LATEST NEWS
Artchipel Orchestra: New Tribute to Phil
This CD dropped through my letter box from Italy last week. It is a wonderful homage to Phil from the Artchipel Orchestra and is called TRULY YOURS – The Music of Phil Miller. How great to hear Phil’s music has a new life.
I have included an extract here from the first track to whet the appetite and a link to their site.
HERM – 06.12.20
New Fred Baker Master Class
We are very happy to announce our latest master class is now available. Click here to see Fred Baker exploring Phrygian Blues.
30.11.20
A Life in Music: complete playlists
Now that we have completed our series of videos from Phil’s tribute concerts at the Vortex Jazz Club from January 2019, we have compiled then into two separate video playlists (one of each set) so that you can watch them continuously from start to finish. These can be found on the Concert page here. For those of you that would like to read Aymeric’s introduction, these can be found further down the same page.
23.11.20
Matching Mole 1972 TV Appearance
Someone has finally searched the vaults of the long-defunct Education TV for which Matching Mole filmed a 15-minute session in 1972. This was always presumed lost, but here it is, in black & white but in excellent condition.
09.09.20
Coming Saturday 1st August
Downloadable Midi Files
As of today we will be including Midi files with our scores on The dots page. These can be played on many media players and edited with most sequencing software. We are starting the collection with Phrygian Blues, which was our most recently added score and scheduled to be Fred Baker’s next masterclass.
28.06.20
New Score
Today we have added Phil’s score for Phrygian Blues, which can be found here.
17.06.20
Fred’s 60th Lockdown Bash
Here is a video Fred Baker put up on YouTube. He had to cancel the concerts he had planned around his birthday on 4th June because of Lockdown, so he made this performance from his garden. He includes one of Phil’s pieces: Early Days from Phil Miller’s CD: OUT OF THE BLUE on the Crescent Discs label.
07.06.20
Nan True’s Hole
Hoping that everyone is keeping well and safe and thanks to Luciano Margorani for his great version of Nan True’s Hole, which you can watch on his Facebook page here.
GPD European Tour 1972
In these uncertain times, with many of us having to isolate, we’d like to thank Aymeric for a very welcome distraction in the form of this extensive, four-hour collection.
“Painstakingly assembled from disparate cassettes found in the personal collections of both Phil and Steve Miller, this is as complete a documentation as possible of the low-key European tour undertaken by the trio of Steve Miller (piano), Lol Coxhill (soprano sax, vocals) and Laurie Allan (drums) in October and November 1972…” 
Fred Baker Trio – Truly Yours
Watch The Fred Baker Trio playing Truly Yours live from November 2019.
14.03.20
Phil On Composing
Listen to Phil discussing the process of composing in this conversation with Henk Weltevreden.
07.03.20
New Master Class – Green & Purple
Watch our latest master class with Fred Baker.
“This master class shows how Phil’s use of the whole form of the symmetric scale in Green and Purple is actually the up-side-down version which gives you a whole different set of harmony and chords.”
01.03.20
Rarely Heard Recording
Thanks again to Aymeric for this almost never heard In Cahoots recording for VPRO radio in The Netherlands from October 1989.
“Fans of the band will recognise the opening track, For The Moment, as the same version heard on the Live 86-89 album, but the rest of the concert had never been heard before. I’s quite a unique mix of InCa staples like Above and Below and the Medley, and material rarely if at all heard elsewhere…”
22.02.20
Delivery Brighton 1972 Restored
Thanks to Aymeric for restoring this very old audio cassette recording from September 1972 of Delivery playing live in Brighton.
“This version of Delivery, a prototype of Hatfield and the North with Steve Miller on electric piano, was short-lived and played only a handful of gigs, so we are lucky to have any document from this period…”
16.02.20
New Recording Found
Today we uploaded a newly found live recording of In Cahoots live in Wuppertal from 1986. We posted the first three numbers of this gig a while back, but this tape, found elsewhere in Phil’s collection, has almost the entire concert.
