AMM (group)

Infobox musical artist
Name = AMM


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Background = group_or_band
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Origin = London, England
Genre = Free improvisation, Experimental music,
Free jazz
Years_active = 1965 – present
Label = Electra, Matchless
Associated_acts = Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV)
Evan Parker
URL =
Current_members = Eddie Prévost
John Tilbury
Past_members = Keith Rowe
Lou Gare
Cornelius Cardew
Lawrence Sheaff
Christopher Hobbs

AMM are an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965.

AMM have never been well-known to the general public, but have been, in their own way, hugely influential on several generations of adventurous musicians. AMM have been called "legendary" [Wilmoth, Charlie." [http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/1124 AMM Review] ". "Dusted Magazine". November 6, 2003. Retrieved October 14, 2006.] and "groundbreaking." [ Warburton, Daniel." [http://www.mdos.at/recorddetail.php?id=5062&md3c=2b7bf87acf7d74a9d5e46bf1d21b0b23 Amplify02:balance] "."Paris Transatlantic Magazine". January 2004. Retrieved October 14, 2006.] , and are notable as perhaps the first musical group deliberately to try to make music not related to any established musical genre: as Michael Nyman wrote, "AMM seem to have worked without the benefit or hindrance of any kind of prepared external discipline." [Nyman, Michael."Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond" (second edition). Cambridge University Press. (1999). pg. 129. ISBN 0-521-65383-5]

Most of their recordings have been released on Matchless Recordings, run by founder member and percussionist Eddie Prévost.

In a 2001 interview, founding member Keith Rowe was asked if "AMM" was an abbreviation; he replied, "The letters AMM stand for something, but as you probably know it's a secret!" [Warburton, Dan." [http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/rowe.html Keith Rowe Interview] ". "Paris Transatlantic Magazine". January 2001. Retrieved October 14, 2006.]

History

1960s

AMM was initially composed of Keith Rowe on guitar, Lou Gare on saxophone (born Louis Gare, in 1939) and Eddie Prévost on drums. Rowe and Gare were members of Mike Westbrook's band; Prévost and Gare were also in a hard bop jazz quintet. The three men shared a common interest in exploring music beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz, as part of a larger movement that helped spawn European free jazz and free improvisation.

The seeds of AMM were planted in 1965. They initially had no name, and were not really a group in the conventional sense, simply a weekend experimental workshop session at the Royal College of Art in London, centered on Gare, Rowe, and Prevost. Members of the group have come and gone over the years, but Rowe and Prévost have been present for most recordings and performances; the latter has been the only constant in the nearly four decades of AMM music.

Musicians were free to join in, but such collaborations were often short-lived if the contributions were lacking the proper spirit: notable jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy sat in with the group but was quickly asked to stop playing. [See the notes for "Laminal"] Observers were welcome, provided they were silent and didn't disturb the proceedings. American saxophonist Ornette Coleman was asked to leave after he continually talked during one performance; Beatles member Paul McCartney once sat quietly through an early AMM session: he enjoyed the music, but thought the performance was too lengthy. [See the notes for "Laminal"]

Eventually, the group settled on a Prevost-Rowe-Sheaff-Cardew-Gare lineup, and, in early 1966, were calling themselves AMM. However, some early performances were billed as the "Cornelius Cardew Quintet" [Penguin Guide to Jazz] , a mistake which both irked and amused the musicians. After a few paying performances, Cardew bought two amplifiers so the other instruments could compete with the volume of Rowe's guitar. In addition to amplifying their instruments, Cardew and Gare would apply contact microphones to various common objects to amplify the sounds made by, for example, rubbing a glass jar or striking a coffee tin.

No AMM performance is ever planned; each is unique and spontaneous. The musicians vowed never to rehearse and never to discuss what they had played. The musicians tend to avoid any conventional melody, harmony or rhythm, and seek out an ensemble sound that often obscures any individual's role. It is often difficult to discern which musical instrument is making which specific sound on an AMM recording, due in part to liberal use of various extended techniques on their instruments.

