Jazz Archives

If the first NH took a long time to materialize, their second album certainly didn't make itself long to appear, as it came out the same year as the debut. It is also a fairly different beast than its predecessor, even if only the departed brilliant Neil Murray is now replaced with ex-Henry Cow bassist John Greaves. Although it might appear a minor line-up change, it also opens the studio gates to a bunch of other ex-Cows to participate to the album's sessions. And this is where the difference appears: Phil Minton, Georgie Born, Keith Thompson and Peter Blegvad all join mainstay guest Brother Jimmy Hastings. A very pleasant line-up news for this proghead is the departure of Parsons and her irritating vocals.
Musically the album is less jazz-rock and more pure prog, as if Steward's omelette days were indeed not fully digested. Yes, you can hear some Egg/ELP-like prog opening with a wandering bass line and birdsongs, the album on the book-ending Bryden 2-Step is soon a wild jazz-rock, much reminiscent of their first album, but an added slightly symphonic touch. The closing section of this track is the same riff repeated tiredlessly until interrupted its slow death. Collapso is a play on word (calypso) due to the steel drums, but rest assured that outside these drums, you won't find any tacky Caribbean music on this track. It is hard to call this track jazz-rock either, especially midway through, when the group members are giving it their all. Greaves' bass opens the lengthy Squarer For Maud, probably the most Cow-esque NH track, with Born's cello in the background with Hastings' clarinets and Blegvad's short spoken vocals, but the second part returns to a Caravan-type bossa improv, before going in an insane stop & go section to end it. Great stuff. Just as demented is Miller's Dreams Wide Awake, where Stewart's organ goes completely mad in the first part, then in a much quieter Caravan-styled second part, followed by Miller's usual once-per-album wild solo. Binoculars is the only sung song (by John Greaves), features another of Miller"s sizzling solo. 

This last NH album (besides the Gowan tribute) is another one of these links between the RIO circle and the Canterbury family, but sadly seems to indicate that Canterbury is reaching its end as RIO is only really getting under way. A marginally better album than their debut, it is mostly the disappearance of Parsons" vocals in the NH soundscape that makes the difference for this proghead. Essential and the last masterpiece of Canterbury music.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

National Health - Of Queues And Cures (1978)

1. The Bryden 2-step (for amphibians)Part 1 (8:52)
2. The collapso (6:16)
3. Squarer for Maud (11:30)
4. Dreams wide awake (8:48)
5. Binoculars (11:43)
6. Phlâkatön (0:08)
7. The Bryden 2-step (for amphibians) Part 2 (5:31)

Credits
- John Greaves / bass, piano innards (3), crooning (5)
- Phil Miller / guitar
- Pip Pyle / drums, percussion / hand claps (3)
- Dave Stewart / acoustic & electric pianos, organ, Mini-Moog (3-4)

With

- Selwyn Baptiste / steel drums (2)
- Rick Biddulph / bass on organ solo (4)
- Peter Blegvad / voice (3)
- Georgie Born / cellos (1-3-7)
- Jimmy Hastings / clarinets (3-5), flute (5)
- Phil Minton / trumpets (1-5-7)
- Paul Nieman / trombones (1-5-7)
- Keith Thompson / oboe (3-5)

John Greaves and Peter Blegvad project Kew. Rhône is a jazzy RIO project quite similar to some Henry Cow music. The music is more accessible in this album, though. But it doesn't mean that the band is not RIO or that the music is not crazy and innovative in this album. Lisa Herman does most of the vocals, with the help of the other members and is credited as a main member of the project, along with Greaves and Blegvad.
A kind of a concept album, with many songs having their names containing numerals. The music is primarly jazzy, with great piano, bass and guitar work by Greaves and Blegvad. The album starts with a short interlude and goes directly to a RIO song, Twenty-Two Proverbs, whose lyrics are really proverbs. The instrumental part of the music is rich and diverse.
Seven Scenes From The Painting, the third song, is more jazzy, with great piano, saxophone and vocal work. The title track has good orchestral and piano work, with a very good melody. Pipeline is another jazzy song with good piano and saxophone work, with not much RIO elements. Catalogue Of Fifteen Objects & Their Titles is another RIO song, with good piano intro and many changes and strange elements in the song.
One Footnote has a long brassy intro and a good melody. Three Tenses Onanism is a song with a great piano work and some instrumental craziness in the middle of the song. Nine Mineral Emblems is a good jazzy song with good bass, guitar, piano and drum work, which changes and contains crazy saxophone and guitar solos. Apricot is another RIO song with good musicianship. Gegenstand is the last song, a quiet and somber song that closes the album.
The album is very good and it is the album that made me become interested in RIO. I didn't become a huge fan of RIO, but I enjoy it and I think this album is good both for people who like RIO and for people who don't know RIO very well, because, along with Henry Cow's debut, it blends jazzy songs with crazy RIO songs and are easier to get.

