John Surman - Morning Glory!

[RogerF]

Finally an official reissue for John Surman's seminal album Morning Glory and also Westering Home on the Fledg'ling label release date set for 20 May. Morning Glory is one of the finest British jazz albums ever made IMO and long overdue for reissue. 

[sidewinder]

Have both of these on Island vinyl and agree that they are good - nice to see them available on CD. 'Morning Glory' in particular is a gem.

[Clunky]

I only have 'Morning Glory' and agree it's very good. I've never heard 'Westering home '

[A Lark Ascending]

'Westering Home' is (probably) the start of Surman's more folky solo side. He evolved that approach over the years with ECM but it's nice to hear the start point. Won't appeal to those who feel he'd have been better sticking to the edgier stuff (like The Trio).

Might have been the first Surman I heard - a friend had a copy around the time it came out (1972) on Island's budget label where they used to put things that weren't being pitched at the rock mainstream.  

The CD copy I have was released on FMR.

Edited April 24, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[RogerF]

10 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

'Westering Home' is (probably) the start of Surman's more folky solo side. He evolved that approach over the years with ECM but it's nice to hear the start point. Won't appeal to those who feel he'd have been better sticking to the edgier stuff (like The Trio).

Might have been the first Surman I heard - a friend had a copy around the time it came out (1972) on Island's budget label where they used to put things that weren't being pitched at the rock mainstream.  

The CD copy I have was released on FMR.

Yes that's right, Westering Home is a pastoral session and did indeed presage Surman's solo ouevre on ECM. By contrast, Morning Glory is a highly visceral session and although I shall probably be shot down in flames for saying this, but for me anyway it marked the end of the "Golden Age" of British jazz as one of the last exceptional albums of that period, recorded in 1973. Once you hear this album you don't forget it. A master class in the deployment of tension and release. 

[sidewinder]

Strong continuity from 'Westering Home' to the likes of 'The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon'. Very strong Devonian and maritime folk influence on 'Westering..'

[Hoppy T. Frog]

So these seem to be delayed? At least according to Dusty Groove. 

 

 

[HutchFan]

FWIW, both of these are available now on emusic.com -- at least here in the U.S. -- along with Fledg'ling's Brotherhood of Breath reissues.

I already own Morning Glory on vinyl. But I just might purchase the download for mobility's sake.

Such a magnificent record! 

Like Roger, I'm not nearly as keen on Westering Home.

Edited June 15, 2016 by HutchFan

[romualdo]

I have an FMR CD of Morning Glory - was released in 1995

[sambrasa]

The FMR CD is supposedly unauthorized, thus the fuss about this new release. I have the new one. Digipack, which is a bummer (they usually come from amazon banged up. always prefer jewel cases.)

Sound is a bit improved I guess, hard to tell, might be just louder. I'm content, as I'm too lazy to do the normalizing myself, anyways.

 

[romualdo]

16 hours ago, sambrasa said:

The FMR CD is supposedly unauthorized, thus the fuss about this new release. I have the new one. Digipack, which is a bummer (they usually come from amazon banged up. always prefer jewel cases.)

Sound is a bit improved I guess, hard to tell, might be just louder. I'm content, as I'm too lazy to do the normalizing myself, anyways.

 

that makes sense - The FMR CD booklet looked cheap - often wondered if it was legit - the CD does not appear to be a CDr

[RogerF]

14 hours ago, romualdo said:

that makes sense - The FMR CD booklet looked cheap - often wondered if it was legit - the CD does not appear to be a CDr

On May 7th 2005, John Kelman wrote on another forum (guess which) "Folks, I've been in contact with John Surman over the past few days, and I thought it important to tell you all that the FMR reissue of Morning Glory is an illegal release, without consent of the artist. Surman owns the rights (and, I believe, the masters) and FMRs reissue is absolutely without Surman's consent. Surman has written FMR to ask them to stop the reissue." So there you have it. 

But I agree re: the digipak I bought on Amazon was cracked which meant I had to buy another from HMV. The new sleeve notes are welcome though.