Box Set Part Six: Ian Carr Torrid Zones

Musician and educator and writer Ian Carr changed Jazz just as much as anybody we all know and appreciate. Ian Carr's interpretation of Fusion was quite different then Miles Davis's era. He even wrote a biography on Miles. It was not full of twin keyboards, heavy percussion, and atmospheric lengthy passages that were as long as a side of vinyl. Ian said more in less then ten minutes with less people and made a huge statement. It was an issue of The Wire Magazine in July 0f 2009 and possibly an article before that caught my interest. 

I think my British Jazz rabbit hole started with Keith Tippett playing piano that was very off center on the song "Cat Food." It was not normal playing by any means. It was also the oddness of King Crimson that made me gravitate to this unusual greatness.  I talked about the album Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening in a July of 2020 by Keith Tippett and explained how his piano and the rest of the band made my head spin. Between it's amazing musicianship and writing this is a classic. It's loose and less chaotic sequel is Ian Carr and Nucleus. 

  

Ian Carr made the music interesting and engaging without all that chaos because his songs were all structured. Miles had freedom, Ian used solos, electric pianos and his trumpet do the talking for him. Ian does not overstretch the music and makes everyone in the ensemble get equal time. After putting on Elastic Rock on one day I just thought the music was amazing. If it was a response to the electric of Miles Davis it was more of appreciation of the music. 

These Vertigo recordings show vast differences with each album. I love them all. Elastic Rock has the greatness of Chris Spedding and John Marshall respectfully. They are the ones when we think of this British Jazz period as the groundbreakers. Everything about the album is unique. This makes the We'll Talk About it Later all the more interesting followup.  This makes Nucleus still follow the non convectional boundaries and what I love about this band. Ian Carr's take on Miles David Electric period is what makes this unique. 

With all the albums beautifully remastered and sounding better then ever I can finally see the progress of Carr's vision. There is a lot to take in here. I mean the albums alone are a treat because I have this feeling they were always difficult to get in America at the time of their releases. I have two as imports and they cost me a pretty penny. Secondly the music truly speaks on its own. My favorite albums Elastic Rock, We'll Talk About It Later, Belladonna, and Solar Plexus are some of my personal favorites. These albums just define and explore all of what Carr wants to do. He has great musicians with him on each album like Chris Spedding, John Marshall and Karl Jenkins who are part of the great British Jazz scene. I'm a big fan of John Marshall because of his work with Soft Machine and Eberhard Weber. Later on he added people like Kenny Wheeler who would define music at ECM records and play with Anthony Braxton. 

So if your looking for a box set to get then this one is a must. Nine great albums in five years is quite a feat. The almost fifty page book has more information then I can give here in this post, but it is very informative. One drawback is the fact that some CD's have part of the album one and the rest of the album on another. If this was way to do it for savings then it worked. I think the only thing I wish they added was maybe a few session outtakes and maybe some BBC sessions. That might be for another time I hope. Otherwise, jump into this box set and you will be surprised how awesome Ian Carr and his ensemble do some awesome work. Cheers and enjoy.