar in all its glory and some manic vocals, including canned laughter at the end. I like the experimentalism and telephone section in 'Fol De Rol', and it has a Gentle Giant vocal technique.

Another definitive highlight is 'Shaving is Boring' with experimental jazz sections and Krautrock nuances, running for 8:46. It has electronic keyboard melodies and changes signature almost at will. The cool effect of footsteps running flat out of someone in a corridor opening up a series of doors is fascinating. Each door that opens reveals a section of music and the protagonist opens each until the right riff is discovered; a very innovative playful moment of the album.

Other tracks are instrumental based and very short at times, not as good as other tracks, though I love 'Lobster in Cleavage Probe' with the female angelic voices and chimes. It ends with the bonus tracks including the popular 'Fitter Stoke Has a Bath' driven by Sinclair's quirky style. Overall the album is essential Canterbury, though a bit hit and miss but then most Canterbury is. One of the greatest debuts in rock history, it is definitely worth hearing and ranks as one of the quintessential Canterbury albums along with 'The Rotter's Club'.

value 9/10 I am an estimator of the Jazz Music and I have discovered from few the musical kind of the Canterbury scenes. This Musical genres is an alternative between the pop rock and the real music jazz. Surely this CD represents a fusion of genres musical that from the away to refined and psychedelic sonority typical of the underground of the seventies. A predictable and banal music never. Very interesting the use of the keyboards with the typical hammond organ that it remember knows lines sonority of the LSD music and the guitar in swing distortion version that creates atmospheres typical of the fusion music. CD to be recommended to all the estimators of the progress genres and it is one of mine preferred with the Caravans and the Khans of Prog -sub genres Canterbury scene

A very adequate title of this album's review could be: Challenging Canterbury or anything like that. At least that's what comes to mind every time I listen to this album. And another interesting thing is it has things in common with my previous reviewed Suffocating the Bloom by Echolyn. Of course the two styles are totally different but still the build up comparison is striking. Both have a great mix of complexity and beauty and funny enough the beauty moments are roundabout the same spot of the arrangement. Also here it's just about before halfway the album (Didn't matter anyway) we're treated with soothing flute (yes, even the instrument is the same as on Echolyn's album) of incredible beauty whilst the rest of the album is really difficult to get into.

Fifth track The Yes No Interlude even contains a bit of 100% VDGG style, something I never expected on here. Same goes for bonus track Oh, Len's Nature suddenly treating us with fierce hard rock (would you believe it !). It goes a bit too far to state that The Rotter's Club has something for everyone, that remains to be seen but the last thing it can be accused of is that this is a boring, one dimensional album. The often praised Mumps finally won me over for a high rating because it's simply (one of) the best Canterbury song ever. It's even far better than the other contender Nine Feet Underground because of the versatilty and brilliant composition. The lesser moments of the album made me hesitate and contemplate the three stars possibillity but Mumps and the other great tracks as well as the great performance overall made me force myself to grant them the full four. Highly recommended unless you hate Canterbury.

I never really look forward to listening to this album due to the cover, but each time I do I'm pleasantly surprised. It's a fun-filled bouncy castle ride where you can bash your head off the walls and never get hurt.

Very uplifting and musically complex from the outset, 'The Rotters Club' sports quite a variety of manoeuvres, twists and turns where everything is underpinned by the superb Dave Stewart - one time keyboardist of 'Egg'. The vocals by Richard Sinclair are initially a bit annoying with his apparent random notes and hippy sensibilities, but most definitely grow on you as the album progresses.

You can hear many elements throughout that may remind you strongly of the player's former bands. ie: Caravan, Egg and Matching Mole. The seeds are sown here for the other upcoming supergroup success - 'National Health' in 1976.

'The Rotters Club' is a very busy album with a whole lot going on at any one time. It sounds VERY 70's but in a light hearted and artistic manner. My ears always respond to the majestic keyboards of Dave Stewart who singlehandedly raises this from 3 stars to 4. Special mention also has to be made to the wonderful female backing vocals which sound fantastic during the few instances in which they're used.

A mostly exceptional album that is sullied by a slightly embarrassing sleeve. Still it could have been much worse. It could have looked like the similar but far worse "Andy Nogger" by 'Kraan' - Yeeucch!

Hatfield and the North - s/t (1973)

This is the first album by Hatfield and the North, for those who are interested in this sub-genre of prog a relatively well-known band. This time the who's who is made up of Richard Sinclair (Caravan) on bass and vocals, Stewart (Arzachel, Egg, National Health) on keyboards, Pip Pyle on drums and Phil Miller on guitar. There are some guest vocalists. A short contribution of Robert Wyatt on one of the first track and some female vocals of Barbara Gaskin (of Spirogyra, a psych-folk group you should check out), Amanda Parsons and Ann Rosenthal.

The style of Hatfield and the North is perhaps best described as; the sound of Caravan with a large doses of noodling fusion. Optimistic in nature, but also a bit non-emotional. For those who already listened to National Health (which came later), the sound & style is almost the same here. There are no serious songs, almost everything is instrumental and even the parts with female vocals could be interpret as instrumental (due to fact the vocals are only used to sing notes). At playing instrumental compositions the band is really good, the performance of every-one involved is top-notch and the sound of the recording is clear an professional. Vinyl listeners might add some bass themselves, for without it the record sounds a bit too light.

Now, I can see why a lot of people like this record. Great musicians, classic Canterbury style, great art-work. For me personally, this record doesn't offer too much. I like a lot of instrumental sections, but in the end nothing touches me and I find the record to sound a bit emotionless. The compositions sound intelligent and hard-to-play, but in the end the melodies and chord-progressions also sound a bit random like most later Stewart-related records. The psychedelic sillyness (phone rings, some-one takes it and the vocal line comes through the telephone) are an oasis in this desert of noodling, but I just can't help missing some concrete, emotionally driven instrumental parts or - even better - songs. Conclusion. Well played and professionally produced Canterbury classic, but not essential in my humble opinion (due to lack of replay and emotional involvement). Recommend to fans of the Canterbury sub-genre and jazz-rock/fusion. I'll go for the small three and a halve stars here.

One of the Live 1990 albums from British TV. The Caravan live 1990 is the other notable album from this series too.

Hatfield And The North only released two studio albums. After their was disbanded, three compilations of leftovers and this album was released. The setup here, in 1990, is Phil Miller on guitar Pip Pyle on drums, Richard Sinclair on bass & vocals + the jazz musician Sophia Domancich on keyboards. Sophia is the key here on an album that really does not feel like a Hatfield and the North live album. If you love the two studio albums, this live album will not really overjoy you. Hatfield and the North was always threading the knifedge between avant garde, jazz and rock. In short; they were a Canterbury scene band. On this album, they are falling into the jazz genre and that big time. Sophia is the culprit, I am afraid. Why one of her own compositions get a big part of this album on a Hatfield and the North album is beyond me. In short; this is not really a Hatfield and the North live album.

When that is said, the music in it's own right is really good. The opener Share It is great. The rest is good stuff and I really like the jazz Sophia and Hatfield and the North gives us here. There are some not so good stuff too. But I still likes the music on it's own terms. Let's hope that some archeology excavations will dig up a couple of proper Hatfield & The North live tapes which will be issued as live albums. Just to give this band the credit it deserves.

3 stars