Derek Bailey
Derek Bailey pictured at the Vortex Club, Stoke Newington, 1991. The Vortex Jazz Club is a London venue that primarily features live contemporary Jazz. Note For an area with a similar name see Newington, in the London Borough of Southwark.
Background information
Birth name	Derek Bailey
Born	January 29, 1930(1930-01-29)
Origin	Sheffield, England
Died	December 25, 2005 (aged 75)
Genre(s)	Free jazz Avant-garde jazz Free funk
Instrument(s)	Guitar

Derek Bailey (January 29, 1930 – December 25, 2005) was an English avant-garde guitarist and leading figure in the free improvisation movement. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation. Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz) is a style of music and Improvisation that combines Avant-garde Art music and composition with Free funk is a combination of Avant-garde jazz with Funk music. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s involved in many cases the musicians make

Contents 1 Career summary 2 Bailey's music 3 Partial discography 4 References 5 External links

Career summary

Bailey was born in Sheffield, England. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A third generation musician, he began playing the guitar at the age of ten, going on to study with John Duarte among others. John W(illiam Duarte (born October 2, 1919 in Sheffield; died December 23, 2004) was a British Composer, As an adult he found work as a guitarist and session musician in clubs, radio, dance hall bands, and so on, playing with many performers including Gracie Fields, Bob Monkhouse and Kathy Kirby, and on television programs such as 'Opportunity Knocks'. Session musicians are musicians available for hire as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical outfit or who have acquired fame in their own right Dame Gracie Fields, DBE ( January 9 1898 &ndash September 27 1979) born Grace Stansfield, was an English / Robert Alan Monkhouse OBE (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003 was an English Entertainer. Kathy Kirby (born Kathleen O'Rourke, 20 October 1938, Ilford, Essex) was a popular English Singer of the 1960s Opportunity Knocks is a UK Television Talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green. Bailey was also part of a Sheffield based trio founded in 1963 with Tony Oxley and Gavin Bryars called 'Joseph Holbrooke' (named after the composer, whose work they never actually played). Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England Tony Oxley (born 15 June 1938) is a British Free jazz Drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records. Richard Gavin Bryars (born 16 January 1943) is an English Composer and Double bassist He has been active in or has produced works in a variety Joseph Holbrooke was a musical trio active in the United Kingdom (particularly in and around Sheffield) in the 1960s and briefly re-formed in 1998. Joseph Charles Holbrooke ( Croydon, July 5 1878 &ndash London, August 5 1958) was an English Composer Although originally performing relatively 'conventional' jazz this group became increasingly free in direction ^[1]. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States

Bailey moved to London in 1966, frequenting the Little Theatre Club run by drummer John Stevens. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. A drummer is a Musician who plays a Drum or drums particularly a Drum kit ("drum set" or "trap set" Marching percussion John William Stevens ( 10 June, 1940 in Brentford, Middlesex - 13 September, 1994 in Ealing, West London Here he met many other like-minded musicians, such as saxophonist Evan Parker, trumpet player Kenny Wheeler and double bass player Dave Holland. The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical- bored transposing Musical instrument considered a member of the Woodwind Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944 in Bristol is a British free-improvising Saxophone player from the European free jazz Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, CC, (born 14th January 1930 Toronto Canada is a Canadian Composer and Trumpet and Flugelhorn player The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. Dave Holland (born October 1, 1946) is a British Jazz Bassist and Composer who is a significant representative These players often collaborated under the umbrella name of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, recording the seminal album Karyobin for Island Records in 1968. The Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME was a loose collection of Free improvising musicians convened beginning in the mid-1960s by the late South London -based Island Records is a Record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. Events January 4 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with In this year Bailey also formed the Music Improvisation Company with Parker, percussionist Jamie Muir and Hugh Davies on homemade electronics, a project that continued until 1971. Jamie Muir was a UK Percussionist best known for his work in King Crimson. Hugh Seymour Davies ( 23 April 1943 – 1 January 2005) was a musicologist, Composer, and Inventor of He was also a member of the Jazz Composers Orchestra and Iskra 1903, a trio with double bass player Barry Guy and trombone player Paul Rutherford that was named after a newspaper published by the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is a British Composer and Double bass player The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s Paul William Rutherford ( 29 February 1940 &ndash 5 August 2007) was an English free improvising trombonist.

