Live In London '81: The Ron Mathewson Tapes Vol. 2
"Live In London '81: The Ron Mathewson Tapes Vol. 2" is an album by "PAZ with The Singing Bowls of Tibet featuring Allan Holdsworth". The album has been released digitally by Jazz in Britain on Bandcamp. No physical copies have been made. Although the title says "live", there is no audience noise on the recording, which suggests that the band is in fact playing live in a studio. The reference to Ron Mathewson comes as this was a tape from Ron Mathewson' extensive tape archive, an archive which is now in the possession of Jazz in Britain.
| Track Number | Title | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dream Sequence | 9:11 |
| 2 | And They Speak For Themselves | 4:19 |
| 3 | Kandeen Love Song | 2:49 |
| 4 | Here And There | 8:33 |
The lineup consists of:
Dick Crouch – composer, director Ray Warleigh – alto sax, alto & bass flute Allan Holdsworth – guitar Geoff Castle - keyboards Ron Mathewson – bass Alain Presencer – Singing Bowls
This is very similar to the lineup found on PAZ "Love In Peace" album. The tune "Dream Sequence" is in fact found on both albums, and allows a comparison of takes.
Allan plays in a very supportive role here, and there are no pyrotechnic guitar solos, save for a few lines on "And They Speak For Themselves", which sounds like ambient free jazz. There are no drums on the album, so the whole session has an ambient feel. Allan plays volume swell chords in several places, with "Kandeen Love Song" being noteworthy. There's a very unusual clean tone guitar solo on "Dream Sequence", with Allan applying the vibrato arm to make almost koto-like sounds.
Phil Howitt of Facelift Magazine has written a review of the album:
The album can be bought at: https://jazzinbritain1.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-london-81-the-ron-mathewson-tapes-vol-2
