
AL NEIL -piano, zither, text
RICHARD ANSTEY -contrabass,
vocalizations
GREGG SIMPSON -drums, acoustic
collage
"New
CD
RETROSPECTIVE captures jazz innovators
in their prime, adds rare recordings.
Rating 10 out of 10"
Richard
Anstey the artist you hear on this site passed away in
Vienna, Austria on Nov 12th, 2004 of a massive heart
attack. His two children and family mourn the passing of
what was a truly unique man.
He
inspired us with just how much he lived life.
This CD is
still for sale until existing inventory is gone.
"Legendary is
a term that gets thrown around too often,
but in the case of Al Neil the word sticks.
RETROSPECTIVE, a new two-CD set
documenting his trio with drummer Gregg
Simpson and bassist Richard Anstey, shows
why. The new RETROSPECTIVE
collects all the material that was released
on a limited edition LP in 1976 and doubles
the fun with many rare performances never
heard before. The sound of the performances
are excellent. Two CDs, 21 tracks of
incomparable brilliance from hipster Al Neil
and his loyal henchmen Gregg Simpson and
Richard Anstey." John Goodman -North
Shore News
"The
world of designer clothing, video games, youth
obsession, the latest everything masks the serious
details that constitute reality. So it is quite possible
that you have never heard of Al Neil.
In the middle sixties, after a short sabbatical, he
reappeared with Richard Anstey (bass), who also produced
this set, and Gregg Simpson (drums), both twenty years
his junior and both also visual artists. Musically, the
trio have arrived at a sparkling integrated
configuration rarely achieved, not only in its powerful
surging lyricism, but now containing messages for future
language that would be considered prototype concepts for
generations of musicians. Utilizing voices, radios,
tapes, toys, noise-makers and LP records, all being
manipulated as improvising sound sources — likely early
examples of turntable DeeJaying and sampling — they
collectively generate an astonishing, intimate and
personal concept.
The enclosed 36 page booklet
contains photographs, reminiscences by Simpson and
Anstey who paint clear pictures of the circumstances
surrounding the adventures, process and evolution of the
trio, plus a selection of reviews. Simpson described
Al's piano playing as "…a kind of mystical music, a
cross between Bud Powell, Edgar Varese and Claude
Debussy", and the music as "…nothing short of
extraordinary... combining snippets of melodies like
Summertime, which appeared through waves of arpeggios,
polychromatic chord clusters, whirling dervish modal
lines, and atonal free passages." A spirited
free-wheeling high energy extension of all their bebop
histories.
The Al Neil Trio,
Retrospective 1965-1968, Blue Minor Records 121
2001 (2 CDs) is a documentation of those heady times.
This is not a document to be dissected, but rather to be
relished as an example of a most distinct period
(December 1965 - June 1968) in a somewhat invisible
Canadian history, a personal development of three of our
most creative artists."
Bill Smith
-Coda
Magazine
January 2003
"All Neil basically started the Vancouver jazz scene with a club
called the Cellar and was eventually considered by many
to be the finest jazz pianist to come out of Canada -
including Oscar Peterson." Calgary Herald
"From the outset of this
collection, it is obvious that Anstey and Simpson were
kindred spirits and exceptional instrumentalists with a
hearty appetite for experimental techniques and
technology. On their respective solos on the earliest
track, the lengthy, 'Summertime'-like 'Dreamers Exposed"
from late 1965 Simpson combines an Elvin Jones- derived
power with rim effects that would soon be in vogue with
first generation European free improvisers. Anstey uses
glissading chords to fluidly pivot between chromatic and
motivic materials. More importantly, Anstey and Simpson
complement the veering Neil, instead of attempting to
closely follow him. The cohesion of Neil's Trio stemmed
from this elasticity.
Plugged into an emergent
Vancouver scene of musicians, dancers, poets, film
makers, and light show artists, Neil's Trio soon found
themselves opening for Janis Joplin and Big Brother and
the Holding Company during Vancouver's Trips Festival of
1966, a three day event whose fare spanned The Grateful
Dead and Michael McClure.
A most welcomed and
necessary document,
RETROSPECTIVE 1965-1968 confirms Neil's status as
a Canadian original, whose passionate abandon blurred
the line between genius and goof."
Bill Shoemaker -Wire
Magazine
(http://www.thewire.co.uk/date/223sep.htm)
September 2002
"the
muted and bowed effects of Anstey and Simpson’s uncommon
mastery of complex rhythms, serve to highlight the work
of maestro Neil." Vancouver Sun
"Some of the straighter
pieces sound sort of like Paul Bley on an acid trip. The
more open ended tracks are the most valuable of what's
here, but developments in the intervening years make it
difficult to realize what a departure these performances
represented at the time."
Canadian New Music Magazine
"There is a sense of
high excitement and interest, which is partly
theatrical, partly musical and partly just weird, but
after listening to this record, you won't soon forget it
- fascinating."
Cadence Magazine
"The
Al Neil Trio created a challenging and
demanding music with a sharp critical edge, filled with
wit and verve. Their musical investigations represent
some of the highest levels ever reached in any genre of
Vancouver art in terms of their complexity, originality,
commitment and intensity.
These
two CDs are a sample of the finest and the most original
art of this or any other period in the history of the
Vancouver art community, a true record of the best avant
garde musical art of that time and place.
RETROSPECTIVE
is an invaluable contribution to the reintroduction of
some of the most valuable moments in the history of
Vancouver art and music." Jamie Reid -vancouverJazz.com
"Canadian
pianist Al Neil may be little known except for a circle
of old Vancouver enthusiasts, but it makes this two-CD
RETROSPECTIVE all the more fascinating to study. As a
writer and poet, he imported his spontaneous cut-up
technique into the music, which added to drummer
Gregg Simpson's tape loop contraption (the "vortexerola"),
and bassist
Richard Anstey's uncanny vocalizations produced some
very weird real-time sound collages. Neil's style
combines elements of
Bud Powell,
Thelonious Monk, and
Taylor (even though he wasn't aware of it); he has
power, over-spilling emotions, and a certain form of
madness that actually pushes the music further over the
edge than what
Taylor was doing at the time. It takes you back to
the days when experimental music meant taking risks. A
definitive document." François Couture
-All
Music Guide

RETROSPECTIVE CD
launch March 23, 2002 in Vancouver at Black Swan
Records. (left to right Richard Anstey, Al Neil and
Gregg Simpson)
BUY NOW
Richard Anstey was the
driving force behind getting this music reproduced to
CD. Due to Richards passing no additional releases of
this CD are planned. When existing inventory is gone the
purchase option on this page will be removed.
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