Nucleus - 2006 - Hemispheres

Nucleus

2006

Hemispheres

01. Cosa Nostra (4:28)

02. Elastic Rock (5:06)

03. Stonescape (1:37)

04. Single Line (1:04)

05. Twisted Track (5:30)

06. 1916 (6:02)

07. Persephone's Jive (1:15)

Live in Europe, March 1970

08. Song For The Bearded Lady (7:12)

09. Tangent (7:46)

10. We'll Talk About It Later (5:12)

11. Snakehips Dream (9:10)

12. Hemisphere (6:13)

Live in Europe, February 1971

- Ian Carr / trumpet

- Jeff Clyne / bass

- Karl Jenkins / piano, saxophone, oboe

- John Marshall / drums

- Brian Smith / saxophone, flute

- Chris Spedding / guitar

While general interest in Soft Machine continued long after the seminal British jazz/rock group disbanded, the spotlight on trumpeter Ian Carr's Nucleus seemed to go dark following the band's breakup in the early 1980s. With the reissues of the group's back catalogue that have come out in recent years, that spotlight is back on, reminding listeners that Nucleus was just as seminal a jazz/rock outfit. Hemispheres is the first archival live release to feature the original lineup from Nucleus' first three discs on the Vertigo label—Elastic Rock (1970), We'll Talk About It Later (1971) and Solar Plexus (1971).

The original lineup was the only one to last for any extended period of time, and consequently it exhibited a more distinctive collective sound than later incarnations. Hemispheres includes short performances from March 1970 and February 1971, positioning Nucleus as a considerably looser improvisational unit than the group's studio albums would suggest. Unlike Soft Machine, which primarily came to jazz from a rock background, Nucleus was a collective of mostly jazz-reared musicians who migrated towards rock's powerful rhythms.

In concert, Nucleus may have worked within a structured framework, but the group was also considerably freer than in the studio. The 1970 set opens with the previously unreleased "Cosa Nostra. What starts as a rubato fanfare quickly evolves into a solo spot for Carr which, bolstered by bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer John Marshall, swings in ways that Soft Machine never could. Listening to electric pianist Karl Jenkins' harmonically ambiguous modal accompaniment, it's hard to believe this is the same Karl Jenkins who would, a few years later, reinvent Soft Machine as a riff-based and guitar-centric fusion band.

The majority of the 1970 set is culled from Elastic Rock. Guitarist Chris Spedding ultimately became a rock gun-for-hire, but here he's the perfect middle ground between the energy of rock and the vernacular of jazz. While he's not as adept as John McLaughlin, there are times when his jagged rhythm work recalls McLaughlin's Extrapolation (Polydor, 1969), especially during Jenkins' oboe solo on "Twisted Track.

Carr is, as always, a strong player with a rich middle-register tone. Comparisons to Miles Davis are inevitable. Still, at this point, Miles was doing everything he could to divorce himself from the jazz tradition. Carr, like Spedding, was looking for—and finding—an exciting middle ground.

The biggest surprise of Hemispheres is saxophonist Brian Smith, who opens up on the otherwise laconic "Elastic Rock in ways he never did in the studio. His powerful solos on the high-energy "Tangent and surprisingly freewheeling "1916 are equally unexpected.

Hemispheres offers evidence that sometimes a band is best heard live. Carr was recently recognized with the BBC Services to Jazz in the UK Award; hopefully more archival recordings can be located and released so that Nucleus' historical significance can be realized by more listeners outside the UK...

A rare Hux label release that is not from a BBC tapes sources, Hemispheres combines two excellent quality recordings from 70 and 71 throughout Europe, but unfortunately it doesn't state from which gigs or date they actually are from. Nevertheless this disc is an excellent companion to the first two studio releases and the BBC Pretty Redhead release and predates the excellent Live In Bremen album from Cuneiform, since Chris Spedding had left for that date and is present here.

As with most jazz-rock groups, live recordings are often worthy of acquiring because of different versions, but Hemisphere delivers slightly more than that. It has two never studio recorded tracks (the opening Cosa Nostra and the title track) but it also contains a rare cover track: indeed Twisted Track is a piece that was an original Battered Ornaments tracks (young guitarist Spedding's former band having the famous Beat poet Pete Brown as a singer). For a Nucleus enthusiast, this would be enough to justify the price of acquisition, but for the casual fan, it might be a bit different, depending on what album you already own.

As for the differing versions, much to one's surprise, most of them are a bit quieter/calmer than their original versions (especially in my fave We'll Talk About It Later where Jenkins' organ is absent, since they didn't use one on tour), which does not make them any less worthy. Two noteworthy exceptions are the start of 1916 and its closing section Persephone Jives. Another good reason to get this album is the improvs of the group as some of these tracks just segue into their successor without repeating the former theme, because the improvs had simply taken the music there.

As I said above, whether this album will be essential to you depends on what you already own, but for an unconditional fan, Hemispheres belongs on your shelves.