08.02.20
New Master Class
We have just added another of Fred Baker’s fantastic guitar master classes. Here he covers Phil’s classic Truly Yours which was first recorded for Split Second shortly after Fred joined the band.
02.02.20
Fred Baker Trio – Delta Borderline
Watch Fred Baker and his trio, Nick Twyman (drums) and Mickey O’Brian (bass) perform Delta Borderline from November last year.
25.01.20
Fred Baker Trio with Nick Twyman on drums and Mickey O’Brian, bass guitar playing Delta Borderline at Northern Light Cinema Wirksworth on 24th Nov 2019.
Tomorrow 22nd January is Phil’s Birthday. Had he lived he would have been 71. We have not forgotten you Phil and we have not been idle. We have finished editing the film from the Tribute Concert PHIL MILLER – A LIFE IN MUSIC at the Vortex on Jan 6th 2019 and we are waiting for the soundtrack to be edited, so you will soon be able to see the results here on the website.
Another piece of good news is that the long – awaited second Miller/Baker Duo CD is on its way! Phil and Fred Baker have been recording the music for this CD ever since they brought out the original CD DOUBLE UP in 1992. It has been an ongoing project that occupied them every time Fred came to stay with us, whether he came for In Cahoots rehearsals, the Guildhall Summer School, gigs or whatever, he and Phil would be working away in his studio. When Phil died and Fred and I looked for this material. We were mystified as search as we might we just couldn’t find it. More than 2 years later I found the tapes! They had been there all along but I had foolishly thought they were video tapes that I had been unable to play. This is because the recording had been done via Phil’s ADAT machine which uses 8 track tapes that look identical to the old video tapes of yesteryear. The wonderful Benj Lefevre took them to a studio in Brixton and had them transposed into WAV files and has been busy mixing the tracks. We hope to bring out the new CD DOUBLE UP 2 in the not too distant future under the Crescent Disc label.
And from Italy comes the news that the Artchipel Orchestra have just finished recording a tribute CD to Phil, featuring the titles Truly Yours, Eastern Region, Second Sight,Above and Below, Calyx, Godsong and Nan True’s Hole. This CD will be coming out in the spring. It will be fascinating to hear Phil’s music being played by this brilliant group.
And for his birthday here is the latest of my series of portraits:
Herm
In Cahoots Vortex 2009
Watch In Cahoots live at the Vortex Jazz Club from November 2009.
19.01.20
Phil on Medley
Listen to Phil being interviewed by Aymeric about Medley along with some live footage.
10.01.20
In Cahoots Padova 1991
Watch more In Cahoots live in Italy at Banale, Padova from May 1991.
29.12.19
In Cahoots Pavia 1990
Watch In Cahoots live in Italy from May 1990.
14.12.19
Hatfield and the North Elephant’s Coda
Thanks to Aymeric for this great Hatfield clip.
02.12.19
In Cahoots St Jean aux Bois 1998
I’d first heard the horn-less quartet version of In Cahoots in September 1997 in Groningen, on what was likely its debut, and liked the trimmed-down approach very much, so I couldn’t possibly miss their brief tour of France in March 1998. So I found myself driving to St Jean aux Bois, a small village near Compiègne, about 45 minutes drive North of Paris. The venue ‘Les Naiades’ was a friendly little sort of inn with even a fireplace on the side of the stage. Longtime friend/supporter, Serge Wodrascka (who can be heard sitting in on Above And Below) put on gigs there into the 2000s and Canterbury Scene bands like Pip Pyle’s Bash and Hugh Hopper’s Franglo Band were some of the other bands I later saw there – not to mention the trio + guest version of In Cahoots in 2001, documented elsewhere on this site. Eventually, the place was filled with about 50 people, who were treated to a performance consisting of two lengthy sets, with familiar material like Above And Below and No Holds Barred as well as pieces I’d never heard before, Pete’s Big Dick and Fred’s Upside (during which a couple stood up and danced, much to the band’s surprise!), both of which would appear five years later on All That, re-arranged for the sextet.
