Glowering Figs
Dave Fowler (drums), Ivor Kallin (upright electric bass/vocal), Jerry Wigens (guitar) Track details:
1. Glumly Predicting Snow (6:10)
2. And? (1:18)
3. Gaggling and Giggling (6:44)
4. Fig of Four Faces (13:15)
5. Trauchling to Dunoon (7:08)
6. That Bloody Lamp-post (2:59)
7. 07:17 delayed (5:09)
8. Wrongie Bongie (He's a) (3:51)
9. Waking Up is Hard to Do (5:29)
10. Trousers of Discord (6:38)
11. A plethora of flowering wigs, unusual for this time of year (3:59)
Composers: All tracks by David Fowler, Ivor Kallin, Jerry Wigens Recorded on 5 November 2016 at One Cat Studios, Brixton, London
Recording, mixing and mastering: Jon Clayton
I
kept thinking about post-punk oddballs like Blurt and The Very Things while
giving this album the thrice-over. Superficially it doesn’t have much in common
with them, but there’s a similar whiff of wilful eccentricity about what goes
on. Kallin never sings, but rather spontaneously recites and, in places,
declaims, albeit politely. Glumly
Predicting Snow is a case in point,
with a closing reference to marshmallows floating in borscht to boot.
Instrumentally it all seems a little subdued despite a nod to the Magic Band in
places.
Nic Jones. Jazz
Journal Feb 2018.
The trio of Dave Fowler/dr, Ivor Kallin/voc-b and Jerry Wigens make up Glowering Figs, and this album consists of 11 "live" improvisations. The moods range from a whacka wooka Shaft-like guitar riff on "A Plethora of Flowering Wigs" to 60s psychedelia of "07:17 Delayed." Some fake language that is incoherent are pieced together on the grooving "Wrongie Bongje" whle guitar twangs and pickings bounce back and forth between cymbals and piano pounces on "Gaggling and Giggling" and "Trauchling to Dunoonn." Some things stick to the walls, others fall into the pot. George W. Harris http://www.jazzweekly.com/2017/10/jam-with-slamlucia-ianniello-live-at-acuto-jazz-anatma-anatma-glowering-figs-glowering-figs/
Il trio attivo in Inghilterra Glowering Figs è composto da Dave Fowler alla batteria, Ivor Kallin basso elettrico e Jerry Wigens alla chitarra letterica, tre muscisti attivi a Londra e dintorni in diversi generi, anche la musica improvvisata, Widengs e Kallin si sono incontrati ad esempio nella London Improvisers Orchestra. Insieme al batterista è spuntato così un trio piuttosto speciale per il tipo di sonorità offerte. Da una seduta di registrazione di due ore si è selezionato quello qui pubblicato, in cui oltre alla musica ci sono le parole di Ivor Kallin che recita delle poesie. La chitarra di Jerry Wigens è proprio insolita, a volte acida, a volte più astratta, in ogni caso è una presenza importante per tutto quello che riesce ad esprimere. I tre sanno bene che direzione prendere da un brano all’altro, nonostante l’apparente caoticità della proposta. Fra brani in cui i versi delle poesie svolgono un ruolo importante ed altri in cui ci si concentra soltanto sulla musica, come il lungo, tredici minuti, Fig of Four Faces, i tre mostrano compattezza ed empatia. L’insolita proposta va ascoltata con attenzione, sia che ci si concentri sulla musica che sulle poesie, i cui testi sono riportati nel booklet. In ogni caso un’incisione che non li fa passare inosservati. Vittorio lo Conte http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=28311#.We8HnNNSzct
The active trio in England Glowering Figs consists of Dave Fowler on drums, Ivor Kallin bass guitar and Jerry Wigens on the literary guitar, three muszists active in London and around in different genres, including improvised music, Widengs and Kallin met for example in the London Improvisers Orchestra. Together with the drummer, a rather special trio has come up for the kind of sound offered. From a two-hour recording session, the one published here, in which, besides music, Ivor Kallin's words tells poems. Jerry Wigens's guitar is quite unusual, sometimes sour, sometimes more abstract, in any case is an important presence for everything he can express. The three know well what direction they take from one song to another, despite the apparent chaotic nature of the proposal. Among the songs in which the verses of poems play an important role and others focus only on music such as the long, thirteen minutes, the Fig of Four Faces, the three show compassion and empathy. The unusual proposition must be listened carefully, whether it is focused on music or poetry, whose texts are included in the booklet. In any case, an engraving that does not make them go unnoticed. Vittorio lo Conte http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=28311#.We8HnNNSzct
