Category Archives: into the maelstrom

harp on fire: Rhodri Davies

Posted on October 9, 2012 by davidtoop

Recently I’ve been watching YouTube clips of Max Wall performing in his role as Professor Wallofski – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEU8Hr4nqV8. The weirdness of antiquity hangs over this kind of comedy but unlike other entertainers of the Music Hall era, Wall’s influence (on … Continue reading →

Posted in instrumentality, into the maelstrom, live sound | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

falling under a charm: Rie Nakajima

Posted on August 23, 2012 by davidtoop

Café Oto, London, 22 August 2012, after 9.00pm: a warm night; the place is quite full. A low table, facing the stage area. Sometimes children lay out old and unwanted toys on the pavement, sit together and hope to sell … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Lol Coxhill, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker: those three blokes

Posted on July 16, 2012 by davidtoop

One of the hazards of writing difficult pieces at speed is that assumptions can turn into errors. An email from Evan Parker has set me right on the issue of the “Three Blokes”: “It seems almost churlish to offer a … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

end of play, for Lol Coxhill

Posted on July 10, 2012 by davidtoop

Late one night in March of this year I was sitting in an eerie hotel within Tokyo’s Haneda airport being interrogated for a Japanese magazine (see http://onbanjidai.blogspot.co.uk/). The subject of the interview was music and comedy and despite my fear … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

to rush down

Posted on July 5, 2012 by davidtoop

“Any old wood will do,” wrote Henri Michaux in 1949. The drum needed no skin. Just as long as your whole life could be concentrated into the impact of fingers, hand, fast, faster, less fast, slowly, very slowly. Silence was … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on to rush down

mouth of shadows

Posted on July 4, 2012 by davidtoop

Andre Masson: Automatic Drawing (1920s) “she speaks to me a language so soft that at first I do not understand . . .” (Aimé Césaire, Son of Thunder, 1948) “I have always wondered why automatic writing has not been invoked … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

spooky drums

Posted on June 26, 2012 by davidtoop

There are those who would prefer to uncouple improv from the ties that connect it to jazz. Hearing Han Bennink play solo recently (Night of the Unexpected, Spitalfields Festival, London, 16.6.12) reminded me of a few aspects of Han’s playing: … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on spooky drums

Into the Maelstrom

Posted on June 25, 2012 by davidtoop

in progress, my next book: Into the Maelstrom: Improvised Music and the Pursuit Of Freedom . . . to research the history and practice of musical improvisation, notably the post-1960s ‘school’ known as free improvisation; to establish the cultural and … Continue reading →

Posted in into the maelstrom | Tagged , , | 17 Comments