13.11.19
18th October 2019
This is the second anniversary of the death of Phil Miller.
Here is a painting of Phil that I completed recently.
Can I please ask you all on this day to click the link to listen to this piece of Phil’s music?
It is the 6th track from the album Split Seconds and only lasts for 3.30 minutes.
It is called “I Remain”
Phil may have died but his music remains alive.
My heartfelt thanks to you all for doing this in his memory today.
Herm
In Cahoots Immenstadt Austria 1987
Watch In Cahoots (Phil, Elton, Steve Franklyn, Pip & Hugh) live at The Rainbow, Immenstadt, Austria, from 28th November 1987.
Despite the quality of this ancient recording, this early In Cahoots gig is well worth a look, especially for the great Pip Pyle drum solo.
16.10.19
Hatfield & the North Central TV 1990
Progman Cometh Seattle 2002
Watch In Cahoots at the Moore Theatre, Seattle from the 18th August 2002.
22.08.19
New Video Interviews
Today we added seven new interview excerpts to our interviews page, including more from Doug Boyle, Jack Monck, Jim Dvorak and Pete Lemer, and new interviews with Marc Hadley, Sarah Gail and Simon Picard.
14.08.19
Canterbury Legends 2007 Videos
Watch four videos of Canterbury Legends live in Cluny from 2007.
31.07.19
New Interviews Page
We have just added a new page of video interview excerpts that Aymeric Leroy conducted with a number of musicians that had worked with Phil over many years.
21.07.19
Green and Purple
Here is a drawing of Phil made by Guido Spring’s six year old son Jasper.
Great drawing Jasper!
05.07.19
Hatfield and the North – Son of There’s No Place Like Homerton – 1974
In April/May 1974, Hatfield and the North played a series of ‘big band’ concerts, of which Dave Stewart’s epic (Son Of) There’s No Place Like Homerton was the highlight. Sadly, none of the three shows were filmed, but we have Kim Fyson to thank for some truly wonderful photos of the Cambridge gig…
02.07.19
Canterbury Legends (In Their Own Lunchtime) Bourgoin ’08
Watch Phil, Hugh Hopper, Didier Malherbe, Patrice Meyer, Alex Maguire and Manuel Denizet perform at the SMAC Les Abattoirs in Bourgoin-Jallieu, near Lyon, France, from May 2008.
20.06.19
In Cahoots live in Paris ’85
Listen to In Cahoots live in Paris from 1985.
16.06.19
Phil Miller Guitar prize
Tomorrow evening (10.06.19) Fred Baker and John Etheridge will be judging the Phil Miller Guitar Prize at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Click Here for more information and tickets.
09.06.19
Calyx, arranged by Luciano Margorani
Thanks to Luciano for this great arrangement.
“A homage to Phil Miller and his amazing composition “Calyx”
I used the original track from Hatfield’s first album and changed it a bit with my computer.
You can hear Phil with Robert Wyatt, Richard Sinclair, Pip Pyle and Dave Stewart.
Recorded at Tappo studios in February 2019.
RIP Phil, you’ll be forever in my heart.”
05.06.19
In Cahoots at The Bull & Gate 1982
Click here to listen to our earliest live recording of In Cahoots.
29.05.19
NEW PAGE: Fred T Baker’s Guitar Master Classes
Click here to watch Fred’s video master class on Phil’s classic composition, God Song.
In this first of a series, Fred takes a fascinating and detailed look into one of Phil’s earlier pieces, explaining not only how to play it but also shares his great expertise on why it is such a great piece of music.
DON’T MISS THIS!
