badland
badland
Simon Rose - alto
& soprano saxophones
Simon H. Fell -
double bass
Steve Noble - drums
Badland
were formed in 1994, with Simon Rose, Simon Fell and Mark Sanders on
drums. The group's activity centres around free jazz and the
reinterpretation of elements of the modern jazz repertoire. Mark left
the group in 1998, with Steve Noble taking over the drum chair for
the 1999 tour. He's stayed ever since!
Work since 1994 has included a UK Arts Council
Tour in 1999, Leicester Jazz Festival and numerous club gigs; in
October 2003 the group featured in a studio session for BBC Radio 3's Jazz
On 3.
Their first album Badland
was released by Bruce's Fingers in 1995, and includes reworkings of
pieces by Ornette Coleman and Duke Ellington, along with free improvisations.
Their second album Axis
Of Cavity was released by Bruce's Fingers in the
Summer of 2002; the group undertook a UK tour in September 2002 to
promote the album.
Their third CD - The
Society Of The Spectacle - was released by Emanem in
September 2005.
• "Put this alongside the most important trios in the jazz and improvised saxophone tradition." Francesco Martinelli IMPROJAZZ
• "The musicians take care to construct free improvisations that are multilayered and rich with nuance, realised with a spiritual intensity that could liquefy steel." Hannes Schweiger JAZZ LIVE
• "Vivid free-bop from a highly accomplished trio who venture gamely out into new and lawless territory, bringing new ideas and a freshness of diction to this challenging idiom." THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ ON CD
For further information, recorded examples of the group's music, or details of fees, availability, contact:
Bruce's Fingers
c/o Simon Fell
29 Teillet
23400 St. Dizier-Leyrenne
FRANCE
e-mail: info@brucesfingers.com
Simon Rose Simon has a background in World Music, and has played with Celestial Gospel Choir (from Nigeria), Lord Eric's Sugumugu, Sacred Cow & Pure Land, as well as free jazz with Ken Hyder, Maggie Nichols and many others. For the best part of a decade Simon has made a point of experiencing music in other cultures, and has studied harmony in North and South America and throughout Asia. He formed Badland to allow him to explore these ideas alongside state-of-the-art free jazz.
Simon Fell is a composer and double bassist active in free improvisation and contemporary jazz and chamber music. He has worked in small or medium groups with John Butcher, Peter Brötzmann, Lol Coxhill, Billy Jenkins, Joe Morris, Keith Tippett, John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Joey Baron, Elliott Sharp, Billy Bang, Christian Marclay and numerous others, and is a founder member of London Improvisers Orchestra. Other regular groupings include SFQ, IST, Mick Beck's Something Else, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell and many more. He has presented compositions for improvisers at the LMC Festival, the Termite Festival, the Frakture Festival, Leo Records' Unsung Music Festival, Freedom of the City Festival and on many other occasions. His discography includes over 90 recordings. "A major contemporary musician" - The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD.
Steve Noble first came to public attention with Rip Rig and Panic, but has since become one of the most dynamic performers in English Improvised Music. He performs in numerous groups, including The Shakedown Club, 4tet & Company, and with Peter Brötzmann, Johannes Bauer, Butch Morris, Otomo Yoshihide, Evan Parker and (of course) many others. International festival appearance include Geneva, Pisa, Genova, Barcelona, Köln, Nickelsdorf & New York. His Company Week appearances include 1987, 1989 & 1990, and he duetted with Alex Ward for Channel 4's Improvisation documentary series. "One of the country's most creative drummers" decreed The Guardian.
Badland photo by David Clayton © 1999