Crossings by Veryan Weston - review by Tony Dudley-Evans

Big thanks to Tony Dudley-Evans for this review of Crossings:

Crossings by Veryan Weston with Hannah Marshall and Mark Sanders   HI4HEAD Records HFHCD027

This record features Veryan Weston on the key station, which is a keyboard which apparently acts as a trigger system and requires an outside sound system.  Veryan originally used the key station on a Henry Cow reunion gig where he was creating a number of retro sounds and on this recording it comes across as a very flexible instrument that can create a wide range of sounds.  I heard hints of a harpsichord, a guitar, a Hammond Organ and African percussion on different tracks on the album.

There are 9 tracks on the album with lengths varying from 4’06” to 10’15”.  The music has emerged from a number of performances in the last year or so (one of which was at a Fizzle session in Birmingham) in which a number of ideas were used to set up improvisation.  Veryan has developed some of these improvisations into themes and links which are the basis of the music on the album.  It is thus quite structured, but uses the language of improvisation.  It also very rhythmic and makes very effective use of the skills of Mark Sanders on drums and Hannah Marshall on cello and vocal on the final track Extinction.  Both Mark and Hannah, plus Veryan himself, have very clearly defined roles, but their abilities as improvisers also play a major role in interpreting the compositions.  The music also has lots of variety, for example, from the nightmarish atmosphere of Kafka’s Escape, the hint of the methods of the great drummer Ed Blackwell on Slow Blackwell, the African feel of Kalimba Setting, the nod to the rhythms of tap dancers on Tap Dancers, and the vocal on the final track Extinction.

The result of all this is a fascinating project that brings together aspects of composition and freedom that seems to be a key part of what is emerging in what we still refer to as ‘improvised music’.