THE KEITH TIPPETT GROUP

"The jazz scene in Britain was never that exciting. It was always such hard work." -Pete Sinfield [BBC Prog Rock Britannia, 2009]

Simultaneously with the explosion of "new" post-psychedelic rock music in the United Kingdom in the late sixties, the country's youth was also breeding a distinctive jazz scene. One of the key figures in the movement was Keith Tippett, born in 1947. As a teenager, he studied piano and church organ, playing with various local bands in Bristol. At the age of 20, Tippett moved to London, wanting to find fulfillment as a jazz musician. Soon, he founded The Keith Tippett Group, a sextet consisting of Elton Dean on saxophone, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone (all three musicians also contributed with Soft Machine at the time), as well as Alan Jackson on drums and Jeff Clyne upright bass. In January 1970, the band recorded what came to be, You Are Here... I Am There, Keith Tippett's debut as a bandleader. The album was released on the Polydor label. As a side note, it was at that time that the pianist guested on King Crimson's second album, In the Wake of Poseidon.

The overall atmosphere and aura of You Are Here... I Am There points at the influences of American jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and Charles Mingus. The record shows a strong tendency, however, towards a distinctive sound that was, at the time, new, embraced by musicians such as Jan Garbarek and Ian Carr. Above all, Tippett's compositional style bears traces of the artist's classical training, unveiled by his harmonic and dynamic awareness and careful balance between improvisation and composition. At the same time, in a reasonable dose, the sextet also captures the kind of spiritual aspect of American jazz, particularly powerfully displayed by Albert Ayler, John and Alice Coltrane, and Sun Ra.

A calm, meditative solo passage carefully bowed by Jeff Clyne on upright bass opens the first piece on the album. "This Evening Was Like Last Year (To Sarah)" acts as a thoroughly absorbing foreplay. The crystal-like piano joins the instrument, working towards an uncertain atmosphere. The effective interaction is disturbed by the joining horn section. Very sleepy, yet pronounced notes of a saxophone, cornet, and trombone help the piano grow powerful with the band following the mode it sets. Suddenly, the whole band is given an adrenaline rush, the music becoming louder and more intricate. The dream-like texture of the opening is proficiently combined with wholesome horns. When the drums enter the equation, completing the whole line-up, the composition appears to have finally found its path, becoming less fluid. After reaching the climax, all of the instruments retreat, leaving the piano alone to open "I Wish There Was a Nowhere." Very quickly, however, bass and drums join, settling on a repetitive groove, a base for what will turn out to be a lengthy jam, for Elton Dean on saxophone. Kurt Vonnegut's description of Angela Hoenikker's clarinet playing from his novel Cat's Cradle would well render Dean's solo which seems to go "from liquid lyricism to rasping lechery to the shrill skittishness of a frightened child, to a heroin nightmare." Soon, the groove fades away with Mark Charig's cornet taking the lead. The mood becomes very mellow, recalling some of the most beautiful cool jazz ballads of Miles Davis. Unnoticeably slowly, the piece reclaims its weight, with all the musicians exploring countless improvisational regions. After a long piano solo, all of the instruments meet, leading to a beautiful ending of the track, adding a few whimsicalities on the way.

On side two, "Thank You For The Smile (For Wendy And Roger)" is based on a progression that seems a little... contrasted, different. The purpose becomes apparent after a very brief jam, where the wind instruments make a direct quotation of the theme from The Beatles' hit "Hey Jude." The listener comfortably lays back thinking "Oh, okay, so this is the nature of the track, that's where they are taking me." Such a tongue-in-cheek interjection is very welcome, adding a bit of spice to the progress of the work as a whole. "Three Minutes From An Afternoon In July (To Nick)" opens with a Peter Brötzmann-esque sax, setting the stage for Nick Evans' trombone melodies. The bells played by Giorgio Gomelsky, an iconic film maker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer, add a little mysticism. Towards the end, Evans gets an a capella solo, before the dark "aftermath" from the whole band. "Battery Point (To John And Pete)", a relatively short affair, starts with a carefully designed interplay between the horns, before a quieter passage with added upright bass, on which Jeff Clyne showcases his abilities without the support of the group. "Violence" reminisces bebop in its rapid pace, but utilizes harmonic solutions untypical of the movement. Every musician gets to display their improvisational skill on top of this rhythm. Just like every other instrument before, Alan Jackson is given some time for a drum solo, very energetic and accurate. "Stately Dance for Miss Primm" makes a bit of a difference in comparison to the material of side two with its funky pulse. Listeners should take note of the amazingly-thought wind instrument arrangements in the main theme. Elton Dean plays another wonderful, emotional solo, followed by Nick Evans' take on improvisation. After the return of the main motif, the piece slowly descends into silence and that's when we can hear a snippet of Tippett using something different than an acoustic piano. To my ears it sounds like an electric piano of a sort. An interesting mystery indeed.

