SLAMCD254 Charlie Collins & John Jasnoch – Desire & Need

The first release by one of Britain’s longest standing improvising duos. Charlie Collins‘ and John Jasnoch‘s 20 year association has its origins in Sheffield’s late 70’s new wave scene. With its use of 70s experiment and 60s free improvisation, it set them on a path of exploration which led them to play Derek Bailey‘s 1988 Company Week.

Recorded at The Sound Kitchen, Sheffield, 2003.

Charlie Collins: alto saxophone, clarinet, flute
John Jasnoch: electric guitar, mandolin, oud

“Collins and Jasnoch are clearly two improvisers who are very familiar with each other, and quite confident that this familiarity catalyses outside-the-box music, a subversive notion in some quarters…The folksy connotations of Jasnoch’s mandolin and ud, particularly in tandem with Collins’ flute and clarinet, give such moments an earthiness largely absent in improvised music.” – Bill Shoemaker, Jazz Review

“Twenty years – and a multitude of live collaborations – since they first played together in a Sheffield, England improv session, reedist Charlie Collins and plectrumist John Jasnoch have finally released their first duo CD. It was worth the wait. Throughout the disc, they give ample evidence of why their partnership has lasted this long…Collins’ and Jasnoch’s varied background and multi-instrumentation gives this CD a far different sound from other duos with a similar line-up…this CD seems to be another career highlight for the two men whose previous duple fame came with a performance at Company Week 1988. We can all be happy they finally recorded à deux.” – Ken Waxman, Jazz Weekly

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