6 March 2014

MUJICIAN - Four Bars Inn, Cardiff 1988



































PAUL DUNMALL, tenor and soprano sax
KEITH TIPPETT, piano
PAUL ROGERS, bass
TONY LEVIN, drums

1. First set  38:40
2. Second set (inc)  46:43

Four Bars Inn, Cardiff.  11th July 1988

OK, so the band wasn’t actually called Mujician at this point.  But it soon would be.  Keith Tippett and Paul Dunmall had played a few gigs with Tony Levin and Chris Bolton at Tony’s Jazz Club Friday at the Bartons Arms in Birmingham.  Paul Rogers had played in Tenor Tonic with Dunmall and Levin and the Keith Tippett Sextet but had recently been away in America.  On his return Dunmall arranged some duet gigs and one of them in Cardiff added Tippett and Levin, advertised as the Paul Dunmall/Keith Tippett Quartet.  So this is really Mujician's very first gig and it’s fresh and exciting and utterly magical in its musical coming together.  Luckily Bruce was in Cardiff that night with his tape recorder – so it’s BIG THANKS to him for the opportunity to enjoy an hour or so of history in the making.

Leave a comment.  Thanks.

Mujician on Cuneiform



15 comments:

  1. Andy, Thanks again for all the great shows, and preserving the legacy, now sadly unrepeatable, of arguably one of the finest quartets since Tranes'.[Am I putin the apostrophy in the right place? I always get confused 'bout that}BTW boys and girls, run to yer googboxes and order any Cuneiform Mujician Cds you can still find before it's too late! You won't regret it, and even if you already have them they make good birthday presents for your friends.

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  2. Thanks Andy. I can add a little to your description. My memory from the night (a little hazy since it was 25 years ago) is that Keith announced at the beginning of the concert something to the effect that the band wasn't the KT/PD quartet but Mujician. Unfortunately this was before I hit record.
    For the those that are interested, it was recorded on my dad's (I was 16 at the time) early 1980s Bush ghetto blaster, with built in stereo mics and was positioned (if my memory serves me) under my chair. All things considered it sounds pretty good. I did a few more recordings with it.
    It's interesting to note that from the press clipping that Paul D was regarded as a veteran at the tender age of 35!

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  3. One more from your treasure chest, thanks Andy

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  4. I have a remastered (not by me)version of this somewhere if anyone's interested. It already sounds fine, but the remaster is still quite an improvement.

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  5. @bventure. Sure, let's hear it!

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  6. Here we go...
    http://www.gamefront.com/files/24099075/mujcardrem.zip

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  7. Thanks bventure. That's good of you, but I prefer the unremastered sound. :)

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  8. Andy , thank you very much for your ongoing documentation of Mujician as well as the individual member's music . You have literally turned me on to so much beautiful music . Thank you again and again .

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  9. Dear chrisc. That's what I love to hear. Thank you.

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  10. I wouldn't even Know the great Paul Dunmall if not for you lot. It all goes back (for me) to a live duet of Trane material when he reminded the audience, "Now don't forget: I'm TWICE his age." Love it. ; )

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  11. @David. Thanks for your encouraging comment. It's a two way street.

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  12. @Andy. Not sure which I prefer, they both have pros & cons, but it does no harm to have both. Listening again now, I think I might agree with you. Being a big Sun Ra fan, I naturally prefer the raw product to antiseptic studio purity. That said, I think this is a pretty sympathetic effort & doesn't diminish the music in the way so many remasters do.

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  13. More great archive. Thank you for sharing this marvellous piece of British jazz history.

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