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The London based improvising string trio Barrel of Alison Blunt on violin, Ivor Kallin on violin & viola, and Hannah Marshall on cello, all members of London Improvisers Orchestra and performers at the 2007 Freedom of the City.
"These three musicians have been performing in various combinations with others on the London improvising scene for several years. As well as the numerous small groups they have participated in, all three are members of the London Improvisers Orchestra. About six years ago Alison and Ivor were often playing gigs together either as a duo or with a third string player. They were impressive enough to be invited to the 2007 Freedom of the City festival, where they chose to add Hannah, with whom Alison had previously performed duos. That first performance of this trio was so musically successful that they decided to continue as such, and chose to call the group Barrel as it involved a lot of scraping. Since then they have often played in various locations in and around London, and this album is their choice of two of the resulting recordings. There are also two pieces from a 'studio' session at John Bisset's home. The music on this CD is certainly a very worthy addition to the series of string groups that have been featured on Emanem."-Martin Davidson, from the liner notes
"Gratuitous Abuse is a gem from start to finish, and a worthy addition to the Emanem canon." AllAboutJazz
Three autobiographic sketches:
Alison was born within earshot of the Indian Ocean and grew up with first the calls of peacocks and rabbits then the bleating of Herdwick sheep. Sounds of city life have since taken precedence, interrupted by grunting wombats, clicking possums and meowing cats.
Ivor grew up in the Yiddish/Glaswegian speaking ghetto of Strathbungo (hence his fluency in Glaswiddish). He had to grow his own beard to provide an abundant supply of bow hair, as horses were in short supply. However, he has recently acquired a fine horse.
Hannah is from London. She has made much use of tastes, sounds, and hairstyles ranging from quiet, violent, ungeneric, feverish, & simple, with a collection of musical and animal characters whose breadth matches these qualities, but may also include eccentric, beautiful, and dirty.
"These three musicians have been performing in various combinations with others on the London improvising scene for several years. As well as the numerous small groups they have participated in, all three are members of the London Improvisers Orchestra. About six years ago Alison and Ivor were often playing gigs together either as a duo or with a third string player. They were impressive enough to be invited to the 2007 Freedom of the City festival, where they chose to add Hannah, with whom Alison had previously performed duos. That first performance of this trio was so musically successful that they decided to continue as such, and chose to call the group Barrel as it involved a lot of scraping. Since then they have often played in various locations in and around London, and this album is their choice of two of the resulting recordings. There are also two pieces from a 'studio' session at John Bisset's home. The music on this CD is certainly a very worthy addition to the series of string groups that have been featured on Emanem."-Martin Davidson, from the liner notes
"Gratuitous Abuse is a gem from start to finish, and a worthy addition to the Emanem canon." AllAboutJazz
Three autobiographic sketches:
Alison was born within earshot of the Indian Ocean and grew up with first the calls of peacocks and rabbits then the bleating of Herdwick sheep. Sounds of city life have since taken precedence, interrupted by grunting wombats, clicking possums and meowing cats.
Ivor grew up in the Yiddish/Glaswegian speaking ghetto of Strathbungo (hence his fluency in Glaswiddish). He had to grow his own beard to provide an abundant supply of bow hair, as horses were in short supply. However, he has recently acquired a fine horse.
Hannah is from London. She has made much use of tastes, sounds, and hairstyles ranging from quiet, violent, ungeneric, feverish, & simple, with a collection of musical and animal characters whose breadth matches these qualities, but may also include eccentric, beautiful, and dirty.
Details
Cat. number: 5020
Year: 2011