:::Review by akin :::

John Greaves - Kew Rhône (1977)

1. Good Evening (0:33)
2. Twenty-Two Proverbs (4:08)
3. Seven Scenes From The Painting (3:32)
4. Kew Rhône (3:04)
5. Pipeline (3:41)
6. Catalogue Of Fifteen Objects & Their Titles (3:36)
7. One Footnote (to Kew Rhône) (1:29)
8. Three Tenses Onanism (4:07)
9. Nine Mineral Emblems (5:51)
10. Apricot (3:05)
11. Gegenstand (3:46)

Credits
-Lisa Herman/ Vocals
-John Greaves/ Piano, Organ, Bass, Vocals, Percussion ( Tr.7)
-Peter Blegvad/ Vocals, Guitar, Tenor Sax (Tr. 5)
-Andrew Cyrille/ Drums, percussion
-Mike Mantler/ Trumpet, Trombone
-Carla Bley/ Vocals, Tenor Sax (Tr. 1 & 7)
-Michael Levine/ Violin, Viola, Vocals ( 9 )
-Vito Rendace/ Alto & Tenor Saxes, Flute
-April Lang/ Vocals (Tr. 5 & 8)
-Dana Johnson/ Vocals (Tr. 2)
-Boris Kinberg/ Clave (Tr. 5)

By this point Henry Cow consisted of guitarist Fred Frith, drummer Chris Cutler, bassist John Greaves, keyboardist Tim Hodgkinson, and, of particular importance to the band's sound at this point, bassoonist Lindsay Cooper. As is so often the case with avant-garde rock & roll, it's the composed pieces that work best, and the fact that Frith is responsible for the majority of them is significant. "Bittern Storm Over Ulm" is an absolutely brilliant demolition of the Yardbirds' "Got to Hurry," while the brief but lovely "Solemn Music" unfolds in a stately manner with atonal but pretty counterpoint between Frith and Cooper. The improvised material succeeds in a more spotty way. "Upon Entering the Hotel Adlon" demonstrates how fine the line can be between bracing free atonality and mindless cacophony. The unsettling but eventually gorgeous "Deluge," on the other hand, shows how well Henry Cow could walk that line when they tried; in this piece, random guitar skitterings, scattershot drum clatter, and pointillistic reed grunts are eventually snuck up on and overtaken by softly massed chords and Cooper's gently hooting bassoon. The effect is startlingly moving. Overall, this is one of Henry Cow's better efforts.

:::Review by Rick Anderson:::

Henry Cow - Unrest (1974)

1. Bitter Storm Over Ulm (2:44)
2. Half Asleep; Half Awake (7:39)
3. Ruins (12:00)
4. Solemn Music (1:09)
5. Linquaphonie (5:58)
6. Upon Entering The Hotel Adlon (2:56)
7. Arcades (1:50)
8. Deluge (5:52)

Musicians
- John Greaves / bass, piano, vocals
- Chris Cutler / piano, trumpet, drums, vocals
- Lindsay Cooper / bassoon, oboe, recorder, vocals
- George Born / bass
- Fred Frith / guitar, piano, violin, keyboards, xylophone
- Charles Fletcher / vocals
- Tim Hodgkinson / organ, clarinet, piano, keyboards, saxophones, vocals