In 1970, Bailey founded the record label Incus with Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters. Incus Records is an artist owned Record label, founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters specialising in the dissemination It proved influential as the first musician-owned independent label in the UK. Oxley and Walters left early on; Parker and Bailey continued as co-directors until the mid-1980s, when friction between the men led to Parker's departure. Bailey continued the label with his partner Karen Brookman until his death in 2005.

Along with a number of other musicians, Bailey was a co-founder of Musics magazine in 1975. Musics was an independent magazine (ISSN 0307-2924 launched with Issue No Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This was described as "an impromental experivisation arts magazine" ^[2] and circulated through a network of like-minded record shops, arguably becoming one of the most significant jazz publications of the second half of the 1970s, and instrumental in the foundation of the London Musicians Collective. The London Musicians' Collective (LMC is a cultural charity based in London, England devoted to the promotion of contemporary, experimental

1976 saw Bailey form Company, an ever changing collection of like-minded improvisors, which at various times has included Anthony Braxton, Tristan Honsinger, Misha Mengelberg, Lol Coxhill, Fred Frith, Steve Beresford, Steve Lacy, Johnny Dyani, Leo Smith, Han Bennink, Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, John Zorn, Buckethead and many others. Company was an ever changing collection of free improvising musicians Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American Composer, saxophonist, Clarinettist flautist, pianist Tristan Honsinger (born October 23 1949 is a Cello player active in Free jazz and Free improvisation. Misha Mengelberg (born June 5, 1935) is a Dutch Jazz Pianist and Composer. Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill (born September 19, 1932, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England) is a free Fred Frith (born February 17, 1949) is an English Multi-instrumentalist, Composer and improvisor. Steve Beresford (born 1950 is a British Musician. He has played a variety of instruments including Piano, Trumpet, Euphonium, This article is about the jazz musician For the CEO of Meredith see Steve Lacy (businessman. Johnny Mbizo Dyani ( 30 November 1945 &ndash 24 October 1986) was a South African Jazz Double bassist and pianist for others with the same name see Leo Smith (disambiguation Leo R Han Bennink (born April 17, 1942) is a Dutch Jazz Drummer, Percussionist. Eugene Chadbourne ( January 4, 1954 in Mount Vernon New York) is an American, Improvisor, Guitarist and Banjoist Henry Kaiser (born 19 September 1952, Oakland California) is a widely-recorded experimental Guitarist and frequent collaborator with other musicians John Zorn (born September 2 1953 in Queens, New York City) is an American Avant-garde Composer, arranger, Record Brian Carroll, better known as Buckethead, is an American Guitarist and Songwriter. Company Week, an annual week long free improvisational festival organised by Bailey, ran until 1994.

In 1980, he wrote the book Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice. This was adapted by UK's Channel 4 into a four part TV series in the early nineties, edited and narrated by Bailey. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began

Bailey died in London on Christmas Day, 2005. He had been suffering from motor neurone disease. The motor neurone diseases (or motor neuron diseases) (MND are a group of progressive neurological disorders that destroy Motor neurones the cells that control voluntary

Bailey's music

For listeners unfamiliar with experimental music, Bailey's distinctive style can be initially quite difficult. Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 Its most noticeable feature is what appears to be its extreme discontinuity, often from note to note: there may be enormous intervals between consecutive notes, and rather than aspiring to the consistency of timbre typical of most guitar-playing, Bailey interrupts it as much as possible: four consecutive notes, for instance, may be played on an open string, a fretted string, via harmonics, and using a nonstandard technique such as scraping the string with the pick or plucking below the bridge. Many of the key features of his music -- radical discontinuity, the self-contained brevity of each gesture, an attraction to wide intervals -- owe much to Bailey's early fascination with Anton Webern, an influence most audible on Bailey's earliest available recordings, Pieces for Guitar (1966-67, issued on Tzadik). WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Anton Webern (December 3 1883 &ndash September 15 1945 was an Austrian Composer Tzadik Records is a Record label based in New York City specialising in Avant-garde and Experimental music.

