Revered British jazz from 1969; the pianist leading a quartet featuring Harold McNair.
Originally out in 1969 on the Deram imprint which Decca set up for prog, new wave folk, and psych, Off Centre is obligingly eclectic. Cameron’s background in library and soundtrack music is opened up to the spirit of Roland Kirk. Best of several tasty modal numbers, the closer Troublemaker is a testifying rug-cutter, with a gritty flute solo by McNair.
Remastered at Abbey Road using the original tapes. New sleeve notes incorporate a recent interview with Cameron.
Thrilling, intensely rhythmic, questing music, featuring brilliant, dynamic contributions by Joshua Abrams and Sam Wilkes.
Very warmly recommended. Check out Bracelets For Unicorns.
‘The core of the album is a lush, opulent matrix of percussion ranging from the familiar — hand claps and drum machines — to the mysteriously verdant, sampled largely from Krivchenia’s own performed field recorded collection. For years, he would record any and all of his musical encounters with natural objects: performing on a particularly resonant log on a hike, throwing rocks into a pristine pond, tap dancing in the mud. Not just a novel set of sounds, but a new rhythmic language. The particular give, the anticipatory rustle, the extra breath of a hollow log when functioning as a kickdrum provides a greenness that overtakes the rhythmic grid, giving this music a peculiar kind of stickiness.’
A welcome reissue of this 2013 collaboration between Onra — the Chinoiseries producer — and Buddy Sativa. Deep, spiritual jazz from the heart. Lonnie Liston Smith is a guiding light.