Russell, Ray - Live At The I.C.A. / Retrospective 2 x CDs
SKU
39-M-4
Ray Russell is a U.K. guitarist who has been working since at least the mid 60's and has produced a large body of work, both as a solo artist/leader and as a sideman with some very popular artists. This collects a previously released live album, never before on CD, alongside a CD's worth of wild, unreleased material.
"The English free jazz improvisation scene of the late 60s and early 70s was an incestuous breeding ground. Robert Fripp was producing albums by Keith Tippet, Brian Eno was using Derek Bailey and Evan Parker on albums of odd Russian electronic music on Island, and labels like EMI and RCA were actually taking a stab at selling this music to a large market. Amidst all this was Ray Russell, a popular session guitarist, also playing in John Barry's group, also reputed to be the first guitarist in England to have a pedal setup, and also the man responsible for the guitar freak-out on the Dr. No soundtrack album. CBS and RCA started releasing records of his free jazz groups. They started innocently enough, but eventually Russell started to break free. At a time when hollow body guitars and a clean sound were the norm, he had his Fender guitar in one hand and a fuzz box in the other. For a period in the early 70s he made records of unknown hybridibastardization of the rock sound and free jazz energy.... Then he moved on, as people do, and the records became impossible to get..."
- LabelMoikai
- UPC781484900429