''Proverbs and Songs'' is a
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by the English saxophonist
John Surman
John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...
recorded at
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
on June 1, 1996 with organist
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
and the 75-strong Salisbury Festival Chorus and released on
ECM
ECM may refer to:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Elliptic curve method
* European Congress of Mathematics
...
the following year, consisting a suite of choral settings of Old Testament texts.
Background
It was nominated for the
Mercury Music Prize in 1998.
Surman performed the suite several times after the 1996 performance.
Reception
The ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'' review awarded the album 2.5 stars.
[" John Surman ''Proverbs and Songs''"](_blank)
''Allmusic''. Retrieved November 7, 2011 Alyn Shipton
Alyn Shipton (born 24 November 1953) is an English jazz author, presenter, critic, and jazz bassist.
Early life
Shipton became interested in jazz in his youth and formally studied cello, but also played double bass in a school jazz band. He pla ...
wrote that Surman's "unaccompanied choral writing was rich and unusual and elsewhere the sense of jazz rhythm and forward motion came almost exclusively from his saxophone, creating rich ostinatos, or swirling aggressively among the choral parts."
Track listing
:''All music by John Surman; all lyrics from the Old Testament''
# "Prelude" - 3:11
# "The Sons" - 4:55
# "The Kings" - 6:41
# "Wisdom" - 7:39
# "Job" - 4:50
# "No Twilight" - 7:42
# "Pride" - 5:00
# "The Proverbs" - 4:06
# "Abraham Arise!" - 5:24
Personnel
*
John Surman
John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...
– soprano and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet
*
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
– organ
*Howard Moody – conductor
**
Salisbury Festival Chorus
References
{{Authority control
ECM Records live albums
John Surman albums
1997 albums