John Surman
English jazz baritone and soprano saxophone, alto, contra-bass, bass clarinet, recorders, piano and synthesizer player and composer, born 30th August 1944, Tavistock, Devon. Won Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) for best jazz album of 2013 with "Songs About This And That".
English jazz baritone and soprano saxophone, alto, contra-bass, bass clarinet, recorders, piano and synthesizer player and composer, born 30th August 1944, Tavistock, Devon. Won Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) for best jazz album of 2013 with "Songs About This And That".
How Many Clouds Can You See?
How Many Clouds Can You See? is the second album by English saxophonist John Surman featuring Alto Saxophone – Mike Osborne; Baritone Saxophone, Flute – John Warren; Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Surman; Bass – Barre Phillips, Harry Miller; Drums – Alan Jackson, Tony Oxley; Piano – John Taylor; Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Alan Skidmore; Trombone – Chris Pyne, Malcolm Griffiths; Trumpet – Dave Holdsworth; Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Harold Beckett; Tuba – George Smith. John …
Flashpoints and Undercurrents
Recently celebrating his 80th birthday and one of Europe’s foremost jazz musicians, John Surman is a masterful improvisor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist (baritone and soprano sax, bass clarinet, and synthesizers/electronics). For nearly 60 years, he has been a major force, producing a prodigious and creative body of work that expands beyond jazz. Surman’s extensive discography as a leader and a side man numbers more than 100 recordings to date and has featured dozens of prominent artists w…
Jazz In Britain '68-'69
John Surman's Jazz in Britain '68-'69 is an overview disc of his '60s band and one of the more enjoyable vintage British jazz records. These tunes come from several different sessions recorded in the late sixties, as evidenced by the alternate drummers - Alan Jackson and Tony Oxley - and the use of different instrumentation, like the three-horn modal piece "Bouquet Garni," from 1968 that places Surman in the company of only two other horn players - Alan Skidmore and Mike Osborne - and no rhythm …
Tales Of The Algonquin
Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g. on British Jazz Explosion series. As in most European countries, jazz in Britain prior to the '60s was largely a copycat of its American counterparts. But with the emergence of artists like trumpeters Harry Beckett and Kenny Wheeler, bassists Graham Collier and Harry Miller, and saxophonists Stan Sulzmann and Alan Skidmore, a very specific yet remarkably diverse complexion began to emerge. From his emergence in the mid-'60s to 1971, baritone/soprano saxophonist…
Our Kind Of Sabi
Recorded in Japan during a tour in 1970. Featuring famous French musicians Eddie Louiss on organ and Daniel Humair on drums. A classy trio album with Louiss’ superb Hammond organ play front and center and a glimmering of the Caribbean dancing in the shadows.
Words Unspoken
The album title – Words Unspoken – alludes to the instant musical understanding found by the members of this nimble quartet assembled by great British reedman John Surman. „My idea was to put together some musical ideas that would offer a collective sense of purpose but still be open enough to allow each of us to suggest other ways of developing the material together. Everything fell into place immediately. But I soon realized it wasn‘t so much the musical ideas that made it work, it was the mus…
Open Space (The Down Beat Poll Winners In Europe)
LP issued to celebrate more European artists than ever before winning the annual “Downbeat” polls in 1969. On this release they all perform as a unit. Jazz giants from six European countries coalesce to play wide-open music. One of Norway’s greatest jazz singers, Karin Krog has worked and recorded with Jan Garbarek and Clare Fischer. English multi-saxophonist John Surman and Krog have jointly won two Norwegian Grammys. Surman has played with Mike Westbrook’s Orchestra and John McLaughlin, as wel…
Road To Saint Ives
*2024 stock. Deluxe packaging* "A gentle, introspective, yet adventurous solo work... The entire album is a one-man effort, from the composition to all of the instrumentation, with Surman building strata of sound over keyboard and percussion structures using bass clarinet and the soprano and bass saxophones he is known for. The resulting work communicates a unique vision and mood, unsullied by the conflicting interpretations of other performers." - Stacia Proefrock
Conflagration
Reissue, originally released in 1971. The core membership of free jazz act The Trio ensured its output was captivating, comprised as it was of double-bassist Barre Phillips, who had played with Archie Shepp, Chris McGregor, and Gong; saxophonist John Surman, who had played with John McLaughlin, Lester Bowie, and Alexis Korner; and drummer Stu Martin, who had played with Count Basie, Donald Byrd, and Herbie Hancock. On the gripping sophomore set Conflagration, guest players include Chick Corea an…
Alors !!!
