First of all, let's clarify the title of this CD. Mopomoso (standing for "Modern, postmodern, so what?") is a monthly concert series presented at the Red Rose in London and organized since the mid-'80s by John Russell and Chris Burn (the latter withdrew in 2002). By 2004 the series still existed. If its impact has remained mostly local, it has encouraged and nurtured a group of improvisers who themselves have had a much larger reach. This album documents a single Mopomoso evening, where five of London's best free improvisers performed solos, with the evening coming to a close with a quintet performance. No amplification, no electronics, no written-down material (with the exception of Bob Cobbing's sound poem 'M, interpreted by Phil Minton as a tribute to the recently deceased poet). The CD begins with John Russell's solo. The guitarist strums awkward chords, studying the resonances of his instrument in depth (without falling into Taku Sugimoto-like silence). It is a slightly uninvolving performance, especially when compared to the rest of the evening. Phil Minton's short solo (seven and a half minutes) is typical of his recent output and evolves naturally into Cobbing's piece. John Edwards' bass solo, Woodcuts, provides the first of the disc's two highlights: hypnotic and riveting, the piece unfolds with irresistible (but indescribable) logic. After a short duo interlude by Minton and Russell, Lol Coxhill takes the stage to deliver a strong but rather unsurprising soprano sax solo. His performance is soon eclipsed by pianist Chris Burn's, the other highlight. For 12 minutes, Burn reinvents the prepared piano, producing such a large tapestry of sounds you may find yourself examining the back tray of the CD to make sure this isn't the quintet track. And when that track finally comes, all the individual elements seamlessly fall into place, the resulting music sounding like it had been floating around in the Red Rose all evening, patiently waiting to be harvested, a prime example of acoustic group improvisation. ~ François Couture, Rovi

1		Brush With Gravity
2		Pufff
3		M
4		Woodcuts
5		Waiting For Lol
6		Speechless
7		Traps
8		Quintet 'Til The End Of Time

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