The Musicians:
Kevin Flanagan : saxophones/bass clarinet/spoken/mis-spoken word
Dave Gordon : piano/plucks/clicks
Andy Brown : electric & acoustic bass/scratches/squeaks
Russ Morgan : drums, small sounds
Listen (mp3 click to play)
1. Old Year,
Riprap Quartet in the studio January '12. This piece was expanded from its originally written form that accompanied a reading of the poem 'Old Year' by Seamus Heaney, commissioned by the John Clare Festival a couple of years ago.. It was originally played as a somewhat brittle, twisted children's song with its simple melody over a piano line of gently alternating 7ths and 9ths. We dumped the sparse approach after to much coffee at the end of the session and tried it in a Late-Miles-On-the-Corner mode. It was a lot more fun to kick out a bit.
2. Cuba Cafe,
Riprap Quartet live at the Mumford Theatre. This piece was expanded from its originally written form that accompanied a reading by the poet Grevel Lindop. It would be nice to say that this has authentic Cuban elements in it, but that would be kidding ourselves. What I was looking for here was a freer sense of phrasing inspired by the traditional Danzon inspired rhapsodic melodic lines typified on my favourite Cachao albums.
3. The Beck, Riprap Quartet live at the Mumford Theatre
Riprap Quartet live at the Mumford Theatre. This piece, again expanded from the orginal used to accompany a reading, was a study in harmonic and rhythmic structures derived from the traditionalSho of the Japanese Gagaku orchestra. The use of tone clusters and lack of accidentals combined with the
upper register drone created a different way of thinking about vertical elements in the music.
4. Greenland ,
This is a wonderfully quietly estatic piece by Dave, with one of those melodies you find staying with you far longer than you would anticipate. Fantastic solo by dave, (it's also recorded by his trio on the album Second Language) with some lovely in-the-piano work.
5. Song,
This is a piece inspired by a Seamus Heaney poem, Song , commisioned for the John Clare Festival and again played live at the Mumford concert. The CD has a different feel to it, but this was earlier days. The idea behind it was a kind of slightly twisted children's song, for kids who have been bad.
6. Isotope (blues) , Riprap, from the last album
This a just a short excerpt from the first album, a general workout over Joe Henderson's Isotope; great opening solo from Dave, and Kevin making a rare (these days anyway - the original group featured it?) appearence on alto.
7.My Poetry is Jamming Your Machine, Riprap Quartet in live, lo-fi collaboration with poet Malcolm Guite at the Rectial Room, Cambridge, Oct.'08.l This is Malcolm reading his poem My Poetry is Jamming Your Machine. Over time, we've done a number a collaborations with various poets from both the UK and the US as a kind of lateral project .
Riprap Blog
Kevin's Riprap blog click here
Riprap
After forming about eight years ago on an occasional basis as a group of like-minded musicians who wanted to explore some less common modes of composing, open-ended improvisation and occasionally working with spoken word in the form of readings with contemporary poets, they have been performing in venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge University, Essex University, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford Civic Theatre, Boxford Jazz Club, Brighton Jazz Club, Peterbourgh Jazz Club and had music played the BBC World Service and PBS in the US. The new CD explores a series of settings for the quartet exploring compositions inspired by the work of various contemporary poets such as Grevel Lindop, Chuck Perkins, Ruth Padel, and the Beat poet Gerry Nicosia.
"Haunting and atmospheric settings of Gary Snyder's evocative poetry from sax player/composer Kevin Flanagan's new band. Acoustic jazz of the highest order where the musicians solo beautifully and sit in grooves like they've found a new place to live." Sue Edwards, Bookings manager, Royal Festival Hall.
"Featuring the increasingly in-demand pianist David Gordon, Kevin Flanagan's current project pits the words of beat poet Gary Snyder against thoughtfully-crafted ensemble playing of the highest order.... a must see" Tim Haillay, Chairman, Brighton Jazz Club
"Having listened to the CD, I was full of hope and anticipation that these guys could deliver live what they had managed to recreate in the studio. I am have to say the concert was absolutely amazing, the quality of the musicianship and the reading of Snyder's poetry created a wonderful atmosphere. One of the best groups on the circuit, watch this space." Pasco-Q Kevlin,Theatre Manager, Lakeside Theatre, University of Essex.
