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!

14 comments:

kinabalu said...

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

riccardo said...

a real gem!

many thanks kinabalu

Wallofsound said...

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

maready said...

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 ...

corvimax said...

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

corvimax said...

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

emelt said...

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

The Scenery Within said...

Food for a hungry soul :) Thank you

Astroblack said...

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

Starsailor said...

thank you !!!

bventure said...

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

Andy said...

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

rev.b said...

Requesting a reup, if possible.

Ernst Grgo Nebhuth said...

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