Keith Tippett's solo debut, You Are Here... I Am There showcases his distinguished compositional style in addition to exploration of numerous improvisational fields by him and his band mates. The material The Keith Tippet Group have got to offer on this release should be of interest to fans of jazz of musicians such as Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, and the already-named John Coltrane. However, those, who appreciate the jazzy side of progressive music with bands such as Soft Machine and Nucleus, should definitely get their hands on You Are Here... I Am There. A beautifully-tangled masterpiece!

It's hard not to see this one as Keith Tippett's Canterbury album; not only does he draw heavily on Soft Machine members past, present and future (it'd be 2 years before Roy Babbington signed up with the Softs, and Robert Wyatt was just on the verge of leaving) to obtain the personnel for the band (as well as plenty of Nucleus members), the album itself is actually named after a Soft Machine composition. (What's more, Gridal Suite seems to be a nod to the Softs' own Neo-Caliban Grides.) It's a more traditionally jazzy take on the Canterbury sound, with a very able and well-judged fusion of the two musical approaches which puts the Soft Machine's own fourth and fifth albums (fairly transparent attempts to present a side of the band more acceptable to the jazz establishment) to shame.

4.5 stars, really.

To be honest, this album was my very first taste of the jazz fusion era. Not Miles Davis, not Mahavishnu Orchestra, but this gem. YAH...IAT is heavily overshadowed by Tippett's other work (King Crimson, Centipede, and his other album), and I could never understand why. Looking at the negative ratings, I can assume people expected another "Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening" or "Septober Energy". Let me tell you, it's definitely not. To me, this is the British response to Bitches Brew, albeit without the sidelong pieces.

This Evening Was Like Last Year (8.5/10) - Sort of an overture to this album. Quiet and deep strings, rapid-fire drumming, and lots of free jazz near the middle and end.

I Wish There Was A Nowhere (10/10) - A true jazz masterpiece, and the best song of the album. Lots of piano jamming and saxophone solos, with clear divisions. Also the longest song, clocking in at a grand 14 minutes.

Thank You For the Smile (8/10) - A kind of filler, if you ask me. But it's still valid in the album, and sets a different tone for the next side of the record. This track is actually a sadder reworking of the Beatles's famous track "Hey Jude", using the outro as a base.

Three Minutes from an Afternoon in July (6/10) - A single sax note. Seriously. This song does create the feeling of a hot July afternoon, but it kind of stops the flow of the album. The band kind of joins in at the very end, but is too late to save the track.

View From Battery Point (8/10) - Fanfare material. Quiet electric piano, kind of like looking out from Battery Point onto the landscape. Ominous, and really sort of preparation for the next track.

Violence (7.5/10) - A memorable opening melody, and contained throughout. Really does kind of represent a little fight, or as the title says... Violence. Not the best.

Stately Dance for Miss Primm (10/10) - A great closer! Truly grooving, with solos scattered throughout from the whole band. This is the first track I heard from this album, and I fell in love quickly.

This Evening Was Like Last Year [Short Version] (8/10) - The shortened version of the first track. Cuts the crap, but also removes some of the charm.

