четверг, 4 сентября 2014 г.

Bob Downes' Open Music - Electric city 1970

Bob Downes was a well-known "studio rat" or a "session man" that played on many 60's records, from MANFRED MANN to ANDWELLA'S DREAM (and later on EGG); and his fantastic flute was second to JETHRO TULL's Ian Anderson only. By the turn of the decade, he had decided to try his own luck and 1970 was a particularly fruitful year for him: 2 full solo album and one collaboration. Released on the legendary Vertigo swirl label, Electric City was a strange album between avant-garde jazz and hard rock. The album failed to sell and by the time Bob Downes was ready to record his second album, Phillips had demoted him to their "normal" label (only GRACIOUS suffered the same treatment). Actually "Open Music" came out as his more successful release and has been a collector item for years, now. The same year, Bob Downes also released a wild album called "Deep Down Heavy" (and its spectacular artwork) with poet Robert Cockburn reading out his text, making another unusual record. None of the three albums sold enough for Downes to keep trying out his solo stint. Comes then a gap where  he returned to studio sessions for the next couple of years, most likely appearing on avant-garde jazz albums. This in turn led him to be noticed by some Modern Artistic Dance companies and in 72, he was commissioned for two "dance" project. Forming his own trio OPEN MUSIC, named after his more successful album, "Diversion" proved an interesting release where jazz-rock alternated with free form music, while the catastrophic "Episodes At 4AM" (74), which was a Welsh project, filled with obtuse free-form music. The following year saw Downes release "Hell's Angels", then later "Dawn Dreams", "South American Journey" and "Inside Stonehenge", before taking a long break. Bob Downes moved to the continent in the late 80's and is now currently based in Germany, and continues to perform as a solo artiste, playing during the execution of paintings and art exhibitions running flute workshops and releasing the odd album now and then, such as 93's "Dreams of Nature" .

Line-up / Musicians

Don Faye/Baritone Saxophone 
Robin Jones/Congas
Alan Rushton/Drums
Clem Cattini/Drums
Dennis Smith/Drums
Bud Parks/Flugelhorn
Harry Beckett/Flugelhorn
Ian Carr/Flugelhorn
Bob Downes/Flute,Vocals,Saxophone
Ray Russell/Guitar
Chris Spedding/Guitar 
Bud Parks/Trumpet
Harry Beckett/Trumpet
Ian Carr/Trumpet
Kenny Wheeler/Trumpet
Nigel Carter/Trumpet
Daryl Runswick/Bass
Harry Miller/Bass
Herbie Flowers/Bass

Discography(Album)

Electric city 1970












1.No time like the present
2.Keep off the grass
3.Don't let tomorrow get you down
4.Dawn until dawn
5.Go find time
6.Walking on
7.Crush hour
8.West II
9.In your eyes
10.Piccadilly circles
11.Gonna take a journey


Listen or download No Time Like The Present for free on Pleer

Listen or download Bob Downes Dawn Until Dawn for free on Pleer

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