AMM is an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965. Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ... This article is about the British city. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

AMM have never been well-known to the general public, but have been, in their own way, hugely influential on several generations of adventurous musicians. AMM has been called "legendary" [1] and "groundbreaking." [2] They are notable as the perhaps the first musical group to deliberately try to make music not related to any established musical genre: as Michael Nyman wrote, "AMM seem to have worked without the benefit or hindrance of any kind of prepared external discipline." (Nyman, 129) // For other senses of this word, see Legend (disambiguation). ... Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. ... Michael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway. ...

In a 2001 interview, founding member Keith Rowe was asked if "AMM" was an abbreviation; he replied, "The letters AMM stand for something, but as you probably know it's a secret!"[3] There is an unverified story that one of the group's members told John Stevens, in a confidence that Stevens failed to keep, that the letters stood for Art, Music, Madness. Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth UK) is a British free improvisation guitarist. ... It has been suggested that Apocopation be merged into this article or section. ... John Stevens (June 10, 1940 - September 13, 1994) was a British drummer. ...

History

AMM was initially composed of Keith Rowe on guitar, Lou Gare on saxophone and Eddie Prévost on drums. Rowe and Gare were members of Mike Westbrook's band; Prevost and Gare were also in a hard bop jazz quintet. The three men shared a common interest in exploring music beyond the boundaries of conventional jazz, as part of a larger movement that helped spawn European free jazz and free improvisation. Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth UK) is a British free improvisation guitarist. ... The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings. ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Mike Westbrook (b. ... Hard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... A quintet is a formation containing exactly five members. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Free jazz is a movement of jazz music characterized by diminished dependence on formal constraints. ... Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. ...

No AMM performance was ever planned; each was unique and spontaneous. The musicians tended to avoid any conventional melody, harmony or rhythm, and further sought an ensemble sound that often obscured any individual's role. It was, and remains, sometimes difficult to discern which musical instrument is making which specific sound on an AMM recording, due in part to liberal use of various extended techniques. Prévost has written, "The player could, at times, share a timeless immersion in a world of sound, while simultaneously being free to pursue their individual paths. It was not uncommon for the musician to wonder who or what was producing a particular sound, stop playing, and discover it was he himself who had been responsible." [4] Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... // Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Extended technique is a term used in music to describe unconventional, unorthodox or improper techniques of singing, or of playing musical instruments. ...

Members of the group have come and gone over the years, but Rowe and Prevost have usually been present for most recordings and performances; the latter has been the only constant in the nearly four decades of AMM music.

AMM released their first recording, AMMusic 1966, on Electra Records U.K. in 1966. With this release, there were some initial similarities to free jazz, due in part to Gare's saxophone. One critic has written, however, that the resemblance was rather slight: "the overall sound of the group, even in 1966, was so different, so idiosyncratic, that it's not at all surprising that both new jazz and contemporary classical audiences were baffled, if not horrified." [5] Lawrence Shaeff played with the early AMM; he had been a jazz bassist, but on AMMMusic, he played cello, accordion and other instruments. Percussionist Christopher Hobbs (a student of Cardew) also played with AMM in the late 1960s. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Free jazz is a movement of jazz music characterized by diminished dependence on formal constraints. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... A cello The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello (the c is pronounced /ʧ/ as the ch in church), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... A button accordion An accordion is a musical instrument of the handheld bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as squeezeboxes. ...

The next AMM material to see release were the important The Crypt sessions from June 12, 1968. Further "out" and even less conventional than earlier material, one critic has written "An eerie sensation inevitably accompanies each listen to the raw streams of electric noise channeled on AMM’s second album and early masterpiece, The Crypt. To ears informed by the twenty-first century, it’s the uncanny feeling of listening to three-and-a-half decades of experimental music history as delivered in a chillingly prescient sort of reverse premonition... It’s a little unnerving that the only records that seem to accurately describe the brave new soundworld harnessed on The Crypt came into being well after its creation." [6] AMM is an important British free improvisation group, founded in London, England in 1965. ...

The Crypt sessions have been issued multiple times; twice in the 1980s as a double LP, and it is now available (with extra material, billed as "The Complete Sessions") on a double CD from Matchless Recordings. The Crypt continues to inspire adventurous listeners; in the liner notes to the 1992 double CD, Prévost writes, "Despite being (arguably) the most ‘difficult’ material on Matchless, The Crypt has been a mainstay for the label. It obviously pays not to underestimate the audience. Its continued success has enabled us to release other works. So we felt committed, obliged almost, to keep it available... this music has proved itself not to be ephemeral." [7]

Composer Cornelius Cardew joined AMM in 1966, performing on piano and cello. He worked with AMM intermittently until his death in 1981. Composer Christian Wolff performed with AMM in 1968. Cardew and Rowe became enamored of socialism and Maoist philosophies, and thought that AMM's music should reflect their sociopolitical outlook (Prevost accuses the pair of "cultural bullying"). This generated some tension in the group, which resulted in some AMM performances being made by alternating duos: Rowe and Cardew, Prevost and Gare. Cornelius Cardew (b. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... A grand piano A piano is a musical instrument that is classified as a keyboard, percussion, or string instrument, depending on the system of classification used. ... A cello The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello (the c is pronounced /ʧ/ as the ch in church), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Christian Wolff (born March 8, 1934) is an American composer of experimental classical music. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Socialism is a political philosophy advocating an economic system in which the means of production are owned and controlled collectively. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ...

