(Fusion) Ray Russell - A Table Near The Band - 1990, APE (image+.cue), lossless

#777Guitarist Ray Russell may be the most successful member of the final line-up of the John Barry Seven, having gone on to a serious and highly regarded career in jazz and rock in England over the ensuing decades. Russell's introduction to the John Barry Seven came when he read in the music press that the group's longtime lead guitarist, Vic Flick, was leaving the group -- he auditioned on a day off his regular job and won the spot by pretending that he could read music, and learned musical notation as a member of the band, after establishing his virtuosity. The corpulent, stockily built Russell (who resembled Roy Kinnear or Robbie Coltrane) was an improbable looking guitar hero, but his talent was incontestable. He made a good successor to Flick and stayed with the band to the end, in early 1965. He next played with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, and by the end of the 1960's he was working in tandem with Chris Spedding in the Mike Gibbs band, alongside bassist Jack Bruce and reedman Alan Skidmore. During the 1970's, Russell passed through such ensembles as the Rock Workshop and the free-jazz combo Nucleus, and co-founded Chopyn (featuring Simon Philips on drums) with keyboard player Ann Odell. He also played with Roxy Music's Andy McKay on the soundtrack of the British television series Rock Follies, and became a member of Stackridge for a time. Russell was also the guitarist for the group Smith & D'Abo, and played a role in the benefit performances known as "The Secret Policeman's Ball," alongside Eric Clapton, Neil Innes et al. As a member of the fusion group The British Orchestra in the early 1980's, he played and recorded the music of Gil Evans, and he also made his West End debut playing in the musical Time, starring Cliff Richard, in 1986. Russell later formed his own group, the Ray Russell Band. He was a regular participant at the Montreaux Jazz Festival throughout the 1980's and 1990's working in various group contexts, and has also played with the Simon Philips Band. Although Russell is best known for his abilities as a jazz player, he has worked successfully across a vast range of musical idioms, including r&b and soul, and heavy metal.Bruce Eder

The Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the world's greatest annual jazz events. Play there a dozen times and it is still a great experience. Ray and his guitar are regular participants in the event but he is always inspired to write something new for the occassion, "I find it very motivating being there with some of the greatest performers in the world".
Montreux 1988 was one of the finest years for Ray, who had assembled one of those bands a composer/ musician usually only dreams about; combing the fluid keyboard lines of Tony Hymas and Tommy Eyre with the sparkling trumpet of Stuart Brookes, backed by the taut rhythms of Mo Foster's bass and Simon Phillips on drums. The two nights were a highlight of the festival and a milestone in Russell's career. It was clear tht the new material written by Ray and the chemistry between the musicians had to be captured on record.
Similarly another highlight of 1988 needed preserving and exposing to a wider audience. Earlier that year Ray and Gil Evans had recorded together at RPM studios in New York. A couple of years playing with Gil's band had created a bond which resulted in some inspired jamming between the two friends. Rough and ragged, they were incomplete but exciting and too good to sit on the tape store shelves.
With such treasures in his vaults it was clear that Ray had to release this album. The 1988 Montreux band is enhanced by the saxaphones of Iain Ballamy and Tony Roberts and, of course, by the late Gil Evans, whole "London" is "Revisited" and reworked as testimony to the musical bond between the two musicians. "Snow" is an additional gem written by Ray for the soundtrack of the film "Colorado".
And at the centre of "A Table Near the Band" is Ray Russell himself, whose lucrid fusion of jazz and rock guitar is, he claims, merely a part of the band - his own contribution to the magic which brings his compositions to life.Neville Farmer, 1990

#777In 1988, guitarist/composer Ray Russell climbed onto the Montreux Jazz Festival stage with a crack band comprised of rhythm team Mo Foster and Simon Phillips, trumpeter Stuart Brooks, and keyboardists Tommy Eyre and Tony Hymas. The success of their show convinced Russell to capture this unit for posterity, and bolstered by saxophonists Iain Ballamy and Tony Roberts, the group entered the studio. A Table Near the Band was the result, a set originally released in 1989 and now reissued by Angel Air. Within, the group laid down seven pieces in a range of fusion styles, but all given the cinematic sheen that today is Russell's trademark.
"Guadeloupe" opens the set in fine style, a delightful number that swings from synth-led rock to avant-garde jazz, all spiced up by calypso-fied Latin flavors. Crossing the Atlantic, the group revisits Gil Evans' "London," with the late keyboardist helping rework his composition, blending together blues, jazz, and rock into a smoky piece that echoes of the capital's jazz club past.
"Snow (A Passing Phase)" was composed by Russell for the movie Colorado, and here lightning strikes of guitar slice through a frigid vista.
"Avian," in contrast, with its percolating rhythm and jazzy piano and sax, soars in and out of prog rock - as does the rest of the set, as the musicians blur the boundaries between free-form jazz and '70s rock, with the set ending with the title track's exploration of pure avant-garde jazz. The musicianship is as high caliber as one would expect, and the pieces' shifting moods and styles keep listeners' attention riveted. A thoroughly enjoyable set.Jo-Ann Greene

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Ray Russell / TT a table near the band
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