jazzy_dave | LMC (Reply)

I remember going to a number of festival in London put on by The London Musicians Collective (LMC) back in the early nineties, from 1992 if memory serves me right It was the first time i saw Faust, Voice Crack, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and other jazz, improvisational or experimental and contemporary musicians.

Here is the Wikipedia entry about the LMC -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Musicians_Collective

Here is a hostory of the LMC -

http://www.variant.org.uk/8texts/Clive_Bell.html

From that link this stood out for me -

"The next step was the First Annual Festival Of Experimental Music, five days in the Conway Hall, Holborn, in May 1992. Fresh-faced youths shared the stage with names from the Jurassic early seventies. Visitors from abroad notably included Ikue Mori (New York drum machinist, formerly of Arto Lindsay's DNA) and Sainkho Namtchalak (Mongolian throat singer wearing vinyl LP headdress). Baxter had the vision to see that if the event was big enough it would not only be visible on an international scale, but also more attractive to funding bodies. A hectic plethora of offstage performances, discussions, workshops and video screenings complemented the main concerts. At times the heated debates in the bar seemed as compelling as the music simultaneously bursting out of the hall. Suddenly journalists and promoters from Europe and the States were hanging out. Older improvisers were fiercely condemning the antics of younger ones, and anyone concerned about the LMC's health could heave sighs of relief."

I also remember buying the LMC magazine Resonance.

cover

Also from the link above -

"Later that year (September 1992) the burgeoning newsletter finally exploded, supernova-like, into the pilot edition of Resonance magazine, under the editorship of Keith Cross and Mick Ritchie. Picking up the threads 12 years after the demise of Musics, Resonance has proved more durable. Seven years later its thought-provoking mix of interviews, reviews and theoretical articles now comes with the tempting bonus of a cover CD. Unlike the promotional fluff of most cover CDs, however, Resonance features recordings unavailable elsewhere, usually culled from LMC live events. The magazine has been creatively steered through the hands of a series of guest editors by Phil England. By keeping the editorial team small it has avoided the factional gang warfare that crippled Musics. And the sightlines have always been aimed wider than the confines of experimental music, trying rather to locate that music within a wider debate about culture"

It was through such ventures as this and Wire magazine that i got to know the music of Fennesz, Charlemagne Palestine and Pauline Oliveros, too name a few.

Sadly, Arts Council funding stopped in 2008 and the festival is no more.

Link to funding crisis -

http://www.l-m-c.org.uk/