This tension culminated with a long period (about 1972 to 1976) when AMM was rarely active, and then usually as a Prevost-Gare duo. This was arguably AMM's most jazz-like era, with Gare's sputtering, squaking saxophone (unique but showing the influence of John Gilmore and Albert Ayler) brought to the fore, though Prévost has stated the music was "decidedly non-jazz." [8] Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... John Gilmore for the jazz saxophonist, or John Gilmore John Gilmore is one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks mailing list, and Cygnus Solutions. ... Albert Ayler (July 13, 1936–November 1970) was an American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. ...

Rowe rejoined in the mid-1970s, and shortly thereafter, Gare departed, leaving a Rowe-Prévost duo for a period before pianist John Tilbury--previously an occasional AMM collaborator--joined about 1980. This edition of AMM generally explored quiter, more meditative sounds (though they could generate a cacophonous racket when so inclined), perhaps having more in common with minimalism; one critic has noted, however, that this trio have still managed "after more than 35 years as a functioning unit, to avoid routines and ruts while retaining an unmistakable 'AMM-ness' is astonishing." [9] Perhaps the most notable shift was in Rowe's approach: His playing grew increasingly subtle, and was often described in painterly terms, as though he were offering a canvas for the other musicians to color. A grand piano A piano is a musical instrument that is classified as a keyboard, percussion, or string instrument, depending on the system of classification used. ... John Tilbury is a British pianist. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... This article is about on art and design. ... A painter is a person who paints woodwork, walls, etc. ... Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, and other functions where sturdiness is required. ...

Later collaborators have included saxophonist Evan Parker, cellist Rohan de Saram, and clarinetist Ian Mitchell. Prevost reported that of all their collaborators, Parker best grasped the AMM aesthetic. Evan Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British free-improvising saxophone player. ...

The Prévost/Rowe/Tilbury edition of the group remained stable for two decades. But Rowe's increasing involvement with what has become known as "electroacoustic improvisation" ("eai" for short), especially under the aegis of Jon Abbey's Erstwhile Records, meant that more of his musical activities began to take place outside AMM. After a period of increasing tension, Rowe is now no longer part of the group, and was unclear whether AMM will continue as a Prévost/Tilbury duo or pursue some other path. However, Prévost and Tilbury performed as AMM in London during December, 2004, with Sachiko M joining as a guest [10], and at the 2005 LMC Festival of Experimental Music, with David Jackman as a guest. They also released a duo CD as AMM, Norwich during 2005. Erstwhile Records is an independent record label devoted to free improvisation; characteristic label artists include Keith Rowe, Günter Müller, Otomo Yoshihide, Voice Crack, Fennesz, Burkhard Stangl, Thomas Lehn. ... Sachiko Matsubara, who usually records as Sachiko M, is a Japanese musician. ...

The trio's last performance with Rowe is documented on the 2005 double-CD Apogee (apparently released against Rowe's wishes). The set is shared with another of the electronic improvisational ensembles that emerged during the 1960s: Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV). The first CD is a studio recording in a joint session in England on April 30th 2004 featuring MEV's Alvin Curran, Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski with Prévost-Rowe-Tilbury. This is the first occasion that the two ensembles have performed together, but not the first time they have shared a split release - each outfit filled a side of the LP Live Electronic Music Improvised, released on a US label in 1968 (AMM's side features excerpts from The Crypt sessions; MEV's side is an excerpt from their magnum opus "Spacecraft."). The second CD consists of the performances that each group gave at a festival held in London on May 1, 2004. Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) is a live acoustic/electronic improvisational group formed in Rome in the late sixties by Alvin Curran, Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski. ... Composer Alvin Curran (born 13 December 1938 in Providence, Rhode Island) is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of Musica Elettronica Viva, and a former student of Elliott Carter. ... Richard Teitelbaum (May 19, 1939 in New York, NY) is a composer, keyboardist, and improvisor. ... Frederic Anthony Rzewski (born April 13, 1938) is an American composer and virtuoso pianist. ... This article is about the British city. ...

Sources

• MIchael Nyman; Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond (second edition); Cambridge University Press, 1999; ISBN 0521653835
• Edwin Prevost; No Sound Is Innocent: AMM and the Practice of Self-Invention--Meta-Musical Narratives, Essays Copula, 1995; ISBN 09525449204

External links

• Official Site: http://www.matchlessrecordings.com/
• History and discography: [11]