Curlew - 2025 - East/West/Also

(112:29; Cuneiform Records)






















Recorded on the 1990 Knitting Factory tour, this album features one complete show (DNA Lounge, San Francisco, California) and one nearly complete show (Fasching Club, Stockholm, Sweden) from fairly late in the timeline of the Barnett / Cora / Cartwright / Rupel / Williams line-up. Curlew were a band who had many musicians in their time, with the only constant being George Cartwright (saxophones), and what we have here is the ‘Bee’ line-up with Ann Rupel (bass), Pippin Barnett (drums), Tom Cora (cello) and Davey Williams (guitar). The vast majority of the music is taken from that album, with just a few from the previous ‘North America’ but given there had been quite a few changes in personnel between the two that is not too surprising. Although we are treated to the majority of two shows on the same tour, the sequencing is very different and only five songs were played on both nights.

This RIO/avant-garde/free jazz outfit manage to be completely together, as tight as can be imagined while playing complex music, or free and loose as they improvised over the top, meaning each time they played a song it would be different as they reacted to the environment and what was happening around them. But whatever journeys they undertook they somehow always managed to be at the right place in the end. There is little between song banter, normally George saying what the next song is and possibly something about it, but it gives everyone a breather before they blast into the next. “The March (Or Ornette Went to Miles' House and They Didn't Get Along)” is incredibly frantic, massively over the top and absolutely insane, a remarkable piece of music as Ann tries to keep everyone to some semblance of order but fails wonderfully as everyone solos at once and then suddenly, they are all in sync! 

This is music for those who love improvised music yet also need some semblance of structure, as this is dynamic and exciting, thought-provoking and necessary, all at once. The crowd were certainly appreciative of what must have an incredible experience, and it is great that 35 years after these events, Cuneiform have made the tapes available. 

Kev Rowland, August 2025

Links:
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/

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