CURLEW – EAST/ WEST/ ALSO (Cuneiform Records) (DL) (Release date: 28th March, 2025)

The line-up was George Cartwright – saxophones; Tom Cora – cello; Davey Williams – guitar, Ann Rupel – bass and Pippin Barnett – drums. The venues were; on tracks 1-8: Fasching Club - Stockholm, Sweden, April 2, 1990; tracks 9-18: The DNA Lounge - San Francisco, May 1990.

This archive recording from 1990 finds Curlew in good spirits and in fine form. A curious meld of genre-bending free jazz, rock and the indefinable, the band was formed in 1979 and has continued to impress and bewilder with equal measure ever since. Humour always shines through but these are serious, and talented musicians led by saxophonist George Cartwright who doesn’t miss an opportunity to express his environmental concerns – and remember this was 35 years ago! Old favourites like ‘The March (or Ornette went to Miles’ House and They Didn’t Get Along)’, ‘St. Croix’ with its tricksy guitar and impossible rhythms and ‘St. Dog’ (two versions of each which it’s interesting to compare) are all here, and much more. A welcome release for fans of boundary stretching music played with panache.