Fred T Baker New Trio:
with Micky O’brien (bass) and Nick Twyman (drums)
Playing music by Phil Miller and Fred T Baker
Wednesday 17th April 2019
Lichfield, Cathedral Hotel, Beacon St. WS13 7AR.
Doors open 7:15 pm, music at 8:00 pm
£10 / £12 students £5
Book in advance: lichfieldarts.org.uk
Short Wave – Bresse-sur-Grosne – 1991
Billed here as Hugh Hopper and Friends, these two sets were recorded in France in November 1991.
14.03.19
New Score
We have just added Phil’s score for Your Root 2, along with his notes, to our dots page.
26.01.19
Birthday Tribute
Hi everyone, here is a link to a wonderful birthday tribute to Phil from Billie Bottle. Please listen to it. It is Billie singing lyrics using 22 titles of Phil’s music played to a version of Above and Below. It is beautiful and only takes a few minutes.
Herm x
For those of you not on Facebook, you can find it here on YouTube.
Phil Miller Memorial Concert
Phil’s Memorial Concert took place on Sunday 6th Jan to packed houses – There was hardly room to breathe but that didn’t stop the cheering! All the musicians played magnificently and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all 21 of them from the bottom of my heart. It was a stunning performance all round and enthusiastically received by the audience. We have had a bagful of enthusiastic emails from musicians and audience members alike. It was a night I shall never forget.
We filmed and recorded the entire event and will eventually post a good selection of pieces up on this site. It will take some time to edit the footage and mix the recording and I will only be posting numbers one at a time as they are finished and approved by all concerned.
We would love to hear from anyone who was there and would love to post your photos and comments on this site, so please send them in.
In the meantime Jonathan Coe has written a review of the concert for the latest edition of the NEW STATESMAN, Phil Howitt has put a review on his site. Sergio Amadori has written this review on Hibou Anemone & Bear, and Mike Barnes will reviewing the concert for PROG magazine.
Herm
JUST IN: Jakko Jakszyk will be now be flying in tomorrow to perform at both concerts, after Carol Grimes had to sadly pull out earlier today.
18:30 – 5 Jan 2019
Phil Miller commemorative T-shirts
£15 each – available at the venue on the day of the concerts in a variety of sizes.
Updated rolling news about the Phil Miller memorial concert: again we are sorry to say that Didier Malherbe is still recovering from his accident and won’t be able to be at the concert. We wish him well in his recovery. Trevor Tomkins has also had to pull out due to ill health. Get well soon Trevor. Paul Booth has accepted an Australian tour which prevents him attending and Jakko Jakszyk is heartbroken to say he has to pull out due to a family crisis . We hope this does not disappoint anyone too much. We are looking forward to seeing you all on 6th Jan. The concert has been oversubscribed and sadly a lot of people have been unable to buy tickets. If anyone who doesn’t live too far away from the Vortex is interested: the Vortex is going to live stream the music from the concerts to the bar downstairs so that musicians can relax downstairs and still be able to hear when they should make their way upstairs. Also we are having the concerts filmed and recorded and we will be putting this on this site during the course of next year. Commemorative T-shirts will be for sale, probably downstairs as it will be too crowded to do it upstairs. We still have a few of Phil’s CDs – mainly Mind overMatter and Out of the Blue, which we will give away on the 6th. Make sure you get your copy.
Herm
Click here to listen to Radio Story about sounds of London, inspired by Phil Miller and made by Guido Spring.
Click to Listen to National Health play Fourfold from 1979 and watch one of Aymeric’s slideshows of the musicians.
ALL TICKETS TO BOTH CONCERTS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!
GOOD NEWS! THE VORTEX JAZZ WEBSITE IS NOW SELLING TICKETS FOR PHIL’S CONCERT ON 6TH JAN AT THE VORTEX JAZZ CLUB
The Phil Miller Memorial Concert – Jan 6th – two concerts 4pm and 8pm at The Vortex, Dalston, London E8 – tickets £15 for single concert or £25 for both.
