The Yorkshire Suite, by Trevor Watts Amalgam

The Yorkshire Suite

by Trevor Watts Amalgam

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Levente Dudas {N/O/E/W/A} this is an amazing album, a well hidden treasure until now! thank you Trevor Watts and Hi4Head for making it available.

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	1.	The Yorkshire Suite (Take 1) 25:58	info	buy track
	2.	The Yorkshire Suite (Take 2) 30:26	info	buy track

about

Being born and brought up in Yorkshire in the Industrial West Riding in the 1940's and 1950's it left a strong impression on me. We had a factory right opposite our school gates and they had those looms clattering away all day with the doors open. Also on the walk home I'd pass a foundry where inside all the iron filings were caught glinting in the air from the sun coming through the windows. But it still looked dark and forbidding.
The prepared guitars of Keith Rowe often reminded me of some of these noises and sounds. Especially when he rocked the ruler between the strings or used a little electronic rotator with small blades to trigger off various sounds. So that was an inspiration for me to organise what I ended up calling the Yorkshire Suite. Other members of the band were Colin McKenzie (Bass guitar) and Liam Genockey (drums) and alongside myself we were the regular Trevor Watts' Amalgam group. To this I added the previous drummer I had been working for years with John Stevens to see how the whole thing would gel. We did quite a few concerts in this form at the time, so this was by no means a "one off". If I cast my mind back to the studio session I remember that take 1 was more the "officially organised" version. And then as a bonus I said well let's just improvise it, bearing in mind what the piece was still supposed to be about, and that ended up as the quite different Take 2. I think it's really very interesting to hear these two versions close together.
I have to say that when I asked Keith a couple of years before this was recorded to join the trio of McKenzie/Watts/ + Genockey. I did so with the full knowledge of what I would be taking on. If you hear recordings also such as the WIPE OUT boxed set maybe you can understand my reasons for doing this. We were a really diverse mix, and that is what made the music for me on a personal level. No problem at all, not for me at least.
Trevor Watts 19.3.2020

credits

released October 12, 2021

Original Producer: Pete Ritzema, recorded on: 21.2.79
Personnel: TREVOR WATTS (leader/composer/Alto + sop saxes) Keith Rowe (Prepared guitar)/Colin McKenzie (Bass Gtr)/Liam Genockey (Drums)/John Stevens (Drums).
1) Yorkshire Suite (take one) – 25.58
2) Yorkshire Suite (take two) – 30.27
Final production & mastering in 2020 by Trevor Watts @ Arc Studios, Hastings. UK.
Digital transfer; John Thurlow
Executive producer; Nick Dart
Compositions: Trevor Watts (PRS/MCPS)
Recording approved by the artist and taken from Trevor Watts' personal archive.
Photo credits: photo of Halifax supplied by Stephen Gee.

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