*2022 stock* Tip! Michel Portal, a brilliant clarinetist, saxophonist and performer from the world of contemporary classical music, became one of the most important actors of the new European improvised music in the early 1960s.While pursuing a parallel career in classical music, he multiplied his encounters with the most active creators of the new European jazz, as well as with various foreign musicians visiting France. This album, recorded on the Futura label in 1970, was made possible thanks …
Love And Understanding: Citadel / Room 315 Sweden '74 (LP)
* CD packaged in 'mini-LP' gatefold sleeve with folded insert and additional photos * The debut performance of esteemed pianist/composer Mike Westbrook's cult 70s jazz masterpiece 'Citadel/Room 315', recorded live in 1974. Featured soloists throughout the album are the iconic ECM recording artist John Surman plus a crack team of top Scandi jazzers. Remastered by Caspar @ Gearbox Records from the original master tapes, 'Love and Understanding' is available on limited edition 2LP gatefold vinyl (5…
Where Fortune Smiles
Re-mastered edition of the 1971 album performed by the legendary enterprise consisting of John McLaughlin on guitars, John Surman on reeds, Karl Berger on vibes, Stu Martin on drums, and Dave Holland on bass. Recorded at the end of May 1970 at the Apostolic Studios in New York, “Fortune Smiles” is a jazz fusion LP that sees all five musicians experimenting equally with their outstanding music qualities. Released here as a picture disc and featuring the original Dawn Records folded insert, the al…
Morning Glory
At the time of its original release in 1973, Morning Glory, seemed a surprising departure for saxophonist John Surman. It seemed to owe more to the music being made by Miles Davis, Weather Report andTony Williams' Lifetime in the USA or Ian Carr's Nucleus and Soft Machine in the UK than it did to the often abstract, free but determinedly acoustic music that Surman had pioneered up to that point. Hindsight tells another story. Morning Glory stands as both a consolidation of his work to date and, …
Westering Home
Fledg'ling are very proud to bring Westering Home to CD. Westering Homewas originally released in 1972. John Surman plays everything on the album, drawing together many of the threads of his earlier recordings with the possibilities offered by technology (and his own prodigious musicality). "I took a break from being on the road. This was just around the time when mono had become stereo, and then - in a flash - multi-track recording became possible. I was fascinated by the possibilities of, say,…
New Jazz Festival Balver Höhle (New Jazz 1974 & 1975)
Recorded live at the cave at Balve, West Germany, July 27/28, 1974 and May 31/June 1, 1975. Box Set with 11 CDs featuring the best of the New Jazz Scene from Europe and the USA in 1974/75. 32-page booklet with concert pictures, posters, flyers and newspaper clippings (in German and English). Includes complete performances and improvisations by Peter Brötzmann, Jasper van’t Hof, John Surman (with the legendary Trio Surman-Osborne-Skidmore) Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and many more!
RECORDED li…
Way Back When
This is a truly stupendous archival find, with broad appeal to both jazz and early fusion fans. This never before released album was recorded on October 7th, 1969 by John Surman and British jazz superstars. It is a mix between the vibrancy of late 60's uk jazz and spacey early electric jazz/rock ala "In A Silent Way"; listening to this album, you can hear that the fusion explosion is on the cusp of happening. Soprano/baritone saxophonist John Surman is one of the UK's best known jazzmen, having …
Flashpoint_ NDR Jazz Workshop - April '69
The NDR Jazz Workshop was a weekly show featuring all manner of jazzmen of the day. The taping of this NDR show was around the same time as Surman was recording his second album as a leader, How Many Clouds Can You See, so this is a unique chance to get an expanded view of his formative work as a leader and also at the early work of his musical compatriots who appear with him here. For this occasion, Surman led a ten-piece ensemble featuring the cream of modern British jazz players: John Surman …
Tales of the Algonquin
Originally released in 1971, 'Tales Of The Algonquin', is one of the finest artifacts of the British modal and free jazz scene of the 1960s/1970s. Johns Surman and Warren, like their contemporary Mike Westbrook, take the big band form and flip it on its head by incorporating elements of modal, free, and progressive jazz. The results are powerful and this album is perhaps the greatest example of that quintessentially British jazz style. Long sought after by jazz collectors across the globe, this …