Featuring a total of 25 renowned musicians, performing a wide selection of Phil’s music, across two concerts on one night.
We were going to set a normal price for tickets along with a concession rate but were told by the club that was not possible, so we are selling ALL tickets at the concession rate! The Vortex is a small venue so ticket numbers are limited: book early so as not to miss out.
Go to this page on the Vortex website to see the musicians who will be playing and buy your tickets.
Keep up to date by visiting the legacy site where we will be posting rolling news.
HERM
Lol Coxhill Interview |
17.10.18 – KYLE |
Listen to Aymeric Leroy interview Lol Coxhill and listen to Phil and Lol playing together.
In Cahoots Radio Bremen 1986 |
10.10.18 – AYMERIC |
Click to listen to an In Cahoots Radio Bremen broadcast from 20 May 1986
In Cahoots Utrecht 1986 |
03.10.18 – AYMERIC |
Hatfield & the North live in London November 1972 |
27.09.18 – AYMERIC |
Click here to listen to and download very, very early Hatfield and the North, only weeks after they changed their name from Delivery and Dave Sinclair replaced Steve Miller – plus guest appearances from Lol Coxhill and Robert Wyatt.
Hugh Hopper & Friends (Short Wave) at Europa Jazz Festival, Le Mans 1991 |
23.09.18 – AYMERIC |
Steve Miller All Saints 1994 |
20.09.18 – KYLE |
Watch Phil’s brother Steve play and be interviewed for Wire TV
In Cahoots Le Triton 2003 |
09.09.18 – AYMERIC |
National Health – A Fleeting Glance 80 |
31.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Watch National Health perform A Fleeting Glance.
Miller/Lemer duo Netherlands 95 |
27.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Phil & Fred Belgium ’95 |
24.08.18 – AYMERIC |
The Miller/Baker duo from Belgium in April 1995 Click here to listen and read Aymeric’s notes.
In Cahoots Penny Theatre part two (possibly) |
16.08.18 – AYMERIC |
This tape was labelled In Cahoots Boat Race 1994 but this seems to be an error. The year is clearly wrong – InCa only played one gig in all of 1994, it’s the Jazz Café (aka Halloween) recording. The band did play the Boat Race in Cambridge, but in December 1995, so that is very likely it, especially since the gig includes early versions of the Parallel repertoire which didn’t yet exist in 1994. Now what’s interesting is that this would be the day after the Canterbury Penny Theatre recording, but with absolutely NO overlap in the set list, which leads me to wonder if they could not be two halves of the same gig. We may never know – there doesn’t seem to be much contextual information in Phil’s typically concise stage announcements. In any case taken together they form a great document of that particular tour, with what I suppose is the complete repertoire played on it. Click here to listen or download.
In Cahoots Italy 1991 |
14.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Watch In Cahoots live in Pavia from June 1991
In Cahoots Canterbury 1995 |
11.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Click here to listen to In Cahoots live at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury from 1995
Short Wave – 2PM |
08.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Click here to watch Short Wave live at Gong 25 from 1994
New score for Digging In |
04.08.18 – KYLE |
Click here to download Phil’s score and notes for Digging In. Click here to listen to the album.
In Cahoots Wuppertal 1986 |
02.08.18 – AYMERIC |
Short Wave – Shuffle Demons |
31.07.18 – AYMERIC |
Watch Short Wave perform Shuffle Demons at Gong 25. Click here to watch
New Score added – Truly Yours |
30.07.18 – KYLE |
Today we added Phil’s score and notes for his composition Truly Yours, which can be found on the album Split Seconds. Click here to view this and other scores.