AMM released their first recording, "AMMusic 1966", on Electra Records UK in 1966. It had some initial similarities to free jazz, due in part to Gare's saxophone. One critic has written, however, that the resemblance was rather slight: "the overall sound of the group, even in 1966, was so different, so idiosyncratic, that it's not at all surprising that both new jazz and contemporary classical audiences were baffled, if not horrified." [Olewnick, Brian. " [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:13320rnal48b~T1 AMMMusic Review] ". Allmusic. Retrieved October 14, 2006.] Lawrence Sheaff (born in 1940) played with the early AMM; he had been a jazz bassist, but on "AMMMusic", he played cello, accordion and other instruments. Percussionist Christopher Hobbs (born in 1950) (a student of Cornelius Cardew) also played with AMM in the late 1960s.

The next AMM material to see release were the important "The Crypt" sessions from June 12, 1968. Though the debut is regarded as a landmark recording, "The Crypt" was arguably even more important in establishing the droning, long-form music that would come to characterize AMM. Further "out" and even less conventional than earlier material, one critic has written of it that "an eerie sensation inevitably accompanies each listen to the raw streams of electric noise channeled on AMM's second album and early masterpiece, "The Crypt". To ears informed by the twenty-first century, it's the uncanny feeling of listening to three-and-a-half decades of experimental music history as delivered in a chillingly prescient sort of reverse premonition... It's a little unnerving that the only records that seem to accurately describe the brave new soundworld harnessed on "The Crypt" came into being well after its creation." [Panzner, Joe. " [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=334 On Second Thought: AMM-The Crypt] ". "Stylus Magazine". September 1, 2006. Retrieved October 14, 2006.]

"The Crypt" sessions have been issued many times, twice in the 1980s as a double LP, and it is still available (with extra material, billed as "The Complete Sessions") on a double CD from Matchless Recordings. "The Crypt" continues to inspire adventurous listeners; in the liner notes to the 1992 double CD, Prévost writes, "Despite being (arguably) the most 'difficult' material on Matchless, "The Crypt" has been a mainstay for the label. It obviously pays not to underestimate the audience. Its continued success has enabled us to release other works. So we felt committed, obliged almost, to keep it available... this music has proved itself not to be ephemeral." [Cardew, Cornelius. " [http://matchlessrecordings.com/amm-crypt/liner-notes Liner Notes] ". Matchless Recordings. 1970. Retrieved October 14, 2006.]

Composer Cornelius Cardew joined AMM in 1966, performing on piano and cello. He worked with AMM intermittently until he abandoned his earlier experimental music in the late 1970s (Cardew died in an unsolved auto accident in 1981). Composer Christian Wolff performed with AMM in 1968. Cardew and Rowe became committed to socialism and to Maoism, and thought that AMM's music should reflect their sociopolitical outlook. Prévost accuses the pair of "cultural bullying", and there was tension in the group, resulting in some AMM performances being made by alternating duos: Rowe and Cardew, Prévost and Gare.

1970s

This personal and political tension culminated with a long period (about 1972 to 1976) when AMM was rarely active, and then usually as a Prévost-Gare duo. This was arguably AMM's most jazz-like era, with Gare's sputtering, squawking saxophone (unique but showing the influence of John Gilmore and Albert Ayler) brought to the fore, although Prévost has stated the music was "decidedly non-jazz." [Warburton, Dan. " [http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/000458.html AMM at the Roundhouse Review] ". Bagatellen. March 24, 2004. Retrieved October 14, 2006.] Rowe rejoined in the mid-1970s, and shortly thereafter, Gare departed, leaving a Rowe-Prévost duo for a period.

1980s and 1990s

Pianist John Tilbury — previously an occasional AMM collaborator — joined in about 1980. His shimmering Feldmanesque playing brought a measure of conventionality to AMM (relatively speaking); unlike Rowe or Prévost, Tilbury's instrument was nearly always recognizable in conventional terms. This version of AMM generally explored quieter, more meditative sounds, perhaps having more in common with minimalism -- though they could generate a cacophonous racket when so inclined. Of this period, one critic has noted that "their ability, after more than 35 years as a functioning unit, to avoid routines and ruts while retaining an unmistakable "AMM-ness" is astonishing." [Olewnick, Brian. " [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aex5uaknk0m3k Fine Review] ". Allmusic. Retrieved October 14, 2006.] Perhaps the most notable shift was in Rowe's approach: his playing grew increasingly subtle, and was often described in painterly terms, as though he were offering a canvas for the other musicians to color.

