''English Suites'' is a double album by percussionist and electronic musician

Paul Lytton Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947, London) is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist. Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the tabla from P.R. Desai. In 1969 he began ...

and reed player Ken Vandermark. Disc 1 was recorded on January 11, 1999, in a Chicago studio, while disc 2 was recorded on November 20, 1999, at a concert in Hasselt, Belgium. The album was released on CD in 2000 by Wobbly Rail, an imprint of

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

Reception

In a review for '' All About Jazz'', Micah Holmquist wrote: "The two pair up... with fine results... ''English Suites'' would serve as a good introduction to Lytton's work and any fan of either Vandermark or Lytton will want to pick it up." Ken Waxman of ''JazzWord'' called the album "a good, but not great session that will probably be appreciated by many improv followers," and stated that the track titled "Stage 3" sounds "as if the percussionist was slowly working his way through a junk pile as Vandermark outputs consistent saxophone blats sounding just this side of

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played barito ...

." Writing for AllMusic,

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

described the music as "pretty unlistenable," "abrasive," and "jarring." He commented: "Some of the music is very intense sound explorations while at other times the sparse setting leads to some introspection, space, and long tones. The problem is that very little development takes place and none of the individual pieces... stick in one's mind."

Track listing

Composed by Paul Lytton and Ken Vandermark. ;CD 1 # "Radio 1" – 10:04 # "Radio 2" – 13:17 # "Radio 3" – 6:04 # "Radio 4" – 3:40 # "Radio 5" – 11:56 # "Radio 6" – 5:55 # "Radio 7" – 8:16 ;CD 2 # "Set One: Film 1" – 4:58 # "Set One: Film 2" – 9:17 # "Set One: Film 3" – 6:39 # "Set One: Film 4" – 5:22 # "Set One: Film 5" – 4:54 # "Set One: Film 6" – 8:26 # "Set One: Film 7" – 9:39 #

"Set Two: Stage 1" – 5:36 # "Set Two: Stage 2" – 7:23 # "Set Two: Stage 3" – 4:38 # "Set Two: Stage 4" – 4:00 # "Set Two: Stage 5" – 2:45

Personnel

– drums, percussion, electronics * Ken Vandermark – reeds

References

{{authority control 2000 albums Paul Lytton albums Ken Vandermark albums