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Keith Rowe (born March 16, 1940 in Plymouth, England) is an English free improvisation guitarist and painter. Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. 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 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 The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e

Rowe is a founding member of AMM in the mid-1960s (though in 2004 he quit that group for the second time) and a founding member of M.I.M.E.O. He trained as a visual artist, and Rowe's paintings have been featured on most of his own albums. AMM are an important British Free improvisation group founded in London, England in 1965 MIMEO (or MIMEO) is an experimental electroacoustic free improvisation group formed in 1997 on the initiative of several independent concert promoters

After years of obscurity, Rowe has achieved a level of relative notoriety, and since the late 1990s has kept up a busy recording and touring schedule. He is seen as a godfather of electroacoustic improvisation, and many of his recent recordings have been released by Erstwhile Records. Erstwhile Records is an Independent record label devoted to Free improvisation, particularly the electroacoustic variety

Axel Dörner and Keith Rowe in Chicago, Illinois, 22 September 2004.
Axel Dörner and Keith Rowe in Chicago, Illinois, 22 September 2004.

Biography

Rowe began his career playing jazz in the early 1960's--notably with Mike Westbrook and Lou Gare. 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 Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Michael John David 'Mike' Westbrook (born March 21, 1936 in High Wycombe) is a highly successful British Jazz Pianist, Lou Gare (born June 16, 1939) is an English Free-jazz saxophonist born in Rugby Warwickshire, perhaps best-known for his His early influences were guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel. John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery ( 6 March 1925 - 15 June 1968) was an American Jazz guitarist He is generally considered Charlie Christian (Charles Henry Christian ( 29 July 1916 &ndash 2 March 1942) was an American swing and Bebop Barney Kessel ( October 17, 1923 &ndash May 6, 2004) was an American Jazz Guitarist born in Muskogee Oklahoma Eventually, however, Rowe grew tired of what he considered the form's limitations. Rowe began experimenting, slowly and gradually. An important step was a New Year's resolution to stop tuning his guitar -- much to Westbrook's displeasure. A New Year's Resolution is a Commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a Lifestyle change that is generally Rowe gradually expanded into free jazz and free improvisation, eventually abandoning conventional guitar technique. For the Ornette Coleman album after which this genre was named see Free Jazz A Collective Improvisation. 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

This change in his approach to guitar, Rowe reports, was partly inspired by a teacher in one of his painting courses who told him, "Rowe, you cannot paint a Caravaggio. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, usually just known as Caravaggio, (28 September 1571 – 18 July 1610 was an Italian Artist active in Rome Only Caravaggio can paint Caravaggio. " Rowe reports that after considering this idea from a musical perspective, "trying to play guitar like Jim Hall seemed quite wrong. James Stanley Hall (born December 4, 1930, Buffalo New York) is an American Jazz Guitarist. " For several years Rowe contemplated how to reinvent his approach to the guitar, again finding inspiration in visual art, namely, American painter Jackson Pollock, who abandoned traditional painting methods to forge his own style. Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28 1912 &ndash August 11 1956 was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement "How could I abandon the technique? Lay the guitar flat!"[1]

Rowe developed various prepared guitar techniques: placing the guitar flat on a table and manipulating the strings, body and pickups in unorthodox ways to produce sounds described as dark, brooding, compelling, expansive and alien. 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 He has been known to employ objects such as a library card, rubber eraser, springs, hand-held electric fans, alligator clips, and common office supplies in playing the guitar. A January, 1997 feature in Guitar Player magazine described a Rowe performance as "resemble a surgeon operating on a patient. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Guitar Player is a popular magazine for Guitarists It contains articles interviews reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists genres and products Surgery (from the χειρουργική cheirourgikē, via chirurgiae meaning "hand work" is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental " Rowe sometimes incorporates live radio broadcasts into his performances, including shortwave radio and number stations (the guitar's pickups will also pick up radio signals, and broadcast them through the amplifier). Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Shortwave Radio operates between the frequencies of 3000 KHz (3 Numbers stations are Shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin

AMM percussionist Eddie Prévost reports that Rowe has "an uncanny touch on the wireless switch", able to find radio broadcasts which seem to blend ideally with, or offer startling commentary on, the music. (Prévost, 18). On AMMMusic, towards the end of the cacophonous "Ailantus Glandolusa", a speaker announces via radio that "We cannot preserve the normal music. " Prevost writes that during an AMM performance in Istanbul, Rowe located and integrated a radio broadcast of "the pious intonation of a male Turkish voice. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language AMM of course, had absolutely no idea what the material was. Later, it was complimented upon the judicious way that verses from The Koran had been introduced into the performance, and the respectful way they had been treated!" (Prévost, 18) In reviewing World Turned Upside Down, critic Dan Hill writes, "Rowe has tuned his shortwave radio to some dramatically exotic gameshow and human voices spatter the mix, though at such low volume, they're unintelligible and abstracted. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Rowe never overplays this device, a clear temptation with such a seductive technology - the awesome possibility of sonically reaching out across a world of voices requires experienced hands to avoid simple but ultimately short-term pleasure. This he does masterfully, mixing in random operatics and chance encounters with talkshow hosts to anchor the sound in humanity, amidst the abstraction. "[2]

Some accounts report that Rowe's guitar technique was an influence on Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett: "Taking his cues from experimental guitarist Keith Rowe of AMM, Barrett strived to push his music farther and farther out into the zone of complete abstraction. Pink Floyd are Syd Barrett (born Roger Keith Barrett; 6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006 was an English singer songwriter guitarist and artist " [3]

Rowe has worked together with numerous composers and musicians, including Cornelius Cardew, Christian Wolff, Howard Skempton, Jeffrey Morgan, Taku Sugimoto, Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M, Oren Ambarchi, Christian Fennesz, Toshimaru Nakamura and Peter Rehberg. Cornelius Cardew ( May 7, 1936 – London, December 13, 1981) was an English Avant-garde Composer, Christian Wolff may refer to Christian Wolff (philosopher (1679-1754 German philosopher and mathematician Christian Wolff (composer Howard Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is a British Composer and Accordionist Since the late 1960s when he helped organize the Jeffrey Morgan (born March 20 1954 in Spokane (Washington) is a United States-born jazz musician (piano soprano- tenor- and alto- Taku Sugimoto is a Japanese Guitarist He initially gained attention in the late 1990s for his restrained melodic playing unusual in the world of Free improvisation is a Japanese Composer and Multi-instrumentalist. He first came to international prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the Noise rock group Sachiko Matsubara, who usually records as Sachiko M, is a Japanese Musician, but she considers herself to be a "non-musician" Oren Ambarchi is an electronic guitarist and drummer with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches Christian Fennesz (born December 25, 1962) is an Austrian Electronic musician often credited on albums simply as Fennesz. Toshimaru Nakamura is a Japanese musician active in Free improvisation and Japanese onkyo. Peter Rehberg (aka Pita) (born 29 June 1968, London) is an author of electronic audio works

Sources

External links

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