A previously unrecorded
suite of compositions by JOHN
WARREN
Recorded live by the JOHN SURMAN led BRASS
PROJECT
Dear Keith
Welcome
to the latest newsletter from our colleagues at Fledg'ling Records. We are very
proud to release a wonderful album of new music by John Warren.
In the early 1980s John Surman and John Warren
realized a long-held ambition and formed the Brass Project. The
ensemble was conceived as a brass led group focusing on new compositions from
Surman and Warren. The large group ‘had to survive without grant or subsidy' yet
released a mesmerizing and critically acclaimed album for the ECM label and
toured extensively on the European jazz circuit. Surman and Warren had first
collaborated on the masterly 1971 Tales of the Algonquin suite,
and saw the Brass Project as a further exploration of ideas they had begun to
explore more than ten years earlier.
The
11-piece Brass Project captured live on this previously
unreleased recording from June 1993 features - John
Surman saxophones, alto and bass clarinets, Stephen
Waterman, Guy Barker, Steve
Sidwell trumpets, Pete Beachill, Malcolm
Griffiths trombones, Richard Edwards, Kenny
Hamilton bass trombones, Chris Laurence bass,
John Marshall drums, percussion and John
Warren conductor,
This hitherto ‘lost’ The Traveller’s
Tale recording captures a sumptuous suite of compositions inspired by
stories of the early life of John Warren’s grandfather. The piece is not
programmatic but loosely traces episodes in his adventurous life, allowing for
some glorious ensemble and solo playing.
Read
the 4 star review in The Guardian here: The Traveller's Tale
Warren’s
composition... “stands comparison with the music of Gil Evans or
Maria Schneider.”
The
Traveller's Tale follows Fledg'ling's highly acclaimed JOHN
SURMAN re-issues:
 
An incredible fifty years ago, back in 1967, Dorris Henderson and John
Renbourn released their magical Watch The Stars album.
If you don't have a copy now might be just the time to investigate this wondrous
collection.
FLED 3055 DORRIS HENDERSON & JOHN RENBOURN ~ Watch The
Stars
Last September we helped to organise a day long tribute to John
Renbourn at Cecil Sharp House. John's wife Judy produced a pair of greetings
cards based on her drawings of John from 1970. We have a limited quantity of
cards for sale by mail order at £5 per set:
 
JOHN RENBOURN greetings cards
Here at Fledg'ling we are busy working on several new projects for release
during 2017 - our 23rd year of idiosyncratic releases.
More news in the
coming months. In the meantime here's a sneak preview of a forthcoming
album:
Daphne's Flight -
Christine Collister, Melanie Harrold, Julie Matthews, Helen Watson and
Chris While - have re-united to record their second album
twenty years after their debut. Knows Time, Knows Change will
be released early in May when Daphne will begin an extensive UK tour.
All best wishes from Fledg'ling for the year
ahead.
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