Portrait of Phil by Herm |
28.07.18 – HERM |
See Herm’s latest portrait of Phil and view a slideshow of how it was done. Click here to view
Short Wave – The Balladin |
25.07.18 – AYMERIC |
Watch Short Wave perform The Balladin live in this video Click here to watch now
In Cahoots Paris 1993 complete gig |
18.07.18 – AYMERIC |
IN CAHOOTS live at New Morning, Paris from 19 March 1993. Now without the missing beginning Click here to listen now
In Cahoots Vortex 2008 |
15.07.18 – AYMERIC |
IN CAHOOTS live at the Vortex Jazz Bar in Hackney, London from 10 June 2008. Click here to listen now
Remastered National Health Kansas 1979 plus all new material |
11.07.18 – AYMERIC |
Thanks to Aymeric Leroy for this remastered recording of National Health live in Lawrence, Kansas, which now includes, the entire gig along with some historic demos recorded a few days earlier. Click here to listen now
New Interviews page |
07.07.18 – KYLE |
Today we have added some magazine interviews with Phil (and Fred Baker) from the 90s. Click here to visit now
Steve Miller / Lol Coxhill 1974 |
03.07.18 – HERM |
Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill on the 1974 Virgin Crisis Tour Click here to listen or download
Hatfield and the North 2005 |
23.06.18 – KYLE |
Reformed Hatfield and the North live from Club Citti, Tokyo from October 2005 Click here to listen or download
National Health Kansas 1979 |
23.06.18 – KYLE |
National Health live in Lawrence, Kansas from November 1979 Click here to listen or download
In Cahoots St. Jean-aux-Bois 2001 |
18.06.18 – DOUG |
In Cahoots live at St. Jean-aux-Bois, Les Naïades (near Compiègne, France) from June 2 2001 Click here to listen or download
Hatfield and the North Pennsylvania 2006 |
15.06.18 – KYLE |
Video of Hatfield and the North live at the Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem PA, 2006 Click here to watch now
Hatfield and the North New York 2006 |
12.06.18 – KYLE |
Video of Hatfield and the North live at the Bowery Poetry Club, New York, 2006 Click here to watch now
New score added |
11.06.18 – KYLE |
Just added Phil’s score for Eastern Region to our dots page along with his original notes.
Historic TV footage of very early Canterbury music |
05.06.18 – KYLE |
We have just finished digitising an old DVD of Phil’s containing historic TV footage of National Health, Soft Machine, Caravan and Kevin Ayers. Watch a young Michael Parkinson interview Soft Machine and Annie Nightingale introduce National Health on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Click here to watch now.
In Cahoots live in Osaka |
02.06.18 – HERM |
In December 1991 Phil took In Cahoots on tour to Japan. The line-up was Phil Miller on guitar, Fred Baker on bass guitar, Pete Lemer on keyboards, Pip Pyle on drums, Elton Dean on saxes and Jim Dvorak on trumpet, playing all Phil Miller compositions. In Cahoots played four concerts in Osaka and Tokyo. The CD Phil Miller In Cahoots Live in Japan was taken from these concerts. This recording is the concert in Osaka December 12th 1991. Click here to listen or download now.
In Cahoots on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Today 1983 |
21.05.18 – KYLE |
Listen to early Inca playing Second Sight and Your Root 2, as recorded for BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Today programme in 1983. Recorded from the radio onto reel-to-reel tape by Phil’s father-in-law and my grandfather, Gordon. Click here to listen now.
Original videos |
16.05.18 – KYLE |
Today we have added a new videos page, on which we will be publishing original and otherwise unseen footage. These files have been digitised from Phil’s own collection of DVDs and VHS tapes, as well as contributions from our visitors. The first video is a two hour In Cahoots gig, recorded in Tokyo from December 2001. Click here to watch it now.
