Amalgam -

Amalgam was an English free-jazz ensemble that released ten albums between 1969 and 1979 on seven labels. Alto saxophonist Trevor Watts formed the group in 1967 after leaving the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, with drummer John Stevens and bassists Barry Guy and Jeff Clyne among the principal early associates. After the acoustic Prayer for Peace and Innovation, Watts rebuilt Amalgam as an electric quartet for Another Time, Deep, Closer to You, and the 1979 finales Over the Rainbow and Wipe Out.

Members: Trevor Watts (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, percussion), Dave Cole (guitar), Colin McKenzie (bass), Pete Cowling (bass), Ron Herman (bass), Liam Genockey (drums), John Stevens (drums), Keith Tippett (piano), Paul Rutherford (trombone), Barry Guy (double bass), Jeff Clyne (bass), Kent Carter (bass), Keith Rowe (guitar), Lindsay Cooper (bass), Steve Hayton (guitar), Harry Miller (acoustic bass)

Background

Amalgam formed in 1967 in London when alto saxophonist Trevor Watts left the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and teamed with trombonist Paul Rutherford and bassist Barry Guy.

Watts, born in York and raised in Halifax, took up cornet at age twelve and alto saxophone at age eighteen without formal tuition. He met Rutherford and drummer John Stevens in 1959 through the Royal Air Force music service. After demobilization, Watts joined the New Jazz Orchestra and played London engagements that included work with Sonny Boy Williamson and Long John Baldry.

Rutherford grew up in Blackheath, southeast London, and switched from saxophone to trombone. He entered the RAF music service after pub work with Dixieland bands and studied at the Guildhall School of Music after demobilization.

Guy came from Lewisham and moved from a school military band into double bass. After leaving school, he worked in an architect’s office and attended composition classes at Goldsmiths College. In one such class, his assignment required trombone and alto saxophone, which led Guy to Rutherford and Watts, who introduced him to Stevens and the Little Theatre Club. The four musicians worked in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble before Watts, Rutherford, and Guy established Amalgam as a separate unit. By July 1967, the trio played Little Theatre Club sets under the Amalgam name. Guitarist Derek Bailey joined Watts and Guy on additional performances after Rutherford left the regular configuration. Guy remained the regular partner of Watts through November; cellist Nik Bryce then joined Watts in a duo configuration.

Watts returned to the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in spring 1968 and kept Amalgam active as a separate group. Bassist Jeff Clyne joined after extensive modern-jazz work that included the Jazz Couriers and groups led by Tubby Hayes. He also played in the Stan Tracey quartet that recorded Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood. Stevens resumed work with Watts in Amalgam after the pair re-established their association in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. The BBC Third Programme featured Amalgam on Music in Our Time in December 1968 with alto saxophonist Watts, pianist Peter Lemer, bassist Clyne, and drummer Stevens.

Watts retained Clyne and Stevens as the principal rhythm section for the first Amalgam recording. The trio entered Advision Studios in London on May 20, 1969, for the sessions that produced Prayer for Peace, with Guy replacing Clyne on bass for the title composition.

Discography: