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"Exceptional acoustic
maelstrom . . . . . People who suggest that British jazz always lags
behind American innovators should check this date. Their music is
often categorised as 'free improvisation' but really is
state-of-the-art jazz, blindingly swift and responsive." Ben
Watson ARTSCENE
"They left the audience in a
state of shock. Whiteheat improvisation, full throttle free jazz out
of Archie Shepp 1969, but somehow more so: more venom, more noise,
more discord, more evil heat . . . . . simultaneous musicality and
cathartic excess . . . . . we are talking the essence of what makes
jazz great here." Ben Watson THE WIRE
"Thrillingly intense recording
by the inflammatory trio, a band that outdoes the old Brötzmann
groups for sheer firepower. An outstanding record that demands a
place in any comprehensive collection." THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO
JAZZ ON CD, LP & CASSETTE
"Back in 1991, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell
played music of such rolling majesty and power that only national
stereotypes (Americans play Free Jazz, Europeans play Improv) explain
why the trio wasn't hailed by the press everywhere. Paul Hession's
waves of cymbals and drums still sound deliriously beautiful, like
some natural force. Alan Wilkinson's donkey-bray baritone and lyrical
alto rev like a Harley-Davidson, and Simon Fell's bass stokes the
fire with exceptional understanding of climactic modulation.
Apologists for the uneven blow-outs currently promoted as Ecstatic
Jazz in the States say that music as finely-wrought as the late
Coltrane isn't possible for lesser mortals. Check this out and
explode a few prejudices. B:1*" Ben Watson HIFI NEWS &
RECORD REVIEW
"How to say it - there is so
little that can compare to this. This trio, on this night in 1991,
showed up for a regular gig in the tiny town of Huddersfield, and
proceeded to burn the place down with their music. From the opening
moments when Wilkinson and Fell crank through a modal elegiac series
of motifs before allowing Hession to up the ante and take the sound
to the margin and over, there is no doubt about the singular quality
of the communication here. Wilkinson in particular is simply at the
top of his form, long, fluid legato lines that turn in on themselves
and create a fire in Fell that we have seldom heard in recordings.
His pizzicato work is driven with a dervish-like intensity that moves
through scalar variations on Eastern modal tonalities as Hession
moves into overdrive in providing a driving, dancing, whirling
support. This was a set that probably left everybody in the audience
and on the stand breathless and wondering what transpired; it
certainly happens on the disc. This set is truly unbelievable and
truly indispensable." Thom Jurek ALL MUSIC GUIDE
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