Later collaborators have included saxophonist Evan Parker, cellist Rohan de Saram, and clarinetist Ian Mitchell. Christian Wolff also returned as a collaborator for a concert at the Conway Hall in London in 2001. Prévost has reported that of all their collaborators, Parker and Wolff best grasped the AMM aesthetic. [Prévost, Eddie. " [http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mamm.html AMM] ". European Free Improvisation Pages. Retrieved October 14, 2006.]

2000s

The Prévost/Rowe/Tilbury line-up remained stable for two decades, only occasionally augmented by guests. In the early 1990s, the trio made their first extensive tours, with a number of well-received appearances in Europe and North America.

But since about 2000, Rowe's increasing involvement with what has become known as "electroacoustic improvisation" ("eai" for short), especially under the aegis of Jon Abbey's Erstwhile Records, meant that more of his musical activities began to take place outside AMM. Rowe has reported that he felt somewhat limited having been almost exclusively a Matchless Records artist, and that he wanted to explore music outside of AMM. Tension between Rowe and Prévost was exacerbated by the appearance of Prévost's second book of essays, "Minute Particulars", which contained some disparaging comments about Rowe, who then left the group. In his review of Prévost's book, Walter Horn notes that while Prévost offers often scathing opinions of many people, Rowe is singled out for multiple barbs, and "one can hardly fail to wonder whether there's something of a personal nature lurking behind the barrage of what are superficially theoretical complaints." [Horn, Walter. " [http://www.onefinalnote.com/features/2004/prevost/ Book Review: Minute Particulars] ". "One Final Note". July 2004. Retrieved October 14, 2006.]

The trio's last performance with Rowe is documented on the 2005 double-CD "Apogee". The set is shared with another of the electronic improvisational ensembles that emerged during the 1960s: Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV). The first CD is a studio recording in a joint session in England on April 30th 2004 featuring MEV's Alvin Curran, Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski with Prévost-Rowe-Tilbury. This is the first occasion that the two ensembles have performed together, but not the first time they have shared a split release: each outfit filled a side of the LP "Live Electronic Music Improvised", released on a US label in 1968 (AMM's side features excerpts from "The Crypt" sessions; MEV's side is an excerpt from their magnum opus "Spacecraft."). The second CD consists of the performances that each group gave at a festival held in London on May 1, 2004.

Prévost and Tilbury continue to record and perform as AMM. They performed in London during December, 2004, with Sachiko M joining as a guest, at the 2005 LMC Festival of Experimental Music, with David Jackman as a guest, and at a festival of experimental music in Belgium in February 2006. They also released a duo CD as AMM, "Norwich", during 2005.

Current members

*Eddie Prévost - percussion (1965-)
*John Tilbury - piano (1980-)

Former members

*Keith Rowe - guitar (1965-72, 1975-2004)
*Lou Gare - saxophone (1965-76 and occasionally thereafter until c. 1992)
*Cornelius Cardew - piano, cello (1966-73)
*Lawrence Sheaff - accordion, cello (1966-67)
*Christopher Hobbs - percussion (1968-71)

Discography

1966AMMMUSIC -1966Cardew/Gare/Prévost/Rowe/Sheaff - LP Elektra UK 256re-released as a CD together with additional material in 1990 - ReRMegacorp

1967AMM Commonwealth Institute - 20th April 1967compilation including: AMM Cardew/Gare/Prévost/Rowe/SheaffUnited Dairies UD12

1969LIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC IMPROVISEDCardew/Gare/Hobbs/Prévost/Roweone side AMM/one side MEV - LP Mainstream MS 5002THE CRYPT - 12TH JUNE 1968Cardew/Gare/Hobbs/Prévost/Rowedouble LP boxed set - Matchless Recordings MRLP05re-released as a double CD The Complete Session with extra material in 1994MRDCD05

1973AT THE ROUNDHOUSEGare/PrévostIncus EP1complete session remastered and released as a CD - Anomalous Records ICES 001TO HEAR AND BACK AGAINGare/PrévostMatchless Recordings LP MRLP03re-released as a CD with additional material in 1994 MRCD03

