John Surman

John Surman

John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944 in Tavistock, Devon, England) is a jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player and composer of free jazz and modal jazz often using themes from folk music as a basis. He has also composed and performed much music for dance performances and film soundtracks.

Life and career

He initially gained recognition playing baritone saxophone in the Mike Westbrook Band in the mid-1960s. He was soon heard regularly playing soprano saxophone and bass clarinet as well. His first playing issued on a record was with the Peter Lemer Quintet in 1966. After further recordings and performances with jazz bandleaders Mike Westbrook and Graham Collier and blues-rock musician Alexis Korner, he made the first record under his own name in 1968.

In 1969 he founded the well-regarded and influential group The Trio along with two expatriate American musicians, bassist Barre Phillips and drummer Stu Martin. In the mid-1970s he founded one of the earliest all-saxophone jazz groups, S.O.S., along with alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore. During this early period he also recorded with (among others) saxophonist Ronnie Scott, guitarist John McLaughlin, bandleader Michael Gibbs, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, and pianist Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath.

By 1972 he had begun experimenting with synthesizers. That year he recorded Westering Home, the first of several solo projects on which he played all parts himself via overdubbing. He recorded his final album with Mike Westbrook, 'Citadel/Room 315' in 1975. The album features Surman playing powerful solos on baritone & soprano sax as well as bass clarinet and many critics believe it to be his finest work with Westbrook.

Many of the musical relationships he established during the 1970s have continued to the present. These include a quartet with pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence, and drummer John Marshall; duets and other projects with Norwegian singer Karin Krog; and duets and other projects with American drummer/pianist Jack DeJohnette.

His relationship with ECM Records has also been continuous from the late 1970s to the present, as Surman has recorded prolifically for the label playing bass clarinet, recorders, soprano and baritone saxophones and using synthesisers, both solo with a wide range of other musicians.

In recent years he has composed several suites of music that feature his playing in unusual contexts, including with church organ and chorus (Proverbs and Songs, 1996); with a classical string quintet (Coruscating); and with the London Brass and Jack DeJohnette (Free and Equal, 2001). He has also played in a unique trio with Tunisian oud-player Anouar Brahem and bassist Dave Holland (Thimar, 1997); has performed the songs of John Dowland with singer John Potter of the Hilliard Ensemble; and made contributions to the Drum 'n' Bass album Disappeared by Spring Heel Jack.

Other musicians he has worked with include bassist Miroslav Vitous, bandleader Gil Evans, pianist Paul Bley, guitarists Terje Rypdal and John Abercrombie, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, and ud-player Anouar Brahem.

Selected Recordings

• John Surman (1968) - his debut album, acoustic jazz with Caribbean rhythms - Deram Records
• John McLaughlin Extrapolation (1969) - Surman is featured heavily and solos on baritone and soprano.
• Way Back When (1969) - free-jazz jam session with John Taylor on electric piano, drummer John Marshall and saxist Mike Osborne.
• Glancing Backwards - anthology of his recordings for Dawn Records (1969-1976), with The Trio and others. The anthology includes the albums The Trio by The Trio, Conflagration with the Trio as part of a larger group including Dave Holland, Nick Evans and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and Live at Woodstock Town Hall, a duet with drummer Stu Martin
• Tales Of The Algonquin (1971) with Canadian saxist John Warren along with British musicians Alan Skidmore, Wheeler and Osborne.
• Upon Reflection (1979) - overdubbed solo improvisations
• Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon (1981) duet with Jack DeJohnette - ECM Records
• Withholding Pattern (1985) - solo - ECM Records
• Private City (1987) - overdubbed solo improvisations, playing saxophones, recorders, bass clarinet and keyboards - ECM Records
• Road To Saint Ives (1990) - solo, overdubbed layers of soprano and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet
• A Biography Of The Rev. Absalom Dawe (1995) - overdubbed solo clarinets, saxophones and keyboards.
• In Darkness Let Me Dwell (1999) - the songs of John Dowland, with singer John Potter
• Coruscating (1999) with the Trans4mation String Quartet and bassist Chris Laurence - ECM Records
• Care-Charming Sleep (2003) - another album of Dowland songs
• The Spaces In Between (2006) - the revival of the Coruscating jazz-classical collaboration with a string quartet, with bassist Chris Laurence.
• Rain on the window (2008) with organist Howard Moody

External links

• John Surman's homepage
• Discography
• Complete list of sessions
• Interview with John Surman