Playing both acoustic and electric guitars (although more usually the former), Bailey was able to extend the possibilities of the instrument in radical ways, obtaining a far wider array of sounds than are usually heard. He explored the full vocabulary of the instrument, producing timbres and tones ranging from the most delicate tinklings to fierce noise attacks. (The sounds he produced have been compared to those made by John Cage's prepared piano. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr A prepared piano is a Piano which has had its sound altered by placing objects (preparations between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers ) Typically he played a conventional instrument, in standard tuning, but his use of amplification was often crucial. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles In the 1970s, for instance, his standard set-up involved two independently controlled amplifiers to give a stereo effect onstage, and he often would use the swell pedal to counteract the "normal" attack and decay of notes. Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of Sound, using two or more independent audio channels through a Symmetrical He also made highly original use of feedback, a technique demonstrated on the album String Theory (Paratactile, 2000). Audio Feedback (also known as the Larsen effect after the Danish scientist Søren Larsen who first discovered its principles is a special kind of Feedback

Although Bailey occasionally made use of 'prepared' guitar in the 1970s (e. A prepared guitar is a Guitar which has had its Timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings including other Extended g. , putting paper clips on the strings, wrapping his instruments in chains, adding further strings to the guitar, etc), often for Dadaist/theatrical effect, by the end of this decade he had, in his own words, 'dumped' such methods ^[3]. For other meanings see Dada (disambiguation DaDa is a Concept album by Alice Cooper, released Bailey argued that his approach to music making was actually far more orthodox than performers such as Keith Rowe of the improvising collective AMM, who treats the guitar purely as a 'sound source' rather than as a musical instrument. Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth, England) is an English Free improvisation Guitarist and painter. AMM are an important British Free improvisation group founded in London, England in 1965 Instead Bailey preferred to "look for whatever 'effects' I might need through technique. " ^[4].

Eschewing labels such as "jazz" (even "free jazz"), Bailey described his music as 'non-idiomatic', a label which has been much-debated. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation. In the 2nd edition of his book, Improvisation. . . , Bailey indicated that he felt that free improvisation was no longer "non-idiomatic" in his sense of the word, as it had become a recognizable genre and musical style itself. In his efforts to avoid predictability he always sought out collaborators from many different fields: players as diverse as Pat Metheny, John Zorn, Lee Konitz, David Sylvian, Cyro Baptista, Cecil Taylor, Keiji Haino, tap dancer Will Gaines, 'Drum 'n' Bass' DJ Ninj, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and the Japanese 'noise rock' group Ruins. Patrick Bruce Metheny (born August 12, 1954 in Lee's Summit Missouri) is an American Jazz Guitarist and Composer John Zorn (born September 2 1953 in Queens, New York City) is an American Avant-garde Composer, arranger, Record Lee Konitz (b October 13, 1927) is an American Jazz Composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago Illinois David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958 in Beckenham, Kent, UK) is an English Singer, Musician Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian musician teacher and recording artist specializing in percussion in the genres of Jazz and Cecil Percival Taylor (born March 15 or March 25, 1929 in New York City) is an American Pianist and poet Keiji Haino (灰野 敬二 Haino Keiji) born 1952 in Chiba, Japan, and currently residing in Tokyo, is a Japanese musician whose work has Tap dance was developed in the United States during the nineteenth century and is popular nowadays in many parts of the world A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958 in Coral Gables Florida) is an American Musician best known as a Singer, Sonic Youth is an American Alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981 Noise rock (also known as noise punk) describes one variety of Post-punk Rock music that became prominent in the 1980s Ruins is a Japanese Experimental rock duo of Drum set and electric bass guitar. In fact despite often performing and recording in a solo context, he was far more interested in the dynamics and challenges of working with other musicians, especially those who did not necessarily share his own approach; "There has to be some degree, not just of unfamiliarity, but incompatibility [with a partner]. Otherwise, what are you improvising for? What are you improvising with or around? You've got to find somewhere where you can work. If there are no difficulties, it seems to me that there's pretty much no point in playing. I find that the things that excite me are trying to make something work. And when it does work, it's the most fantastic thing. Maybe the most obvious analogy would be the grit that produces the pearl in an oyster, or some shit like that. " ^[5]

Bailey was also known for his dry sense of humour. In 1977 Musics magazine sent the question "What happens to time-awareness during improvisation?" to about thirty musicians associated with the free improvisation scene. The answers received varied from lengthy and highly theoretical essays to more direct comments. Typically pithy was Bailey's reply; "The ticks turn into tocks and the tocks turn into ticks" ^[6].

Mirakle, a 1999 recording released in 2000, shows Bailey moving into the free funk genre performing with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston. Free funk is a combination of Avant-garde jazz with Funk music. Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel, June 11, 1956) is an American Free jazz Bassist born in Hempstead New York Carpal Tunnel, the last record to be released during his lifetime, documented his personal struggles to come to terms with the development of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in his right hand, which had rendered him unable to grip a plectrum (and in fact marked the onset of his motor neurone disease). Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS or median neuropathy at the wrist is a medical condition in which the Median nerve is compressed at the Wrist, leading Often called a pick or plec, a plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. Characteristically, he refused invasive surgery to treat his condition, instead being more "interested in finding ways to work around" this limitation. He chose to "relearn" guitar playing techniques by utilising his right thumb and index fingers to pluck the strings.

