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Loose Tubes
Loose Tubes were a British jazz big band/orchestra active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the careers of many future leading British jazz players including Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Eddie Parker, Julian and Steve Argüelles, Mark Lockheart, Steve Berry, Tim Whitehead, Ashley Slater. In 2015, the band reformed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's formation, with concerts at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and a sold out week at Ronnie Scott's.
"The band’s individual brand of contemporary orchestration incorporates a welcome humour (often lacking in such weighty aggregations), drawing on a diversity of sources – minimalism, spacey ECM-inspired balladry, funky blues, Latin, swing, even Carla Bley-like passages – in all, a combination of cool precision and collective pandemonium, performed with a persuasive joie de vivre. The ’85 album Loose Tubes and the ’86 Loose Tubes Too (distributed by the London-based Import Music Service division of Polygram) combine into an excellent two-part catalogue of a wealth of inspiration."
The band originated from a jazz workshop put together by the British jazz composer and educator Graham Collier in 1983. During the first few weeks of the workshop, keyboard player Django Bates and bass player Steve Berry began to introduce original music to the ensemble. Under the supervision of workshop administrator-turned-manager Colin Lazzerini, the ensemble chose the name Loose Tubes and played its first London gig in 1984.
The band was notable for its size (averaging 21 players) and was run as a co-operative without a single clear leader. While Bates, Berry and trumpeter Chris Batchelor were responsible for a great deal of the music, there were also composing contributions from flute player Eddie Parker, trumpeters Dave DeFries and John Eacott, as well as trombonist John Harborne. During live concerts, trombonist Ashley Slater (later to become frontman of the pop group Freak Power) acted as the band's compère and became renowned for his sarcastic wit.
Loose Tubes' music was drawn from elements of the whole history of jazz as well as many other musical styles such as samba and hi-life. During its existence, the band was garlanded with critical praise. Time Out referred to them as "the most important band to appear on the British jazz scene" and hailed them as "the best instrumentalists of their generation."[citation needed] The Guardian called them "the most impressive young orchestra to have emerged in London", while The Times claimed "it's hard to imagine anyone else anywhere producing anything as exciting as this in 1985."[citation needed] Loose Tubes were voted the Best UK Band in 1989 by the readers of The Wire magazine.
The band were iconoclastic, with a strong sense of fun, and made a sense of humour an important component of their music. This occasionally led to criticism.
In 1987, Loose Tubes became the first jazz orchestra to play at the Proms, the BBC's annual classical music festival held at the Royal Albert Hall. They also collaborated with the Docklands Sinfonietta. Other high points included a UK tour for the Contemporary Music Network and a residency at Ronnie Scotts, at the end of which they marched out into the streets of Soho at 3 a.m. still playing, with the audience following.
Loose Tubes released three albums between 1985 and 1989 – Loose Tubes, Delightful Precipice and Open Letter. The second was ranked No 100 in the 2022 Jazzwise poll 100 Jazz Albums that Shook the World, where Andy Robson commented that the album "revealed not only a respect for tradition but also wove threads of worlds with other musics". Open Letter was produced by Teo Macero who commented "These guys are interested in real composition, real melodies, not just being super hip. I haven't seen a young band in the US that wants to do things like that." A live album, Loose Tubes: JazzbucheBerlin 87 was also released.
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Loose Tubes
Loose Tubes were a British jazz big band/orchestra active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the careers of many future leading British jazz players including Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Eddie Parker, Julian and Steve Argüelles, Mark Lockheart, Steve Berry, Tim Whitehead, Ashley Slater. In 2015, the band reformed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's formation, with concerts at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and a sold out week at Ronnie Scott's.
"The band’s individual brand of contemporary orchestration incorporates a welcome humour (often lacking in such weighty aggregations), drawing on a diversity of sources – minimalism, spacey ECM-inspired balladry, funky blues, Latin, swing, even Carla Bley-like passages – in all, a combination of cool precision and collective pandemonium, performed with a persuasive joie de vivre. The ’85 album Loose Tubes and the ’86 Loose Tubes Too (distributed by the London-based Import Music Service division of Polygram) combine into an excellent two-part catalogue of a wealth of inspiration."
The band originated from a jazz workshop put together by the British jazz composer and educator Graham Collier in 1983. During the first few weeks of the workshop, keyboard player Django Bates and bass player Steve Berry began to introduce original music to the ensemble. Under the supervision of workshop administrator-turned-manager Colin Lazzerini, the ensemble chose the name Loose Tubes and played its first London gig in 1984.
The band was notable for its size (averaging 21 players) and was run as a co-operative without a single clear leader. While Bates, Berry and trumpeter Chris Batchelor were responsible for a great deal of the music, there were also composing contributions from flute player Eddie Parker, trumpeters Dave DeFries and John Eacott, as well as trombonist John Harborne. During live concerts, trombonist Ashley Slater (later to become frontman of the pop group Freak Power) acted as the band's compère and became renowned for his sarcastic wit.
Loose Tubes' music was drawn from elements of the whole history of jazz as well as many other musical styles such as samba and hi-life. During its existence, the band was garlanded with critical praise. Time Out referred to them as "the most important band to appear on the British jazz scene" and hailed them as "the best instrumentalists of their generation."[citation needed] The Guardian called them "the most impressive young orchestra to have emerged in London", while The Times claimed "it's hard to imagine anyone else anywhere producing anything as exciting as this in 1985."[citation needed] Loose Tubes were voted the Best UK Band in 1989 by the readers of The Wire magazine.
The band were iconoclastic, with a strong sense of fun, and made a sense of humour an important component of their music. This occasionally led to criticism.
In 1987, Loose Tubes became the first jazz orchestra to play at the Proms, the BBC's annual classical music festival held at the Royal Albert Hall. They also collaborated with the Docklands Sinfonietta. Other high points included a UK tour for the Contemporary Music Network and a residency at Ronnie Scotts, at the end of which they marched out into the streets of Soho at 3 a.m. still playing, with the audience following.
Loose Tubes released three albums between 1985 and 1989 – Loose Tubes, Delightful Precipice and Open Letter. The second was ranked No 100 in the 2022 Jazzwise poll 100 Jazz Albums that Shook the World, where Andy Robson commented that the album "revealed not only a respect for tradition but also wove threads of worlds with other musics". Open Letter was produced by Teo Macero who commented "These guys are interested in real composition, real melodies, not just being super hip. I haven't seen a young band in the US that wants to do things like that." A live album, Loose Tubes: JazzbucheBerlin 87 was also released.