Drops

British guitarist Derek Bailey was the first musician to give a new sound to the jazz guitar, breaking the rules of traditional playing and improvising.

Recorded in 1977, Drops has often been defined one of the best performances of Derek Bailey, in the Seventies, acclaimed for its explosive clarity, dialogic energy and overflowing imagination.

Behind all this is an operative praxis that we have tried to use in producing records of so-called improvised music. This praxis involves organising the improvisational process by channelling it into more or less open structures. The kaleidoscopic quality of Drops was created by this restraint of performing limits, i.e. the choice of instrumental timbres, dynamics and metronome speeds to suit each piece. We explored some aspects of our improvisational art, gleaned the best elements from our baggage of music memories and exposed them clearly and confidently.

Therefore these are compositions of… improvised music.

This album is available for digital purchase on ictusrecords.bandcamp.com: