No South [DB/MA/TH], No North [TH/EP/MA], No East [TH/EP/DB], No West [EP/DB/MA].
No South produced by Evan Parker; No North produced by Derek Bailey; No East produced by Maarten van Regteren Altena; No West produced by Tristan Honsinger.
Recorded at Riverside Studios London on 9 May 1976.
'For the first concert COMPANY was Maarten van Regteren Altena, Tristan
Honsinger, Evan Parker and myself. On the following day the same four musicains
taped the music from which this first COMPANY record was chosen. Altogether we
recorded a number of duo pieces, all the possible trio combinations, and also a
quartet. The music on this record represents the four trio combinations and is
the result of each trio taping approximately twenty-five minutes music out of
which one 10 to 12 minute piece was in each case chosen for the record.
Usually in making a selection from recorded group improvisation the choice of the
material to be used is based on a communally agreed verdict as to which music is
'the best' of that available. In this case, with the permission of the other
players, I was the sole arbiter and made the four selections without consulting
the other three as to their preferences. In my choice I was guided by one
specific criterion; I chose that part of the music by each trio which seemed to
me to be most characteristic of improvisation and which best revealed the
qualities which can be found only im improvisation.' Derek Bailey.
Cover drawing (reproduced above) by Iain Patterson.