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poems by Gary Snyder
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CD PRICE : £8.99 (INCL P&P).
Kevin Flanagan (reeds and voice)
Kevin comes from Lowell, Mass., USA. He was part of Antares, an improvisatory jazz group that toured New England and the UK in the mid-70's to early 80's. During this period he was also involved in blues and popular music, both performing and recording. He settled in the UK in the mid-80's, and worked on the London jazz and pop scene, playing and recording with Ben E. King, B.B.King, and members of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Sex Pistols, Portishead, Paul Weller, and others, as well as various West African groups around London. By the late 80's, he was primarily involved with jazz, playing with his own group and the Tommy Chase Quartet around the festivals of the UK and Europe, such as Glastonbury, Brecon, Edinburgh, Soho, Glasgow, and Brighton in this country; and festivals in Milan, Paris, The North Sea Festival, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and others. He spent much of the 90's collaborating with Chris Ingham in FIQ, and put out two well-received CD's, Zanzibar and Textile Lunch. A graduate of Goldsmiths University, with a post graduate degree in composition from ARU (where he lectures). He studied composition at the University of Sussex with Martin Butler,and had pieces commissioned and performed by orchestras in London and Cambridge. Kevin's composions: Kevin's Amp site
Dave Gordon (piano)
Dave played with the Theo Travis Band and the Pete Oxley Band, and released a number of CD's with both these groups, having played at Ronnie Scott's and appearing at numerous international jazz festivals. David also works as a solo improviser, both in performance with his own trio and with the London Contemporary Dance School. In addition, he works as a harpsichordist with the Academy of Ancient Music and other Baroque orchestras and in New Zealand and Australia as a recitalist. As a composer, he writes not only for his trio, but also for BBC Radio 3, and has recorded CD's with his crossover band Respectable Groove. He has been described as " a richly gifted player, with a sparkling style and boundless imagination, able to move from one mode to another with great skill" (Phil Johnson of The Independent). He is also currently working with the singer Jacqui Dankworth. See Dave's website: Dave's site
Andrew Brown (bass)
Andrew studied with Tony Hougham (Principle Double Bass of Covent Garden) and went on to play with such American players as Tal Farlow and Peter Erskine, as well as playing in bands with Pete King, Benny Green, Pete Oxley, Simon Vincent, Kevin Flanagan, and Chris Ingham. He is also involved with the contemporary music scene, working with such players as Eddie Prevost and Lol Coxhill and, most recently, in free improvised/electronic trios with the Canadian composer Matt Rogalsky and American reed player Scott Rosenberg. He worked as a session player in a number of rock bands including a period in Paris with Elise Romane and two years with Steve Harley. He is currently working with The Kevin Flanagan Quartet, Respectable Groove, and FIQ. Check into Andy's ongoing blog: Andy's site
Russ Morgan (percussion)
Russ studied with Trevor Tomkins and trained at the Royal Academy of music in London (‘93-‘95). As well as playing in ‘Rip Rap’ Russ is a member of Pete Oxley’s English fusion group ‘Curious Paradise’, and Christian Garrick’s contemporary jazz quintet ‘Jutta’s party band’. He was a founder member of the British contemporary jazz group ‘Short Stories’, the post bop and song outfit ‘the Flanagan-Ingham quartet’, and the experimental ‘drum & bass’ groove piano trio ‘Vincent’.
Russ has gigged extensively on the British jazz scene, and toured and recorded around the UK and Europe. He has played with Martin Speake, Julian Siegel, Julian Arguelles, Gilad Atzmon, Stan Sultzman, Bobby Wellins and Spike Robinson (sax), Steve Waterman (trmp) John Parricelli, Phil Robson and Mick Hansen (guitar), Dave Gordon, Gordon Beck, Gary Husband, Richard Busiakiewicz, Chris Ingham and Kate Williams (piano), Bill Le Sage, Roger Beaujolais and Jim Hart (vibes),and Jacqui Dankworth, Mishka Adams, Laura Zakian and Bob monkhouse (!!!!) (vocals).
When not playing music Russ is immersed in the world of Chinese internal martial and healing arts: Having practised Tai chi chuan, Wudang shan chuan, Chi kung, and acupressure massage for over 15 years, Russ is a professional Martial arts instructor, and Acupressure massage therapist. He holds regular classes, workshops and clinics in London.
Russ's Tai Chi site