Partial discography

• Karyobin (with the SME, Island records, 1968)
• The Topography of the Lungs (with Han Bennink and Evan Parker, Incus, 1970 (nb, this was the first release on the Incus record label))
• The Music Improvisation Company, 1968 - 1971 (with the Music Improvisation Company, Incus, 1971)
• The London Concert (with Evan Parker, Incus, 1971)
• Solo Guitar Volume 1 (Incus, recorded 1971, reissued 1992)
• Solo Guitar Volume 2 (Incus, 1972)
• Duo (with Anthony Braxton, Emanem, 1974, reissued on CD with extra material, 1996)
• Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet/The Sinking of the Titanic (with Gavin Bryars and others, Obscure Records, 1975)
• Company 6 & 7 (other players on this re-issue originally recorded at the 1977 Company Week include Lol Coxhill, Han Bennink, Leo Smith, Tristan Honsinger, Steve Beresford, Anthony Braxton and others, Incus 1992)
• Dart Drug (with Jamie Muir, Incus, 1981)
• Aida (Incus, 1982, reissued on Dexter's Cigar, 1996)
• Cyro (with Cyro Baptista, Incus, 1982)
• Yankees (with John Zorn and George Lewis, recorded 1983; issued variously on Celluloid and Charly)
• Figuring (with Barre Phillips, Incus, 1987)
• Takes Fakes and Dead She Dances (Incus, 1987}
• Lace (solo guitar, Emanem, recorded 1989)
• Village Life (with Thebe Lipere and Louis Moholo, Incus 1992)
• Playing (with John Stevens, Incus 1992)
• Rappin & Tappin (with Will Gaines, Incus, 1994)
• Guitar, Drums and Bass (with DJ Ninj, Avant records, 1996)
• The Sign Of Four (with Pat Metheny, Gregg Bendian, Paul Wertico, Knitting Factory, 1997)
• The Gospel Record (with Amy Denio, Dennis Palmer, recorded 1999; released on Shaking Ray Records, 2005)
• Ballads, (Tzadik, 2002)
• Pieces for Guitar, (Tzadik, 2002)
• Barcelona (with Agusti Fernandez), Hopscotch Records, 2001, available from emusic
• Wireforks (with Henry Kaiser) Shanachie/Jazz, 1993 available from emusic
• Legend of the Blood Yeti with Thirteen Ghosts and Thurston Moore
• Limescale (with Tony Bevan, Incus, 2002)
• Improvisation Ampersand/Runt 1975, available from emusic
• Soshin (with Fred Frith and Antoine Berthiaume) Ambiances Magnetiques, 2003, available from actuellecd.com
• Carpal Tunnel, Tzadik, 2005
• The Moat Recordings (as part of the Joseph Holbrooke (band) Trio), Tzadik, 2006
• To Play (The Blemish Sessions), Samadhi, 2006
• Standards, Tzadik, 2007

References

• Derek Bailey - Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice (1992)
• Ben Watson - Derek Bailey and the Story of Free Improvisation. ISBN 1-84467-003-1

External links

• European Free Improvisation index page on Bailey
• Sample of Derek Bailey's playing 1
• Sample of Derek Bailey's playing 2
• Sample of Derek Bailey's playing 3
• Sample of Derek Bailey's playing 4 (with Han Benninik)
• Video footage of Derek Bailey playing
• Video footage of Derek Bailey playing with tap dancer Will Gaines
• 'Audio ad' for Incus records featuring Bailey speaking and playing
• Derek Bailey interview 1
• Derek Bailey interview 2
• Derek Bailey Radio Tribute and Interview With Chris Comer featuring comments from Fred Frith
• Obituary by John Fordham from the UK Guardian
• Obituary by Steve Voce from the UK Independent
• Appreciation by Gavin Bryars from the UK Guardian
• Tributes from The Wire magazine archive
• Ben Watson obituary from Socialist Worker online
• "I Miss A Friend Like You" from The Gospel Record, Shaking Ray Records, 2005
• Syntactics A 2006 essay by Dominic Lash on Bailey and the use of linguistic metaphors when discussing improvised music. Dominic Lash is an Oxford based musician and a central figure in the Oxford Improvisers' Collective.

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