A wonderful large format recording from bassist
Barry Guy – working here at the head of the Blue Shroud Band, an improvising ensemble that echoes some of his earlier work
with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra! The extended work is an expansion of an earlier piece that
Guy recorded
with pianist Marilyn Crispell – her Three Poems For Cecil Taylor – stretched out here
with a more embellished sense of imagination, but still using some of the core texts created by Crispell for the original work! The piece spans five long CDs –
with sections broken down and notated to reflect the work of the many great improvisers in the set – a lineup that includes Michel Godard on serpent and tuba, Agusti Fernandez on piano, Torben Snekkestad on soprano and tenor, Jurg Wickihalder on soprano and alto, Percy Pursglove on trumpet, Julius Gabriel on baritone and soprano, Maya Homburger on violin, Fanny Paccoud on viola, Ben Dwyer on guitar, and both Ramon Lopez and Lucas Niggli on percussion. Savina Yannatou provides voice on the poetic passages,
Guy plays bass and leads – and the whole
thing is beautifully packaged!