Ichnos (album)

Ichnos
Studio album by Tony Oxley
Released	1971
Genre	Free jazz
Length	40:12
Label	RCA Victor SF 8215
Tony Oxley chronology
4 Compositions for Sextet (1970) Ichnos (1971) Jazz in Britain '68-'69 (1972)

Ichnos is an album by English musician Tony Oxley. Released in 1971 by RCA Victor, it features Oxley on percussion, Evan Parker on saxophone, Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Paul Rutherford on trombone, Derek Bailey on electric guitar, and Barry Guy on double bass. The musicians are heard in varying combinations: two sextets, two quartets, and a percussion solo.[1][2][3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+[5]

In a review for Paris Transatlantic, Graham L. Rogers wrote: "This is powerful work from a time and place when free improvisation was in its youth and talented musicians with uncluttered heads took risks and disregarded rules, creating the spontaneous, imaginative music which came to define the genre."[6]

Author Ben Watson stated: "By seizing the timbral serialism of Webern and performing it with the expressive velocity of jazz, Oxley's group heralded almost everything new in music for the next three decades... It revives Edgard Varèse's project of a music that would organise itself according to the dictates of timbre and the impact of noise rather than overarching systems of harmony and rhythm."[7] He concluded: "It makes all previous music sound grey."[8]

The editors of Mats Gustafsson's Discaholic called the recording a "free music monster. Monumental, intricate, detailed and balanced music and just a classic album of the highest beauty!" They commented: "The solo excursions on this album are magic beyond words... this is as good as it gets. Highest possible recommendations!"[9]

Track listing

Composed by Tony Oxley. Track timings not provided.

1. "Crossing" (sextet)
2. "Oryane" (percussion solo)
3. "Eiroc" (quartet)
4. "Santrel" (quartet)
5. "Cadilla" (sextet)

Personnel

• Tony Oxley – drums, percussion
• Evan Parker – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Kenny Wheeler – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Paul Rutherford – trombone
• Derek Bailey – electric guitar
• Barry Guy – double bass

References

1. "Tony Oxley: Ichnos". AllMusic. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
2. "Tony Oxley - Ichnos". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
3. "Tony Oxley / Ichnos". ArtistInfo. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
4. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 368.
5. Hull, Tom. "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
6. Rogers, Graham L. (January 2007). "JANUARY News". Paris Transatlantic. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
7. Watson, Ben (2004). Derek Bailey and the Story of Free Improvisation. Verso. p. 143. ISBN 9781844670031 – via Google Books.
8. Watson, Ben (2004). Derek Bailey and the Story of Free Improvisation. Verso. p. 144. ISBN 9781844670031 – via Google Books.
9. Gustafsson, Mats; Thorstensson, Björn (2022). "No Way Back!" (PDF). Discaholic. No. 4.