《CONCEITS》是即兴三重奏组合Russell, Durrant, Butcher的作品。这张专辑收录了1987年在Bracknell South Hill Park Studio的录音室录音，原版黑胶于1988年以ACTA LP 1编号发行，同时附加一首1992年于Stockholm Antikvariat Blå Tornet的现场录音，此前从未发布。 三重奏由原声拨片吉他手John Russell、次中音及高音萨克斯手John Butcher与原声小提琴及长号演奏家Phil Durrant构成。他们的演奏避开了自由爵士式的狂暴宣泄，在克制中注入同等强度的激情。三位乐手拥有各自极具辨识度的声音，却共同构建出一种近乎共鸣同一心绪的团体默契——Russell的拨片吉他敲击出粗糙而跳跃的打击乐基底，其间浮现出短促旋律与纤薄和弦；Butcher的萨克斯游走于分裂音、笛鸣般的高亢乐音与粗粝嘶吼之间；Durrant在长号与小提琴上制造出隐匿却又不可或缺的织体，那些私语般的音符与微小姿态，为整体结构注入神秘而低调的支撑。 Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Plectrum Guitar] – John Russell Liner Notes – Mats Gustafsson, Richard Sanderson (2), Tim Fletcher Recorded By – Mark Hunt* (tracks: 1 to 11), Mats Gustafsson (tracks: 12) Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – John Butcher Violin [Acoustic Violin], Trombone – Phil Durrant 1-11: studio recording – Bracknell (South Hill Park Studio) – 1987 April 29. Originally issued in 1988 as ACTA LP 1. 12: concert recording – Stockholm (Antikvariat Blå Tornet) – 1992 July 3. Previously unissued. Excerpts from sleeve notes: Early Trio Days Phil Durrant and I originally played in a trio with soprano saxophonist Mark Pickworth at my flat in Finsbury Park. The idea was to play on a regular basis with the same people and to see a ‘group language’ develop. After a couple of years Phil and I wanted the group to play publicly, make recordings and tour but Mark wasn’t so interested as he enjoyed the more informal aspects of our earlier sessions and had other priorities. By 1984 Phil and I had decided to find other musicians who would like to take things further and one of the first we considered was John Butcher who had ‘come on the scene’, or at least to our notice, about a year earlier playing with Chris Burn. Originally we hadn’t intended to replace a saxophone with a saxophone, or even continue as a trio, but after John accepted our invite it became obvious very quickly that we should stick with both John and the trio format. He was already working on combining the timbral and melodic aspects of the saxophone to a high degree and this fitted in so well with what Phil and I were doing. We then continued to play at my flat but also got as much public playing experience as possible. JOHN RUSSELL (January 2015) Russell, Durrant, Butcher - a personal view. It's a sign of how times have changed in the last quarter of a century that I first heard the Russell, Durrant, Butcher trio through a weekly 'Jazz Today' session hosted, in 1987, by Charles Fox on BBC Radio 3 and a small review by Mark Sinker in the rock music weekly the NME. Liking the sound of the music I sent a cheque to John Russell's address as mentioned in the review and received a vinyl LP called CONCEITS. At the time I was just out of my teens and living in the north east of England. Getting the record through the post gave me a feeling of direct connection with the far off London scene. At the time I particularly responded to John's sound, recognising the influence of Derek Bailey, whose music I had recently discovered via the bargain bins of local record shops. Phil Durrant I had heard at a festival of electro-acoustic music in Newcastle and had shortly afterwards bumped into him at my first Company week on a rare trip down to the capital. In hindsight it was the contribution of John Butcher that my ears had initially undervalued, not realising the extraordinarily original approach to his somewhat hackneyed instruments of choice. It would be another 6 years before I would move to London and I feel privileged to have heard the trio several times, usually at the late lamented Red Rose club. The strength and delicacy of the group were ever present with a genuine group empathy, often sounding like three aspects of a single mind, a perfect example of Fred Frith's idea of 'virtuosic listening' as well as technique. CONCEITS, with its 78 rpm track lengths strikes me now as a formative document for a style of improvised music that shunned the free-jazz of Brotzmann / Benninkesque blowouts for a more measured, though no less passionate approach. To my mind the free improvisation community has kept much of the originality and vitality of the music alive in the face of the vagaries of fashion and economic variables. The word 'conceit' in its varied definitions seems just about right. TIM FLETCHER (December 2014) I think the trio is my favourite musical format. Not as easy to follow as a duologue or a monologue and not as potentially crowded as a quartet or larger. The thing that makes the Russell Durrant Butcher trio so special is that there is no immediate focal point - no soloist with accompanists, like in a piano trio – just three acoustic instrumentalists with extraordinarily individual sounds. It's not for nothing that John Russell's guitar is described as an 'acoustic plectrum guitar' on the sleeve of CONCEITS – the plectrum (a big chunky one if I recall correctly) is a big part of the noise he creates – whether rubbing roughly over the strings to produce tiny pings and friction sounds, or as a flinty slamming as he hits the strings with a violence rarely heard in acoustic music. The little runs and sudden thinly chiming chords seem to rise out of a bed of constant skittering percussive work. John Butcher's saxophone work has become as familiar as it is unique – but what is perhaps surprising about these recordings, listening again after 28 years, is how much of his vocabulary was already there – the split tones, the high fluting notes, the bell-reverberating honks and flutter-tongued splutterings. I'm struck again by the fluency of his playing – the darting and weaving around the textures of the other two. If anything, it's Phil Durrant's contribution to the trio which is the most mysterious - hearing the trombone playing again is startling (it's an instrument he dropped from live playing not long after this record) – adding rough and throaty declarations into the mix. I don't know whether I'd go so far as to say that I miss the trombone from the more recent recordings, but it's certainly his work on the violin that I find fascinating – not least for it's ability to hide and become blurred amongst the action of the other two – often holding whispering notes or tiny gestural sounds - I find it hard to completely focus on what he's up to – and yet you're aware that the structures, understated as they often are, are incomplete without his often unassuming contributions – and it's perhaps of no surprise that Durrant went on to be an important part of the “reductionist” movement – the clues are there. It was quite a few years after purchasing CONCEITS in the late 80s that I actually saw the trio play live – although I'd seen all three play on separate occasions. I think it's worth mentioning that they did seem markedly different to the other improvising groups around at the time, not just because of the extraordinary music they were making, but also because of the way they looked – Russell, rather debonair, in clothes that seemed older than his years, hunched over his ancient-looking acoustic, sleeves rolled up ready for action, Butcher, immobile in marked contrast to the fiery free-jazz players throwing their instruments about as they play, would stand with a ramrod-straight back and staring into the audience, while Durrant would seem lost in concentration, spending a lot of time listening and grimacing slightly when playing long notes, as if concerned he might be adding too much. They were utterly compelling, and as players they remain so. RICHARD SANDERSON (January 2015)