Loose Tubes were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

active during the mid-to-late 1980s. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the band was considered to be the focal point of a 1980s renaissance in British jazz. It was the main launchpad for the careers of many future leading British jazz players including

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

, Iain Ballamy, Eddie Parker, Julian and Steve Argüelles, Mark Lockheart, Steve Berry, Tim Whitehead, Ashley Slater. In 2015, the band reformed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's formation, with concerts at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and a sold out week at Ronnie Scott's. "The band’s individual brand of contemporary orchestration incorporates a welcome humour (often lacking in such weighty aggregations), drawing on a diversity of sources – minimalism, spacey ECM-inspired balladry, funky blues, Latin, swing, even Carla Bley-like passages – in all, a combination of cool precision and collective pandemonium, performed with a persuasive joie de vivre. The ’85 album Loose Tubes and the ’86 Loose Tubes Too (distributed by the London-based Import Music Service division of Polygram) combine into an excellent two-part catalogue of a wealth of inspiration."

History

Origins

The band originated from a jazz workshop put together by the British jazz composer and educator

Graham Collier James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz Double bass, bassist, bandleader and composer. Life and career Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as ...

in 1983. During the first few weeks of the workshop, keyboard player

and bass player Steve Berry began to introduce original music to the ensemble. Under the supervision of workshop administrator-turned-manager Colin Lazzerini, the ensemble chose the name Loose Tubes and played its first London gig in 1984. The band was notable for its size (averaging 21 players) and was run as a co-operative without a single clear leader. While Bates, Berry and trumpeter Chris Batchelor were responsible for a great deal of the music, there were also composing contributions from flute player Eddie Parker, trumpeters Dave DeFries and John Eacott, as well as trombonist John Harborne. During live concerts, trombonist Ashley Slater (later to become frontman of the pop group Freak Power) acted as the band's compère and became renowned for his sarcastic wit.

Style, impact and rise

Loose Tubes' music was drawn from elements of the whole history of jazz as well as many other musical styles such as

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

and hi-life. During its existence, the band was garlanded with critical praise. '' Time Out'' referred to them as "the most important band to appear on the British jazz scene" and hailed them as "the best instrumentalists of their generation." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called them "the most impressive young orchestra to have emerged in London", while ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' claimed "it's hard to imagine anyone else anywhere producing anything as exciting as this in 1985." Loose Tubes were voted the Best UK Band in 1989 by the readers of ''The Wire'' magazine. The band were iconoclastic, with a strong sense of fun, and made a sense of humour an important component of their music. This occasionally led to criticism.

Success

In 1987, Loose Tubes became the first jazz orchestra to play at

the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

, the BBC's annual classical music festival held at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. They also collaborated with the Docklands Sinfonietta. Other high points included a UK tour for the Contemporary Music Network and a residency at Ronnie Scotts, at the end of which they marched out into the streets of Soho at 3 a.m. still playing, with the audience following. Loose Tubes released three albums between 1985 and 1989 – '' Loose Tubes'', ''Delightful Precipice'' and ''

Open Letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

''. The second was ranked No 100 in the 2022 Jazzwise poll ''100 Jazz Albums that Shook the World'', where Andy Robson commented that the album "revealed not only a respect for tradition but also wove threads of worlds with other musics". ''Open Letter'' was produced by

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' and Dave B ...

who commented "These guys are interested in real composition, real melodies, not just being super hip. I haven't seen a young band in the US that wants to do things like that." A live album, ''Loose Tubes: JazzbucheBerlin 87'' was also released. In addition, the band set up their own Loose Tubes record label. The label released albums by the Human Chain duo (Bates and Steve Argüelles), The Iains (a quartet led by Iain Ballamy), a quintet led by Tim Whitehead, a trio led by Steve Berry and a duo with Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor playing the music of

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

Disbandment

Loose Tubes disbanded in 1990, largely due to the difficulty in financially sustaining and organising such a large ensemble of musicians (a situation not helped by the contemporary economic crisis in the UK). The collective leadership of the band had also become unmanageable and it was time for many of the musicians to move onto more focussed individual careers. Saxophonist Iain Ballamy later reflected "It kind of reached the stage where the band had to change a lot — and nobody could change it — or it had to end so something new could come along. And that’s what happened." In 2010, twenty years after the band had disbanded, Django Bates announced that he would be releasing a Loose Tubes live album called ''Dancing on Frith Street'' on his own label Lost Marble Recordings. The recordings were made at Ronnie Scotts during the band's last week of live activity in 1990. ''Dancing on Frith Street'' was released in September 2010.

