Mystery Gig 1996

I wish I could tell you more about where and when this particular performance by In Cahoots was recorded, but it came on a DAT tape that had evidently been recorded over since it mentioned a 1991 date and the repertoire here is clearly 1996, and the first half of the year to be precise, since Phil doesn’t mention “Parallel” being available for sale at the merch table. There is little in Phil’s typically concise announcements to help locate the venue, so I’ll go with the somewhat boomy acoustics which suggest a fairly large hall with a high ceiling. Looking at the list of venues for the period, I’d say St. Mary Arts Centre in Colchester, located in the church of the same name, is a good candidate. In Cahoots played there on May 29th, in between sessions for “Parallel”. The entire album is played, as it was few months later when I saw them open for Caravan at the Astoria in London. But as this is a full two-set performance, here we get some extras – two tracks from “Digging In” and the perennial “Green & Purple” to close proceedings. This is very much an ambient recording with more (natural) reverb than one would wish, but it’s a fine document with several pieces of which few live recordings exist, such as “Simmer” (a favourite of mine) and “Sitdown”.

Download – 221 MB

Phil Miller – guitar
Elton Dean – alto sax, saxello
Jim Dvorak – trumpet
Peter Lemer – keyboards
Fred Baker – bass
Pip Pyle – drums