4.5 stars. I must admit I was blown away by the lineup here.The rhythm section (Clyne & Jackson) from Keith's debut had left so he has some guests on here filling in. Bass players Babbington (NUCLEUS and SOFT MACHINE) and Whitehead (ISOTOPE) and drummers Wyatt (SOFT MACHINE), Howard (SOFT MACHINE) and Spring (NUCLEUS). On guitar Boyle (ISOTOPE). The groups I put beside these band members are the groups they played for or would play for in the future. The core lineup for this band had been together since mid 1968 and included Tippet of course on keyboards along with horn players Dean, Charig and Evans. The latter three played on SOFT MACHINE's "Third" the year before. In the liner notes it talks about how much fun these guys had recording these tracks. Keith says : "It was fantastic, everybody was leaping around, very happy. Not drunken...just merry. You can tell what it was like from the fade-outs; the tracks weren't faded for musical reasons, but because we never wanted to stop playing." These guys loved Free-Jazz, it gave them an opportunity to be creative and improvize without restrictions or boundries. All this can be felt here on this album.The album takes it's title from the great Hugh Hopper of course.

"This is What Happens" is so catchy. You can't help but bop around to this one. Drums and percussion as the horns blast away. Piano after 2 1/2 minutes as the horns back off. Not for long though as everybody joins in.The drumming here is relentless. "Thoughts To Geoff" has no real melody to start as horns, piano and drums come and go until 2 minutes in when we do get a melody. Nice bass lines after 4 minutes and the keyboards are fantstic. It's the bass / piano show 6 1/2 minutes in. Horns are back 8 minutes in wailing away. Intricate guitar from Boyle is back too.

"Green And Orange Night Park" is my favourite. Piano and drums to open as horns join in. This sounds so good when it settles and they start to jam. Amazing stuff. "Gridal Suite" opens with dissonant horns. Drums after a minute. Crazy tune. "Five After Dawn" features these screeching sounds. Horns take over before a minute. Chaotic 2 1/2 minutes in including some laughing. "Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening" is less then a minute of horns. "Black Horse" opens with drums as bass,guitar and horns join in quickly. Great sound. Guitar to the fore 2 1/2 minutes in. Nice. Horns are back.

Just a fantastic album ! If your into SOFT MACHINE's more experimental style of music you need to hear this.

Up there with 'Elastic Rock' by Nucleus and Soft Machine's 'Third', The Keith Tippett Group's excellent 'Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening' occupies the upper echelons of British jazz-fusion and is rightfully hailed as a classic album by fans and critics alike. No doubt one of many who was inspired by the superlative experimental sounds of American innovators Miles Davis, Tony Williams, Herbie Hanock et al, The Keith Tippett Group produced just two studio albums proper but, in the process, proved to be a breeding ground for many of the top young jazz talents of the time. As well as Tippett, 'Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening' featured a quartet of soon-to-be Soft Machine-bound members in Robert Wyatt(drums), Marc Charig(cornet), Roy Babbington(bass) and Elton Dean(sax), as well as Nick Evans(trumbone), Jeff Clyne(bass), and Australian drummer Phil Howard who would eventually replace Wyatt in Soft Machine several years down the line. Considering the line-up on show, it's no surprise that this sophomore effort from the group has proved to be so popular. Unlike The Keith Tippett Group's debut, this follow-up is a much more radical affair which embraces the fusion furiosity of 'Bitches Brew'-style Miles Davis and the more progressive rock sounds that were eminating from both Britain and America. This is very much jazz-rock, but not quite fusion, as there is, on this album at least, a clear distinction between the two genre's despite the fact they are mixed so seemlessly. After 'Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening' The Keith Tippett Group would head their separate ways, with Soft Machine the major benefactors and Tippett throwing himself headlong into the mammoth musical experiment of 'Centipede', another jazz-orientated group with King Crimson's Robert Fripp that would feature over 50 members. As is shown on the two Keith Tippett Group studio albums and the group-leader's later works, the dividing line between jazz and rock and experimentation and innovation can and will always be blurred, combining the rich beauty of the former and the raw energy of the latter into a truely unique and inspiring collage of sounds. Tippett was a true jazz pioneer and this album is a testament to his unnerving talent and his dedication to producing new and interesting sounds outside of the normal 'rock' spectrum. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010

