John Greaves (musician)
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| John Greaves | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | John Greaves | |
| Born | January 23, 1950 (age 57) Prestatyn, North Wales |
|
| Genre(s) | Progressive rock Free jazz |
|
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Composer | |
| Instrument(s) | Bass guitar, Piano, Singing | |
| Years active | 1969 – present | |
| Label(s) | Europa, Voiceprint, Resurgence | |
| Associated acts |
Henry Cow, National Health, Peter Blegvad | |
John Greaves (born 23 January 1950) is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad. He was also a member of National Health and Soft Heap, and has recorded several solo albums, including Accident (1982), Parrot Fashions (1984) and The Caretaker (2001).
He obtained an English literature degree at Cambridge University in 1971.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
John Greaves was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, but grew up in Wrexham in north-east Wales. At the age of 12, he was given a bass guitar by his father, a Welsh dancehall bandleader, and within six months, he was playing in his father's orchestra. He continued playing in the orchestra for four years, during which time its varied musical styles gave Greaves valuable musician and arranger skills.
In 1967 Greaves entered Cambridge University to study Arts, and there he met members of the burgeoning English avant-garde rock group Henry Cow in 1969. The band had been established the previous year by fellow Cambridge students Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson and had undergone numerous personnel changes up to that point. They were looking for a bassist and after several months of persuading, Greaves joined the band in October 1969. After juggling his time with the band and his studies, Greaves completed his Master of Arts degree in 1971. By the end of 1971, Henry Cow settled into a permanent core of Frith, Hodgkinson, Greaves and Chris Cutler. Greaves remained with the band until March 1976, during which time they released five albums (including two with Slapp Happy) and toured extensively across Europe. Greaves also contributed several compositions to the band's repertoire, including "Half Asleep; Half Awake", recorded on their second album, Unrest (1974).
Greaves left Henry Cow to work on a project, Kew.Rhône with Slapp Happy's Peter Blegvad in New York City. Greaves had met and worked with Blegvad during the brief merger of Henry Cow and Slapp Happy between November 1974 and April 1975. Kew.Rhône was a song cycle with all the music composed by Greaves and the lyrics written by Blegvad. In addition to bass guitar, Greaves also played keyboards and sang. The album was released in 1977 and credited to Greaves, Blegvad and Lisa Herman, the lead vocalist. It was well received by critics: All Music Guide described it as "An unfortunately neglected masterpiece of '70s progressive rock ..." [1]; and Robert Wyatt reportedly liked it so much he bought two copies "just in case the first got worn out!" [2]
After Kew.Rhône Greaves returned to England to work in theatre as a composer, arranger and actor. In early 1978 he joined National Health and remained with them until the band split up in 1980. He toured with the band, appeared on three of their albums and wrote their instrumental tour-de-force, "Squarer for Maud". During this time he also performed with a free-improvising group, Soft Heap with Elton Dean from Soft Machine, and Pip Pyle and Alan Gowen from National Health.
In the early 1980s Greaves began a series of solo projects and collaborations. He recorded his first solo album, Accident in Paris in 1981 and 1982. He moved to Paris in 1984 and formed a touring band with Blegvad's brother, Kristoffer Blegvad (vocals), François Ovide (guitar), Denis van Hecke from Aksak Maboul (cello) and Mireille Bauer from Gong (percussion). This band also featured on Greaves's second solo album, Parrot Fashions (1984). During this time he recorded and toured with David Thomas and the Pedestrians, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and the Michael Nyman Band. He collaborated with Peter Blegvad again on The Lodge project that toured Europe and produced an album, Smell of a Friend in 1987.
In the late 1980s Greaves formed another touring band comprising François Ovide (guitar), Sophia Domancich (piano) and Pip Pyle (drums). With this band Greaves recorded a solo album, La Petite Bouteille de Linge (Little Bottle of Laundry) (1991). He also collaborated with David Cunningham from The Flying Lizards and recorded the album, greaves, cunningham (1991).
In 1993 Greaves formed the John Greaves Band, an improvising outfit with Elton Dean (sax), Jean-François Pauvros (guitar) and Pip Pyle (drums). He also started work on an acoustic song project, Songs (1995) that reworked songs from his previous albums. The band he used for this album was François Ovide (acoustic guitar), Sophia Domancich (piano) and Paul Rogers (double bass), and a cast of singers that included Robert Wyatt. After more collaborative work with Peter Blegvad and solo voice/piano performances in 1998, Greaves recorded another solo album, The Caretaker in 2001 with François Ovide (guitars) and Manuel Denizet (drums).
In 2002 Greaves formed the JazzSongs trio with Sophia Domancich (piano) and Vincent Courtois (cello), and recorded The Trouble With Happiness (2003). In November 2003, Greaves participated in a Robert Wyatt tribute concert Dedicated to You in Charleville-Mézières in France with Karen Mantler, Dominique Pifarély, Sylvain Kassap and others.
[edit] Discography
This is a selection of albums John Greaves has performed on, showing the year they were first released.
[edit] Bands and projects
- 1973 Henry Cow – Leg End (Virgin)
- 1974 Henry Cow – Unrest (Virgin)
- 1975 Slapp Happy/Henry Cow – Desperate Straights (Virgin)
- 1975 Henry Cow/Slapp Happy – In Praise of Learning (Virgin)
- 1976 Henry Cow – Henry Cow Concerts (Caroline)
- 1977 John Greaves, Peter Blegvad and Lisa Herman – Kew.Rhône (Virgin)
- 1979 National Health – Of Queues and Cures (Charly)
- 1982 National Health – D.S. Al Coda (Europa)
- 1983 Peter Blegvad – The Naked Shakespeare (Virgin)
- 1985 Peter Blegvad – Knights Like This (Virgin)
- 1985 Michael Nyman Band – The Kiss and Other Movements (EG)
- 1987 The Lodge – Smell of a Friend (Antilles)
- 1988 Peter Blegvad – Downtime (Recommended)
- 1991 John Greaves and David Cunningham – greaves, cunningham (Eva Records)
- 1992 Peter Blegvad and John Greaves – Dr. Huelsenbecks Mentale Heilmethod (Rough Trade Records)
- 1995 Peter Blegvad and John Greaves – Unearthed (Sub Rosa)
- 1995 Peter Blegvad – Just Woke Up (Recommended)
- 1998 Peter Blegvad – Hangman's Hill (Recommended)
- 2001 National Health – Play Time (live 1979) (Cuneiform)
- 2001 John Greaves with Marcel Ballot and Patrice Meyer – On the Street Where You Live (Blueprint)
- 2004 John Greaves and Elise Caron – Chansons (Harmonia Mundi)
[edit] Solo
- 1982 Accident (Europa)
- 1984 Parrot Fashions (Europa)
- 1991 La Petite Bouteille de Linge (La Lichère)
- 1995 Songs (Resurgence)
- 2001 The Caretaker (Blueprint)
- 2003 The Trouble With Happiness (Harmonia Mundi)
- 2005 Tambien 1-7 (Resurgence)
[edit] References
- ^ Mason, Stewart. Kew. Rhone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
- ^ John Greaves. The Canterbury Website. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
[edit] External links
- John Greaves biography. The Canterbury Website.
- John Greaves biography. Piano Label.
- John Greaves biography. French Music Export Offices.
- John Greaves at All Music Guide.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Greaves, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | British musician and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 23 January 1950 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Prestatyn, North Wales |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
