29 November 2009

Amalgam - Prayer for Peace



I sometimes feel that this blog is turning into a series of commemorations, at least as my recent posts are concerned. We have posted on Rashied Ali and Sirone recently, and now is the time to commemorate another bassist who passed away on 18 November at the age of 72. Jeff Clyne was a regular on the UK scene and has played with many of the key figures in British jazz from the late 50s onwards; Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey, Ian Carr, Keith Tippett etc. He was a founder member of Nucleus and had his own fusion group in the mid-seventies which we will come to in a later post. And he played with Amalgam on a couple of albums and with John Stevens as well which we have blogged before, namely here and here and here and here and here.

I have chosen the first album by Amalgam which sees the group working in a trio setting:

1. Tales of Sadness
2. Judy's Smile I
3. Judy's Smile II
4. Judy's Smile III
5. Prayer for Peace*

Trevor Watts - alto sax
John Stevens - drums
Jeff Clyne - bass
Barry Guy - bass*

Recorded on 20 May 1969

This is from a cd reissue by FMR records which seems to be out of print for the moment. The original album was out on Transatlantic, a label better known for folk music.

The album is a beauty - a elegiac, melancholy tone to the compostions - all by Trevor Watts. Three takes are featured of the same tune - showing that a tune can never be exactly reproduced, at least not as far as these musicians are concerned. Listen in for the deep, warm tone from Clyne's bass and the bitter-sweetness and passion from Watts' horn. This is a seminal album and I hope that our readers feel the same.

I don't normally request items, but I'd like to make an exception. If anyone has the Jeff Clyne, Ian Carr (again with Watts and Stevens) album "Springboard", recorded in 1966 and released in 1969 on Polydor, I'd love to hear it. Never reissued and the vinyl is way up in the three digit price range, and way beyond what I'm willing to shell out for any piece of vinyl, so if there are cheaper ways of making it accessible, I'd be very interested.

Meanwhile, enjoy!
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14 comments:

  1. kinabalu30 November 2009 at 00:32:00 CET

    Flacs:

    http://rapidshare.com/files/313994516/Amalgam_-_PFP_flac_.part1.rar.html

    http://rapidshare.com/files/314008790/Amalgam_-_PFP_flac_.part2.rar.html

    mp3:
    http://rapidshare.com/files/314024400/Amalgam_-_PFP_mp3_.rar.html

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  2. riccardo30 November 2009 at 18:23:00 CET

    a real gem!

    many thanks kinabalu

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  3. Wallofsound30 November 2009 at 23:33:00 CET

    Thanks for sharing. A great group of musicians, well remembered in the wallofsound listening room.

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  4. maready1 December 2009 at 15:36:00 CET

    Thanks for another unexpected and much-appreciated post. I have noticed the 'memorial' drift of recent posts ... it is sad, but at least these musicians have remained well-loved and appreciated, for the most part, right up until their death, thanks, in part, to inconstant sol and others keeping the music in circulation.

    As usual, a thank you for a particular post should be taken as an implied and tardy "thank you" for a buch of other recent posts ... it's very hard to keep up with you guys ...

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  5. corvimax1 December 2009 at 18:33:00 CET

    i start listening now and promise very well.
    kinabalu thank you
    i also admit that i made some download lately here without leaving a comment, wich are easyer when i like much a music. i make ammend tryng to get 'springboard' for you, is on soulseek and downloding now, as soon as it's finished i come back with a link, if nobody come first

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  6. corvimax1 December 2009 at 23:54:00 CET

    Jeff Clyne, Ian Carr, Trevor Watts, John Stevens - Springboard – 1966
    from soulseek, mp3@256

    http://rapidshare.com/files/314981655/springboard.zip

    and thank you for your work

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  7. emelt2 December 2009 at 00:50:00 CET

    I was lucky enough to get this on CD a few years ago. It's great! Glad it's getting new listeners.

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  8. The Scenery Within9 December 2009 at 22:21:00 CET

    Food for a hungry soul :) Thank you

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  9. Astroblack8 April 2010 at 20:21:00 CEST

    Outstanding album, thank you so much! Am new to this blog and have already come across a number of real treasures.

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  10. Starsailor3 August 2013 at 16:42:00 CEST

    thank you !!!

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  11. bventure6 March 2014 at 21:42:00 CET

    Any chance of a re-up sometime? I missed this until now somehow.

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  12. Andy6 March 2014 at 22:00:00 CET

    http://www.nobusinessrecords.com/NBLP16.php

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  13. rev.b3 August 2023 at 07:23:00 CEST

    Requesting a reup, if possible.

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  14. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth3 August 2023 at 16:02:00 CEST

    It's still available as LP and download from NoBusiness Records: https://www.nobusinessrecords.com/amalgam-prayer-for-peace.html
    or
    https://nobusinessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/prayer-for-peace

    ReplyDelete