EARLY ELECTRONIC - TAPE/ ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC
The first developments in music through the use of technology in the 1950s and 1960s did not leave John Butcher's style unaffected. Apart from the fact that he used technology as well to liberate the saxophone from its limitations (feedback, multi-tracking, amplification), it was also the philosophy behind this movement that influenced him a lot; the focus on the sounds themselves, their innate characteristics and nature and the consequent manipulations that led to a variety of timbral transformations is reflected on John Butcher's playing. It is not uncommon for him to produce acoustically sounds that are reminiscent of electronically processed ones, something that many have pointed out as a characteristic of his The Content of Pleasures Trio. He was also interested in the idea of tape splicing and the ability that offered for moving between completely different sound areas. This became one of his radical approaches towards saxophone which he did not face as a linear melodic instrument, but rather as a device for sound production. In his group projects, he mostly experimented with electronics with Phil Durrant and the electroacoustic group Polwechsel. Steve Beresford, Toshimaru Nakamura, Bill Hsu and Adam Linson are among his current collaborators who mostly improvise with electronics.
More about Electroacoustic Music:
http://www.ears.dmu.ac.uk/spip.php?rubrique125
JAZZ / FREE JAZZ MUSIC
Although not a huge influence on John Butcher, he played a lot of jazz during his first years of group collaborations. He saw his jazz years as a learning period and a stepping stone to move to other, freer forms of music. Still, it was the jazz scene in London that he was introduced to (Stan Tracy, John Surman, Louis Moholo, Harry Miller) that got him interested in saxophone. It is also a fact that most free-improvising musicians come from a jazz background, including a number of his current collaborators.
More about Jazz Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
More about Free Jazz Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_jazz
EXPERIMENTAL / AVANT - GARDE MUSIC
John Butcher considers that he first started improvising at home on the piano influenced by music he would hear on the radio, such as John Cage and Beefheart. He was also interested in Xenakis' and early Frank Zappa's music and his first saxophone improvising where he had to deal with sound rather than with systems and idioms was Stockhausen's text pieces. It seems that his desire for exploration, the discovery of new ways for music making and breaking free from all the imposed limitations from past musical cultures was reinforced by the musicians mentioned above. Other collaborators of his who share the same avant-garde and consequently contemporary classical background are Claudia Ulla Binder, Rhodri Davies, Gerry Hemingway and Gino Robair.
More about Experimental Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_music
More about Avant-Garde Music:
http://www.scaruffi.com/avant/cpt2.html
FREE IMPROVISING MUSIC
Although among the most important and influential people in the free improvisation scene, John Butcher was himself influenced by other important improvisors older than him. Even though he developed his own unique style on saxophone, distinct from the Evan Parker's one who many imitated afterwards, Evan Parker was an important influence on John Butcher. It was him who showed that there are no limitations regarding an instrument's sonic possibilities as long as one keeps looking for new ways of making things happen. Derek Bailey was also a key influence as John Butcher's approach to melody reflects Bailey's approach to pitch and melody in such a way that it does not become referential to any existing idioms.
More about Free Improvising Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_improvisation
Sources:
http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/fulltext/ftbutchd.html
http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mbutcher.html
http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk/Biog.html
http://www.altremusiche.it/sx/testi/interv/butcher_eng.htm
The first developments in music through the use of technology in the 1950s and 1960s did not leave John Butcher's style unaffected. Apart from the fact that he used technology as well to liberate the saxophone from its limitations (feedback, multi-tracking, amplification), it was also the philosophy behind this movement that influenced him a lot; the focus on the sounds themselves, their innate characteristics and nature and the consequent manipulations that led to a variety of timbral transformations is reflected on John Butcher's playing. It is not uncommon for him to produce acoustically sounds that are reminiscent of electronically processed ones, something that many have pointed out as a characteristic of his The Content of Pleasures Trio. He was also interested in the idea of tape splicing and the ability that offered for moving between completely different sound areas. This became one of his radical approaches towards saxophone which he did not face as a linear melodic instrument, but rather as a device for sound production. In his group projects, he mostly experimented with electronics with Phil Durrant and the electroacoustic group Polwechsel. Steve Beresford, Toshimaru Nakamura, Bill Hsu and Adam Linson are among his current collaborators who mostly improvise with electronics.
More about Electroacoustic Music:
http://www.ears.dmu.ac.uk/spip.php?rubrique125
JAZZ / FREE JAZZ MUSIC
Although not a huge influence on John Butcher, he played a lot of jazz during his first years of group collaborations. He saw his jazz years as a learning period and a stepping stone to move to other, freer forms of music. Still, it was the jazz scene in London that he was introduced to (Stan Tracy, John Surman, Louis Moholo, Harry Miller) that got him interested in saxophone. It is also a fact that most free-improvising musicians come from a jazz background, including a number of his current collaborators.
More about Jazz Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
More about Free Jazz Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_jazz
EXPERIMENTAL / AVANT - GARDE MUSIC
John Butcher considers that he first started improvising at home on the piano influenced by music he would hear on the radio, such as John Cage and Beefheart. He was also interested in Xenakis' and early Frank Zappa's music and his first saxophone improvising where he had to deal with sound rather than with systems and idioms was Stockhausen's text pieces. It seems that his desire for exploration, the discovery of new ways for music making and breaking free from all the imposed limitations from past musical cultures was reinforced by the musicians mentioned above. Other collaborators of his who share the same avant-garde and consequently contemporary classical background are Claudia Ulla Binder, Rhodri Davies, Gerry Hemingway and Gino Robair.
More about Experimental Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_music
More about Avant-Garde Music:
http://www.scaruffi.com/avant/cpt2.html
FREE IMPROVISING MUSIC
Although among the most important and influential people in the free improvisation scene, John Butcher was himself influenced by other important improvisors older than him. Even though he developed his own unique style on saxophone, distinct from the Evan Parker's one who many imitated afterwards, Evan Parker was an important influence on John Butcher. It was him who showed that there are no limitations regarding an instrument's sonic possibilities as long as one keeps looking for new ways of making things happen. Derek Bailey was also a key influence as John Butcher's approach to melody reflects Bailey's approach to pitch and melody in such a way that it does not become referential to any existing idioms.
More about Free Improvising Music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_improvisation
Sources:
http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/fulltext/ftbutchd.html
http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mbutcher.html
http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk/Biog.html
http://www.altremusiche.it/sx/testi/interv/butcher_eng.htm
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