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Angling — Was It 1984 or 85?
(Cuneiform Rune 3369, 1985/2024, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-02-01

Was It 1984 or 85? Cover art

Well, as chance would have it, some old tapes from the mid-80s turned up in George Cartwright’s basement, an almost forgotten band he played in briefly called Angling. Of course, Cartwright was a founding member and saxophonist of Curlew, and at that time — whether it was 1984 or 1985 (nobody seems to remember the exact recording dates) — Curlew was somewhere in between their first and second albums. What is known is that Angling played two live gigs and one studio recording session (the latter from which these six numbers were recovered), and that’s it, they were done and off to other projects. The group was a part of the NYC Downtown scene, a simmering hotbed of jazz / avant / experimental musical creativity at the time, just about to take off. Other members of the group were bassist Fred Chalenor, who would later turn up with Tone Dogs, Caveman Shoestore, Hughscore, recording with Copernicus, Jeff Greinke, Wayne Horvitz, Curlew and many others; guitarist Chris Cochrane, who would later turn up in No Safety, Bongwater, Curlew and many others; and lastly Zeena Parkins on harp and accordion (Officer!, News from Babel, Elliot Sharp’s Carbon, Skeleton Crew, No Safety, Tin Hat Trio, and many more). Angling’s work here  is a crazy mix of folk, free jazz, and improvisation with a blast of intense creativity that sounds like no other band I can think of. The opener, “Off Houston,” and the closer, “Uruguayan Tune,” seem to channel a world-folk vibe, the former mixed with some free jazz honking and squonking for good measure, while “The Big Piano” (with no piano, incidentally) moves around freely from style to style over its eleven-plus minute duration. “It Was CCCP and Then Someone's Hat All at Once” may seem like a strange title for a piece, but it includes the two other band names that they went by during their brief time together. “Who Wrote What” is built on a cool bass groove delivered by Chalenor, with Parkins leading on accordion. The mix of ideas working together on these six cuts is unmatched, definitely a must-hear.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 1985 recordings

Related artist(s): Zeena Parkins, Fred Chalenor, George Cartwright, Angling

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/was-it-1984-or-1985

 

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