having succesfully recorded and released their first collaborative album, london based saxophonist, flautist and composer theo travis, and composer and founding member of seminal rock band king crimson robert fripp embarked on a short tour of churches in may 2009. two shows that were organised towards a performance at coventry cathedral (which is out on cd through panegyric recordings) are now released on limited vinyl edition through tonefloat.

following on from the previous evening’s performance at wimborne minster, travis & fripp decamp to . perhaps due to differences of venues, times and the occasion (this was ostensibly a fund-raiser for the local school), the music seemed lighter in tone compared to the more sombre mood struck the previous evening. that said, the appearance of soprano saxophone is almost unbearably poignant on the slowly unfurling interior travelogue of in a field of green. route 23 offers a more oblique insight into their practice as notes and runs move away from each other, in cautious elliptical orbits. the offering presents a game in three sections: writhing solo flute figures which gradually coalesce into to slow snaking loops; clipped guitar chords, and then the final section wherein fripp unleashes some patented angular side-swipe soloing. perhaps the biggest surprise in this series of concerts was the inclusion of moonchild. more of a meditation on the main theme than a cover version of the kc original.fripp’s conversion of a single note into a soaring stratospheric-bound whistle hurtling into the blue at around 4.50 may well be reason enough to grab this gig. long term listeners of the churchscape series will be especially interested in how theo’s presence alters and enhances the end of time themes which bring this concert to a spellbinding conclusion.

although the titles to several of the tracks may be the same as those at broad chalke, the performance in front of a large audience at  has a much grander and at times, darker feel, to the previous evening. the difference can be heard almost immediately in the opening track. whereas, the apparent chaos of stone was a more languorous affair at broad chalke, here at bishop’s cleeve, fripp begins to throw some startling curve-balls of pensive guitar after only a few minutes. given the slow silky tones that makes up much of the opening piece it can be easy to miss some of the detailed interplay that occurs between the two players. as lines are smoothly looped and manipulated, there’s nevertheless some real skirmishing taking place. the three ascending notes that fripp fires off at around the 6.41 mark are immediately seized upon by travis, who offers a descending counterpart, demonstrating the extent of each other’s listening. on the offering, the soprano sax pushes harder against the soundscapes creating a useful tension and contrast within the music as a whole. the blue calm area of playing may be shorter than the previous evening but it’s also more focused and intense. route 42 has pastoral moments which sound as though they could be out-takes john cameron’s haunting score for the film, kes, and there’s a contrasting highlight right at the end of the piece when silence comes to call. both audience and musicians are held spellbound in a strangely exhilarating, and oddly precious moment. 

the travis and fripp releases will be out as a limited edition of 250 copies each on 180 grams vinyl in custom stamped and numbered sleeves.

This copy nr. 163/250

tracks 01. the apparent chaos of stone 
02. in a field of green
03. the offering
04. the unquestioned answer
05. blue calm
06. route 24
07. duet for the end of time

Label: Tonefloat (NL) Cat. TF 89

Year Reissue: June 2010

LP is MINT FACTORY SEALED.

 

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