1979IT HAD BEEN AN ORDINARY ENOUGH DAY IN PUEBLO, COLORADOPrévost/RoweECM/JAPO 60031 Re-released as a CD in 1991

1983GENERATIVE THEMESPrévost/Rowe/TilburyMatchless Recordings MRLP06re-released as a CD with additional material in 1994 MRCD06

1984COMBINE + LAMINATESPrévost/Rowe/TilburyPogus Productions LP P201-4re-released as a CD in 01995 together with a version ofTREATISE’82from the same concert in ChicagoMatchless Recordings MRCD26

1987THE INEXHAUSTIBLE DOCUMENTde Saram/Prévost/Rowe/TilburyMatchless Recordings MRLP13re-released as a CD with additional material in 1994 MRCD05

1988IRMA -an opera by Tom PhillipsPrévost/Rowe/Tilbury plus Mitchell/Coxhill/Lorraine/Pederson/PhillipsMatchless Recordings MRCD16

1990THE NAMELESS UNCARVED BLOCKGare/Prévost/Rowe/TilburyMatchless Recordings MRCD20

1992NEWFOUNDLANDPrévost/Rowe/TilburyMatchless Recordings MRCD23

1993Vandoevre AMBIENT ISOLATIONISMde Saram/Prévost/Rowe/TilburyVirgin Records ABMT 4 (UK)one track on a double CD compilation

1994LIVE IN ALLENTOWN USAPrévost/Rowe/TilburyMatchless Recordings MRCD30

1995FROM A STRANGE PLACEPrévost/Rowe/TilburyModern Music (P.S.F. Records) Japan. PSFD-80

1969/1982/1994LAMINALa retrospective three CD set1. The Aarhus Sequences recorded in Denmark, 1969Cardew/Gare/Hobbs/Prévost/Rowe2. The Great Hall recorded at Goldsmiths’ College, London 1982Prévost/Rowe/Tilbury3. Contextual recorded in New York, 1994Prévost/Rowe/Tilbury.Matchless Recordings MRCD31 (pub. 1996)

BEFORE DRIVING TO THE CHAPEL WE TOOK COFFEEWITH RICK AND JENNIFER REEDPrévost/Rowe/Tilburyrecording of concert in Houston Texas 1996Matchless Recordings MRCD35

2000TUNES WITHOUT MEASURE OR ENDPrévost/Rowe/Tilburyrecorded at free radICCals Festival, Glasgow 4th May 2000Matchless Recordings MRCD44

2001FINEPrévost/Rowe/Tilburyrecorded at Musique Action festival, Vendouvre-lesNancy, France on 24th May 2001Matchless recordings MRCD46

2002AMM & FormanexEddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, John White, John Tilbury, Laurent Dailleau, Anthony Taillard, Christophe Havard, Julien Ottavi, Emmanuel Leduc.A version of Cornelius Cardew’s Treatise recorded at Musique Action Festival, Nancy, France June 2002fibrr records 006

2004APOGEEMEV (Alvin Curran, Frederic Rzewski , Richard Teitelbaum),and AMM (Prévost/Rowe/Tilburydouble CD. First CD contains sextet recordings made on 30th April 2004. Second CD contain separate performance by MEV and AMM made at Freedom of the City Festival on 1st May 2004

2005NORWICHPrévost and Tilburyrecorded at a concert given at The School of Music, University of East Anglia on 14th February 2005

Notes

Sources

*Michael Nyman: "Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond" (second edition); Cambridge University Press, 1999; ISBN 0-521-65383-5
*Edwin Prévost: "No Sound Is Innocent: AMM and the Practice of Self-Invention--Meta-Musical Narratives, Essays" Copula, 1995; ISBN 0-9525492-0-4
*Edwin Prévost: "Minute Particulars: Meanings in Music Making in the Wake of Hierarchical Realignments and Other Essays" Copula, 2004: ISBN 0-9525492-1-2

External links

* [http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mamm.html AMM history & discography]
* [http://www.matchlessrecordings.com/ Matchless Recordings]