Love In Peace (Amour Empaz) (album)

Paz: Dream Sequence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJ1qHmLzjI

This is a track from the very rare album "Love In Peace" by Paz, which recently surfaced on YouTube. This is the only track Allan appears on. The track has two distinct parts. On the first part, Allan plays some of his trademark volume pedal chords along with Ray Warleigh on flute. (Allan does not appear on the second part, which features flute, piano and bass.)

The album was released in 1991, but the credits state that the recordings were made “during the late seventies and through the eighties”. The sound is strikingly similar to the sound on tracks such as “Shallow Sea” on “I.O.U.”, and Allan moved to the U.S. soon after “I.O.U.”’s release, so in this case it’s a fair guess that the track was recorded somewhere around 1980.

Although this type of sound and playing became a trademark sound of Allan’s, his chordal work was rarely featured on albums before “I.O.U”. So this is probably one of the earliest recorded examples of Allan’s volume pedal playing, maybe even predating I.O.U.

The credits for the album does not indicate who played on each track, so it’s a bit of guesswork who plays with Allan here. Paz was led by vibraphonist Dick Crouch, who does not appear on this track, although he’s credited as a composer. (The credits and the elongated recording period suggests that Paz was more of a solo project for Crouch, and that this is actually a compilation of sessions.) Ray Warleigh on flute and Geoff Castle on keyboards are quite certain, but it’s hard to tell who the bassist might be. The bass sounds like a fretless, but could also be an upright electric. I’m not familiar with English fretless or upright bassists, so it could be any of the five bassists credited: Ron Mathewson, Paul Carmichael, Laurence Cottle, Henry Thomas or Bille Kristian.

Allan had relations with several of these bassists. Ron Mathewson was an upright player who appeared with Allan on a John Stevens album, Paul Carmichael was of course the bass player on “I.O.U.”, whereas Henry Thomas was Allan’s bassist before Paul Carmichael. The other two are unknown to me.

It should also be mentioned that flutist (and saxist) Ray Warleigh was a very important mentor to Allan: He was the guy that offered Allan a free room if he ever decided to come down to London, an offer that Allan eventually took up on.

Information on this album is very scarce. The CD cover lists “Master Mix Music” as the label, and the cover features a bar code, so it looks pretty legit. However, neither discogs.com nor allmusic.com list this album, or any other album from this label for that matter. Allan himself would almost certainly have considered it a bootleg. (My own copy is a CD-R with Xeroxed cover art, so it’s a bit hard to judge.)

Information on Dick Crouch and Paz is quite scarce online. According to https://www.bbemusic.com/artist/paz/: “PAZ was a London jazz collective, founded by vibraphonist, composer and arranger Dick Crouch. Known for their original jazz-funk and latin stylings, the band held a weekly Sunday residency at The Kensington pub in Holland Park for over 8 years, becoming a fixture at many London venues throughout the 70’s and 80’s, most notably Ronnie Scott’s.”

The liner notes of the CD claim that Paz was quite popular, though: “PAZ, the first Fusion band, originated this individual style of jazz in the late sixties and achieved great success with both albums and concert appearances. They continue to be a major force in European music, and have recently been described as "Masters of the Genre". Their artistry is truly original and appeals to a wide audience that simply like good music.” Those claims do not seem to be supported by Google, though...

Oh, and one more thing: On the CD, there are only 11 tracks, so the track “Speech” comes at the end as a part of track 11. This has been edited out of the YouTube version.

Track list, credits and liner notes

Credits and liner notes are reproduced below.

Paz
Love In Peace (Amour Empaz)

1.Kandeen Love Song (9:38) D. Crouch-A Bond
2.Tem Do De Mim (3:18) Carlos Lyra
3.Look Inside (4:47) G. Castle
4. Sidewind Shuffle (7:48) D. Crouch
5. I Can't Remember (6:25) D. Crouch
6. Bags (9.11) D. Crouch
7. Amor em Paz (4:08) Jobim
8. The Singing Bowl (4:57) D. Crouch
9. Anthem (8:13) D. Crouch
10. I Hope Spring's Eternal (3:58) D. Crouch
11. Dream Sequence (4:26) D. Crouch
12. Speech (Snozz) (1:40) by Dave Sheen

Total playing time: 69:31
® 1991 master mix music td © 1991 master mix music

Vibraphone: Dick Crouch
Alto Sax, Piccolo & Flutes: Ray Warleigh
Soprano Sax: Phil Todd
Keyboards: Geoff Castle
Guitar: Phil Lee, Glen Cartledge, Alan Holdsworth
Bass Guitar: Ron Mathewson, Paul Carmichael, Laurence Cottle, Henry Thomas, Bille Kristian
Drums: Martin Drew, Neal Wilkinson, Steve Arguelles, Dave Sheen, Les Cirkel
Percussion: Frank Riccotti, Chris Fletcher Bosco, Simon Morton
Vocals: Simon Morton
Speech: Dave Sheen
Producer: Dick Crouch
Mastering: Dick Hammett
CD Production: James Campbell
Photography: John Ross 1984

These classic recording sessions and concert performances were made during the late seventies and through the eighties. PAZ, the first Fusion band, originated this individual style of jazz in the late sixties and achieved great success with both albums and concert appearances. They continue to be a major force in European music, and have recently been described as "Masters of the Genre". Their artistry is truly original and appeals to a wide audience that simply like good music.