In Cahoots live at New Morning Paris 1993 |
28.04.18 – DOUG |
“This excellent quality DAT tape was digitised by Herm from Phil’s private collection of numerous DATs. This is a line up of In Cahoots without any keyboards at all leaving Phil as the sole chordal voice in a music which is packed with dense harmonic information (of course the bass player can always have a bit of go with chords too but it’s probably courtesy to make it clear that it’s the same money). It is testament to the quality of the compositions that Phil has chosen his chording in this format to be sparse and understated enough to put fuller focus on the horn lines, this bringing a fascinating new perspective on the In Cahoots music and interaction of the musicians. Jim’s sound in particular really rings out throughout…” Click to visit page
Featured on KKFI 90.1FM tonight |
13.04.18 – KYLE |
Thanks to our friend Rick Chafen, Kansas City Community Radio (KKFI 90.1 FM) will be broadcasting some of our previously unreleased material tonight on the show The Real Deal at 19:00 CDT. Once a month, Rick co-hosts the show, on what is known as Obscuropean Fridays. If you are in the Kansas City area, you can tune in on 90.1 on your FM band, otherwise there is a live stream that can be found at kkfi.org ; below is a snippet of Rick’s introduction to the show. “I never knew that a band called Delivery had a 30-minutes spotlight on the BBC. But now it’s been made available thanks to philmillerthelegacy.com. In some ways, Delivery became a sort of proto-Hatfield and the North. The 1970 performance includes three players who would form the Hatfields. Delivery was the first proper band that Phil Miller and Pip Pyle had together and they would play in the same bands until Pip’s death (right after a gig) in 2006. I can promise you a whole lot more music from Phil’s various bands will soon be featured.” Click here to read it all and tune in if you can.
New YouTube videos added |
12.04.18 – HERM |
Today we have added six new YouTube videos, including a tribute by Fred Baker recorded on Phil’s birthday this year. Click to visit page.
New score – Green & Purple |
10.04.18 – KYLE |
We have just posted Phil’s score and notes for Green & Purple. Next up will be Eastern Region. Click to visit page
Phil & Fred – Japan – 1991
Phil Miller and Fred Baker live at the Roppongi Pit Inn, Tokyo, Japan, 21.12.1991. With surprise guests… In Cahoots bassist Fred Baker is a premium musician of many facets. He is a Professor of music at the Birmingham Conservatoire, a composer and a fully featured guitar whizz. While anyone present when Fred (in bass mode) hits his Fuzz Pedal of Ultimate and Terminal Filth will know how his passion for motorbikes has informed his musical character, the more refined and introspective side of him found a perfect expression in his guitar duo with Phil heard on the exquisite Double Up album. Fred was always highly attuned to the emotional twists and turns in Phil’s compositions and I love his harmonic overlays and commentary. It takes a musician of uncommon sensitivity to expand on Phil’s harmonic systems without overwhelming their economy; nothing in Phil’s music happened by accident and in Fred he found a foil as meticulous and detail conscious as himself. Here Phil and Fred appear at the famous Roppongi Pit Inn, Tokyo for a set of palpable intimacy that morphs into one of the gutsiest and most spiritually assertive gigs I have heard. I’ve mentioned before that Eastern Region is one of my absolute fave Phil tunes and it’s lovely to hear it’s poignant English character kicking off the set here. In contrast Nowadays a Silhouette adopts an evocatively languid continental mood in this format. Another gear change and Fred spins lines of octave leaping gypsy nonchalance on Underdub before chopping out melodies in ferocious fifths a la Wes Montgomery. There is no mystery at all why Fred had his right hand patented (only he is allowed to use it). Fred’s composition For Christine is given a perfectly crafted and delicate arrangement and Phil and Fred truly lock in as one entity. The playing here from both is touchingly peaceful and focused. Above and Below is one of Phil’s most monumental compositions. This version has an unmatched gravitas and at this point Phil announces the first in a series of very special guests… As the evening progresses Second Sight, in particular steams along thrillingly and I would like to draw your attention here to a delightful example of Phil’s examplary rhythm playing. …so, without giving too much away, it’s sufficient to say that all participants are on joyously lunatic form, and so will you be after experiencing this testament to a very special evening that is best experienced in one chunk of listening pleasure, as it happened, and without skipping ahead for sneak previews!
