ANNETTE PEACOCK for Fusion

In praise of ANNETTE PEACOCK (1941-)

For a moment, let's get BACK TO BASICS, shall we?
What does this whole thing PROG really reffer to?
Let's start with the actual meaning of the noun "Progressive" - I know this matter can't be reduced to a question of mere semanthics - it could give us some perspective to the point I want to make later.

"In favour of new ideas, modern methods and change", that's what the dictionary tells us.
Well, that' s almost the exact description of the creative work, in music and more, of this innovative Artist.


NEW IDEAS - She started composing at the age of four and would lately evolve to writing "in an idiom she calls the "free-form song" which emphasizes the use of space in contrast to the busy, cacophonous tendencies of free jazz."

From a very young age she was also involved in alternative cultural and lifestyle movements, for example as an early participant (1961-1962) in Dr. Timothy Leary's psychedelic culture experiments and a longtime adherent of Zen Macrobiotics; all this creatively reflects both in her poetic writing and innovative composing.

Her avant-garde compositions started appearing on the legendary experimentalist jazz pianist Paul Bley recordings (whom she would lately be married to) as soon as 1964, at the age of 23.

In the lyrics she never shied away from including political/feministic/irreverent points of view, sometimes with provocative reflections very well ahead of their time.


MODERN METHODS - Since her own first recordings she started experimenting with Moog synthesizers and early vocoder technology (we're talking late sixties!)

"...Peacock is an unsung pioneer of electronic music. Years before the commercial emergence of synthesizers, she received a prototype from inventor Robert Moog. This prompted her to synthesize her own voice, which according to most reports had never been done before. Ultimately these experiments brought about an innovative 1971 album, The Bley/Peacock Synthesizer Show. " in ALLMUSIC's Artist Biography by David R. Adler

And besides being already a singer, poet and composer, and apart from her original piano playing style and boldly free vocal improvisation, she also kept on playing bass, electric piano and electric vibraphone, in studio and live.

She collaborated with Bruford, singing as well as co-writing, on his first solo project, 1977 Feels Good to Me, which became a prog-rock/jazz fusion classic.

Throughout the next years she was also the guest vocalist of Bruford's band on tour.

Bruford would later play in her 1978 album "X-Dreams", in which she guested also other musicians of progressive fame like Chris Spedding (Nucleus), Rick Marotta (Steely Dan), Mick Ronson (Bowie), Brian Godding (Magma, Centipede), Peter Lemer (Gilgamesh, Phil Miller), Jeff Clyne (Nucleus, Isotope) and others.

We have to acknowledge that right from the very beginning she favoured the cutting edge of the Fusion scene as well as she had the Jazz scene before that; Wait, and after too! - in 1992 both her exes Bley and Gary Peacock in trio with Franz Koglmann recorded an album from compositions of Annette named exactly that "Annette". As Thom Jurek wrote for its ALLMUSIC review:

"There isn't anything else to play after Annette that wouldn't seem superfluous or bombastic. With this album, the trio of Bley, Peacock, and Koglmann has created more than just a tribute to a great if nearly completely unknown artist -- it has offered a look deep inside the musical psyche of a true original. " and "...the listener has encountered a world of musical sound so completely focused within that, for a few moments, it is difficult to hear or see anything outside of its muted colors and textures. "


CHANGE - A true precursor of REAL Fusion, blending together Jazz & Rock & Pop, in a personalized manner till then unseen, with the added value of being a female songwriter recording under her name.

In 1972 the UK music magazine The Wire received her first solo album "I'm the One" as one of the top 100 records that "set fire to the world".

Always an original, throughout her career recorded some covers, namely of Elvis songs, addapting them to a jazzy mood very much of her own.


Well, what has all this to do with PA ?

As you will be able to judge yourselves, my progressive friends, from the links I give below, it's all there:

"avoid common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge"  check
"blur the formal distinctions by extending sections or inserting musical interludes"  check
"extended instrumental passages, marrying the classical solo tradition with the improvisational traditions of jazz and psychedelic rock"  check
"adding instruments more typical of jazz or folk music, such as flute, saxophone"  check
"electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and electronic effects...notably the Moog synthesizer and the Mellotron"   check
" time signatures other than 4/4 and tempo changes"   check
"irregular or complex Time Signatures. "  check
"mainstream rock are often supplanted by jazz and classical influences"  check
"Melodies... developing passages than short, catchy ones. "   check
" early adopters of new electronic musical instruments and technologies"   check
"avoid typical rock/pop subjects such as love, dancing, etc."   check


You may even not love her music, but that's not the question here and now; My point - the girl (now 74) is PROGRESSIVE all-over and we better put an end to this shameless omission in our beloved PA.


For the sake of objectivity I won't disperse your attention to whole discography but focuse on two examples, taken from her most well-known albums:


Real & Defined Androgens (1978 X-DREAMS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nGYbrH-Hag


Survival (1979 PERFECT RELEASE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKSk_aT5EY0


Listen attentively and then tell me what you think
Meanwhile you may also want to read this

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Peacock

Allmusic

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/annette-peacock-mn0000489207/biography

Gibraltar Encyclopedia

http://www.gepr.net/pa.html#PEACOCKANNETTE

TheQuietus magazine (excelent article/interview)

http://thequietus.com/articles/15423-annette-peacock-interview

The Guardian review

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/14/annette-peacock-im-the-one-review

Popmatters review

http://www.popmatters.com/review/187589-annette-peacock-i-belong-to-a-world-thats-destroying-itself/

well constructed bid for AP's inclusion, but I still say she's a very borderline inclusion (who else after: Carla Bley?)

of the three 70's album of hers I know, she's more like the Patty Smith of Jazz, but she's worked with Bruford as well.

I didn't know her, quite interesting music. Very nice introduction too 

Guldbamsen wrote: Sean Trane wrote: well constructed bid for AP's inclusion, but I still say she's a very borderline inclusion (who else after: Carla Bley?) of the three 70's album of hers I know, she's more like the Patty Smith of Jazz, but she's worked with Bruford as well. She's listed here under fusion Hugues

I'll be darned if I suspected

For some reason I thought she had already been evaluated.

I'm sorry to say she was rejected by JR/F.

Annette Peacock plays in London's Cafe Oto 20 and 23 November. I probably can't go  but it's great that she's still active.