Nice Jazz Fusion album. We have in this music work ,lots of improvisation with piano, thrumpet and a liltle guitar parts, but the musical instrument pricipal in this album is to me the thrumpet. Absolute fusion atmosphere when drums work made by Robert Wyatt, and Phil Howard made the difference. Some answers, questions with piano and thrumpet, ( Cornet ) are absolute great. The piano improvisatiions are great to. The bass is in pure Jazz vein and very good play . The Sax improvisation is to me, the only that is not sincronized with the context of this work but made some fast parts with great quality. For all that like Jazz Fusion is a great album and a great adiction in Fusion collection. I give 4/5stars.

My interest to Keith Tippett came from two different sides: first, as to musician,who take a part in some great prog-albums recordings, and second, as for musician and husband of great singer of the era Julie Driscoll.

It's a first album of KTB for me. And I am not disappointed, not at all...

Great music, to be honest -more avant-jazz, than prog-rock. Absolutely perfect technigue, fantastic Elton Dean sax-solos. Yes, some moments are somewhere in the field of avant-jazz, but always on the border, never-too much.

It gives to the album that magic feeling - you are listening some great musiscians on their improvisation session, music is brave, complex, but you all the time catching, what happens. It is small miracle - as dancing on the edge of the blade. You are near missing it, but never really missing.

To be honest, sax/trombon solos are most impressive parts on this album for me ( not Tippet's piano). But all in all it's rare mix of something that lays between avant-jazz and prog, and the mix is fantasticaly successful!

For sure, don't expect something in KC style there! Generaly, this album is for modern-jazz lovers, or who that, who likes jazzy part in jazz-rock music of that time ( Soft Machine or some Gong albums).

With an arresting artwork, depicting a brainchild, on its cover, the KTG managed to climb up from the Phillips generalist label to the Vertigo Swirl prestigious and progressive label, and I can't think of a better promotion. Line-up wise, Jeff Clyne shares the bass with Roy Babbington and the drums are shared between Wyatt, Brian springs and Phil Howard (who would go on to replace Wyatt in Soft Machine), but on the horns, the Dean/Charig/Evans trio remained. Please note the pun title is from Soft Machine's "Dedicated To Hugh..."

The album opens on a conga-driven groovy track that gets its inspiration between the three horn players, but in the background, Keith's piano is the one thing that makes this piece so rollicking. Followed up by the tough to grasp Thoughts To Geoff, a 10-mins corker that often veers dissonant and improvisational, which strangely enough becomes more fluid and melodic as it unravels. Even young Gary Boyle (out of auger's trinity) manages to follow this difficult track, which had to faded out to be stopped. In Green & Orange Night Park, McCoy Typpett then shows with all three horns holding the Trane in the station, until Elton pulls his best solo (I would almost add ever in such a fanboy moment) while the other two are providing a descending line behind him that slowly morphs into another lead line, which had to be terminated again by a fade-out. Absolutely flabbergasting and jaw-dropping piece.

The flipside starts on the most difficult Gridal Suite, an Elton Dean improvised piece that he shares well with Phil Howard (just think of side 1 of Soft Machine's 5 album), this track probably being the low point of the album. Five After Dawn might appear at first to be just as difficult, but it's not quite the same nature, this one is written and impressionist track, evoking early life movement after the dead of night. After your stupor segued into surprise, it should normally give into joy and eventually glee. The short but sweet reprise of SM's theme is only a wink, leading us to Black Horse, which is a bit the book- ending of the opening track (both tracks are written by trombonist Nick Evans, a very rhythmic groove with plenty of enthralling horn-section arrangements (a bit ala brass-rock), and it comes complete with a superb guitar solo from future Isotope Gary Boyle.

Not that this second album is that much better than their debut, but it grabbed all of the sunshine, shadowing all of the debut album, which consistently remains more difficult to find. Both are much worth the discovery and are excellent early UK jazz-rock