Click to listen
05.04.18 – DOUG
National Health – Maassluis – 1979
National Health live at Toverbal Club, Maassluis (Netherlands) 29/3/1979 Phil Miller – guitar Alan Gowen – keyboards John Greaves – bass and vocals Pip Pyle – drums Thanks to Rick Chafen for this file and thank you also to Aymeric Leroy for identifying the date and location. These are two men I will be thanking a lot more… This is a very tight mic recording close to the stage in a fairly acoustically dead venue. Buzzing and occasionally drop-outs notwithstanding the balance is excellent. The Alan Gowen line up of National Health was a somewhat looser affair than the Dave Stewart led version. Phil and Alan’s compositions still had enough twists and turns to keep all the musicians in a constant state of insomnia inducing, buttock-clenching anxiety (I’d have thought) but the blowing sections are noticeably more liquid and jazzier in feel. These are my personal highlights;- John Greaves’ Squarer for Maud is an absolute delight; like wondering through a series of chambers. Each with it’s own surprising and unique decor but all forming a satisfying integrity of form (whatever that means). Astonishingly inventive and fluid solo from Phil who typically operates his wah pedal in the opposing direction than any other guitarist would have done. ‘Playing backwards’ is a comment I’ve heard about Phil’s playing more than once but, to slightly paraphrase a Stewartism, he was in fact playing forwards in a backwards world. Following on from this display and not be outdone, a fully goaded Alan Gowen brings us a Rhodes solo that sparkles like a rare gem. Key centre shifting wildly around in a manner hinted at in some unearthly chording earlier in the piece. This cut is triumphant. Phil’s classic Dreams Wide Awake is a really flowing affair by this point. The exquisite lines heard on the album version have an even more conversational and engaging character here. J Greaves and P Pyle are just so damn slinky and sinous. Compared to the intricate elegance of Neil Murray, Greaves approach has a little more ‘tude and a nice filthy punch in his tone without sacrificing elegance. Highly contrasting but I love them both, right. Playtime is a lovely, suspenseful composition by Alan Gowen (and originally heard with Gilgamesh). Every Phil solo has it’s own character and this one has an ironic sneering quality and a slight haughty air before dropping down an octave into some downright sleazy bends. Phil was generally warm and avancular but scrutiny of stage patter reveals Phil had some tech issues this night and fancy I can hear a bit of the ruffled mood of the man here and I think it’s great! Nowadays a Silhouette is a piece of open character in marked contrast to most of Phil’s compositions. Were almost back to Matching Mole conceptually. Lovely dynamic drop into Alan Gowen’s synth solo with Pip creeping supportively in behind. The feeling of space and lightness enhanced by an inspired Greaves who flows beautifully all over the neck. This is top flight musicianship that you would associate with fusion and progressive music but actually exists set apart and in it’s own category, all due to the wit, humanity, and depth of vision of the participants.
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30.03.18 – DOUG
Welcome to our new homepage
Thank you to everyone who has visited, engaged with and contributed to the site. Due to the enthusiastic interest in the new material we have been posting, we have decided to use this page as a blog, to provide up-to-date news of recent and upcoming uploads. If you would like to receive email notifications of new posts, use the ‘Subscribe’ section on the left of this page. We will also be using this feed to post any other items of interest that we, or you, might find. We are continuing to digitise Phil’s collection of DAT, Audio cassettes and VHS tapes. We will shortly be uploading a video of In Cahoots playing live at The Love Generation Festival in Japan. We also have a remarkable video with some very early TV recordings of National Health, which also includes In Cahoots band members such as Richard Sinclair in an extremely early Caravan broadcast and Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper with early Soft Machine including Robert Wyatt, not long out of school, before he grew his hair, along with Kevin Ayres and The Whole World.
29.03.18 – HERM