Mark Wastell Explained

Mark Wastell
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Place:Colchester, England
Genre:Free improvisation
Occupation:Musician
Instrument:Cello, piano, percussion, electronics, tam tam
Years Active:1994–present
Label:Confront Recordings
Associated Acts:IST, The Sealed Knot, Assumed Possibilities, The Seen

Mark Wastell (born Orsett, 1968) is an English free improvisation musician who plays cello, double bass, electronics, tam tam and percussion.[1] He performs solo and in various group and collaborative situations, notably IST (with Simon H. Fell and Rhodri Davies) and The Sealed Knot (with Burkhard Beins and Rhodri Davies).[2]

During the 1990s Wastell was an originator of the New London Silence, a form of free improvisation that focused on soft sounds, delicate attack and low volume.[3] Since 1996 he has run the Confront Recordings label.[4] Confront Recordings has been described as "one of the most original and intelligent labels of contemporary avant and improvised music".[5] Between 2001 and 2010 he ran Sound 323, a record shop and mail order service that also hosted performances from artists including Keith Rowe, Derek Bailey, David Toop and Taku Sugimoto. During its time in operation, Sound 323 was described by Clive Bell in The Wire as "an epicentre of much of London's improvised music".[6]

IST

Formed with Simon H. Fell and Rhodri Davies, IST was in operation between 1997-2002. The trio used acoustic string instruments (cello, double bass, harp), deploying extended techniques and preparations[7] to combine free improvisation with semi-composed pieces.[8] [9] [10] The trio gigged extensively, in the UK and internationally. They supported Derek Bailey and John Zorn at the Barbican London and performed in Italy, Berlin and New York.[11] According to Richard Cochrane, "While many free improv groups saw away at their instruments striving to be "difficult", IST seem to be genuinely trying to make their extremely intricate music communicate as clearly as possible".[12]

The Sealed Knot

The Sealed Knot is an ongoing collaborative project between Wastell, Rhodri Davies and Burkhard Beins, starting in 2000. Wastell and Davies have been keen to differentiate the group's aesthetic from that of IST, with the use of electronics (as opposed to IST's purely acoustic sounds) and repetition, and the emphasis on pure improvisation feeding into the group's operations.[13] [14] Michael Rosenstein's review of and we disappear described the release as "a consummate example of the refined, spontaneously composed forms the three have mastered, working with ... bowed and scraped cymbals and drum heads, bowed and beaten bass, and harp harmonics and overtones."[15] The trio's Surface/Plane was listed as one of The Wire's Top 10 Improvised Music Records for 2003.[16]

The Seen

The Seen is a large-group ensemble, convened by Wastell for specific performances.[17] Line-ups are evolving and never repeated, with participants selected by Wastell from across the fields of free improvisation and experimental musics.[18] Performances are generally improvised, although Wastell provides some instruction to musicians or sub-groups of musicians within the larger ensemble prior to performance.[19] The Seen's live performances were, at first, sporadic and its recordings non-existent. This changed with the release of The Seen Archive: Volumes I-V, spanning concerts the group played between 2005 and 2009. A second archival release documented increasing activity, and the ensemble continues to be a going concern.[20] More than 175 participants have performed with The Seen including Stewart Lee, Bertrand Denzler, Bill Thompson, Jacques Demierre, Jennifer Allum, Michael Francis Duch, Angharad Davies, Yoni Silver, Jason Kahn and Annette Krebs.

Confront Recordings

Wastell formed Confront Recordings in 1996, initially as a platform for releasing his own music,[21] inspired by labels such as Derek Bailey's Incus Records and Simon H. Fell's Bruce's Fingers.[22] Having developed musical relationships across the improvisation scene the label expanded to release work from other artists from the UK and across the world. Its catalogue includes Tony Oxley, Sidsel Endresen, Joëlle Léandre, Mike Cooper, Paul Dunmall, Jeph Jerman, Matilda Rolfsson, Keith Tippett, Duch Baker, Roger Turner, Valentina Margaletti and many others.[23]

Selected discography

IST

The Sealed Knot

The Seen

Solo

As leader, co-leader

Notes and References

  1. Walmsley . Derek . Invisible Jukebox: Mark Wastell . The Wire . November 2017 . 405 . 28 . 14 January 2024.
  2. Web site: Mark Wastell - Biography . Allmusic . 14 January 2024.
  3. Marino . L . Old Behaviours: Electronic media and electronic music improvisors in Europe at the turn of the millennium . Organised Sound . 2022 . 27 . 2 . 131–143 . 10.1017/S1355771823000109 . 14 January 2024.
  4. Witherden . Barry . Take Five: Mark Wastell . BBC Music . December 2021 . 14 January 2024.
  5. Web site: Martino . Pierpaolo . Dialogue, Space and Multiplicity in British Improv. Confront Recordings at 25. Interview with Mark Wastell . Percorsi Musicali . 9 January 2024 . it-IT . 18 June 2021.
  6. The Other Side of Silence . The Wire . October 2005 . 260 . 35 .
  7. Web site: IST . www.brucesfingers.co.uk . 10 January 2024.
  8. Web site: Davies . Rhodri . Simon H Fell remembered. By Rhodri Davies - The Wire . The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music . 9 January 2024 . en.
  9. Web site: (musings) IST review . intuitivemusic.dk . 9 January 2024.
  10. Web site: ist rhodri davies mark wastell simon h fell ghost notes . metropolis . 9 January 2024 . 17 November 2006.
  11. Web site: Davies . Rhodri . Simon H Fell remembered. By Rhodri Davies - The Wire . The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music . en.
  12. Web site: (musings) IST review . intuitivemusic.dk . 9 January 2024.
  13. Web site: What's New? . www.pointofdeparture.org . 10 January 2024.
  14. Web site: THE SEALED KNOT . www.burkhardbeins.de . 9 January 2024.
  15. Web site: FEBRUARY 2010 . www.paristransatlantic.com . 9 January 2024.
  16. Web site: THE SEALED KNOT - SURFACE/PLANE . confront-recordings . 9 January 2024 . en.
  17. Web site: ARCHIVE : Volume I – THE SEEN ← Cafe OTO . www.cafeoto.co.uk . 10 January 2024.
  18. Web site: THE SEEN: Mark Wastell . O N C A . en.
  19. Web site: The Seen: Not necessarily quiet music . www.pointofdeparture.org . 10 January 2024.
  20. Web site: The Seen: Not necessarily quiet music . www.pointofdeparture.org.
  21. Web site: Dellapina . Andrea . AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK WASTELL OF CONFRONT RECORDINGS . Paynomindtous.it . 14 June 2024.
  22. Web site: Paolucci . Marco . Interview with Mark Wastell, founder and director of the label Confront Recordings . Kathodik Webzine . 14 June 2024.
  23. Web site: Martino . Pierpaolo . Dialogue, space and multiplicity in British free improvisation - Confront Recordings at 25: interview with Mark Wastell . Percorsi Musicali . 14 June 2024.

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