-----Original Message-----
From: Franz Fuchs [mailto:f.fuchs@gmx.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 8:54 AM
To: ssmith36(a)sprynet.com
Subject: RE: Life of Brian
>> He's active on at least one jazz-related BBS I'm aware of,
>> and recently attended the recording sessions for an upcoming
>> Keith Rowe / John Tilbury 2CD set on Erstwhile and provided
>> a scintillating preview on another mailing list.
>
>could you forward this preview about the Rowe/Tilbury project to the
>Zorn-list or provide a URL for the list it originally appeared on?
>Thanks!
Sorry to take so long to honor this request... it's been a really trying
couple of weeks and I'm still catching up with older correspondence. Here's
Brian's report from the Rowe and Tilbury sessions, which paint quite the
remarkable picture.
Steve Smith
ssmith36(a)sprynet.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Just back from a week in France with Jon and thought I'd post an advance
alert on this session. I'll probably write something more elaborate on the
Erstwhile site in the near future.
Rowe and Tilbury had never recorded as a duo ("Except when Eddie stops
playing", as Keith wryly puts it) so we were looking forward to this session
with more than the usual amount of anticipation. But when Keith picked us up
from the train station in Nantes, we were informed that Tilbury's mom (95)
had suffered a stroke the previous evening and wasn't expected to live very
long. Obviously, the session became secondary, but over the phone, Tilbury
said that if she were to die in the next day or two, he would still try to
make a single day of the planned two-day session but that if she stayed in
the same condition for several days, he'd have to stay with her. As the
fates would have it, she died that Saturday and we met Tilbury at Gare de
l'Est on Monday morning for the long train ride to Nancy. Though clearly
affected, he was as gracious, warm, humorous and (typically, I imagine)
forthright as one could imagine.
On Tuesday, the duo recorded about three hours of material on the
Vand'oeuvre stage. In four sets, they created five pieces, roughly 70, 20,
20, 50 and 20 minutes long. In the days beforehand, Keith had talked quite a
bit about Tilbury's extraordinary sense of touch and that aspect was just so
perfectly clear on that afternoon. This was music of unusual depth and
beauty even for these two old pros. Sometimes, understandable given the
circumstances, it was quite emotional; maybe even most of the time. Often
somber but always with at least a small optimistic nudge somewhere in there.
Tilbury incredibly fleet at catching an idea tossed by Rowe; once, Keith let
loose a yawp of feedback that John instantaneously captured and dissembled
miraculously into a series of romantic, dreamy chords. Tough to describe, of
course, but they, at several points, entered areas that we all thought
they'd never previously ventured into.
The recording will be a two-disc set and will be dedicated to John's mom,
Doris. I realize I'm in danger of overplaying it this early but, man, this
was some beautiful, beautiful music. Thanks to Jon for allowing me to sit in
on this event.