Reunion

In 2014, to celebrate their 30th anniversary Loose Tubes reformed for a series of concerts. A unanimous declaration the band laid down for this 30th Anniversary reunion was that, to be relevant in 2014, there had to be new music; they "definitely didn't want to be their own tribute band". To this end, BBC Radio 3 in association with Jazz on Three commissioned new works from Chris Batchelor, Django Bates. Steve Berry and Eddie Parker. These were premiered at Cheltenham International Jazz festival on Saturday 3 May 2014, alongside Loose Tubes’ classic repertoire from the 1980s, including Yellow Hill, Shelley, The Last Word, Sticklebacks and Sunny. The band followed this with a sell-out headlining week at Ronnie Scotts Club the band's spiritual home. They also played Brecon international Jazz festival on 8 August 2014 and Gateshead International Jazz Festival on 12 April 2015. On 10 June 2015, Loose Tubes won the Jazz FM Award for Best Live Experience for last year's reunion concert at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, beating two other worthy nominees, The Blue Note 75th Birthday at EFG London Jazz Festival and Jamie Cullum at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival. The winner of this category was chosen by public vote.

2014 line up

Flutes: Eddie Parker, Clarinets: Dai Pritchard Alto Soprano saxophones: Steve Buckley & Iain Ballamy Tenor Saxophone: Mark Lockheart & Julian Nicholas Baritone: Julian Argüelles, Trumpets: Lance Kelly, Noel Langley, Chris Batchelor & John Eacott Trombones: Paul Taylor, John Harborne, Ashley Slater & Richard Pywell, Bass Trombone: Richard Henry, Tuba: Dave Powell, Keyboards:Django Bates, Guitar: John Parricelli, Bass: Steve Watts, Drums: Martin France, Percussion: Louise Petersen Matjeka

Legacy

The legacy of Loose Tubes continues strongly both through its former members, who continue to be leading lights of the UK music scene, and also its inspirational effect on younger musicians. F-IRE Collective founder Barak Schmool, who worked as a roadie for Loose Tubes, cites Loose Tubes as a formative influence. In 1991,

formed his large ensemble Delightful Precipice which includes many musicians from Loose Tubes and is in certain respects a continuation of their work (albeit one with a single leader).

Band members

* Iain Ballamy, soprano and tenor saxes * Julian Argüelles, soprano and baritone saxes * Steve Argüelles, percussion on the first and second albums, then drums and percussion * Iain Ballamy, soprano and alto saxes * Chris Batchelor, trumpet *

, keyboards * Steve Berry, bass * Steve Buckley, soprano and alto saxes *Steve Day, trombone and euphonium * Dave DeFries, trumpet * John Eacott, trumpet * Paul Edmonds, trumpet *Ted Emmett, trumpet *Nic France (played drums on the first and second albums) * Martin France drums *John Harborne, trombone Sarah Homer, bass clarinet *Lance Kelly, trumpet * Noel Langley, trumpet *Thebe Lipere, percussion * Mark Lockheart, tenor and soprano saxes *Julian Nicholas, tenor and soprano saxes * John Parricelli, guitar * Eddie Parker, flutes, keyboards *Simon Gill, tuba/brass * Dave Powell, tuba *Dai Pritchard, clarinets *Richard Pywell, trombones * Ashley Slater, trombone * Ken Stubbs, baritone, alto saxes *Paul Taylor, trombone *Steve Watts, bass Sarah Waterhouse, tuba * Tim Whitehead, tenor sax

Discography

*'' Loose Tubes'' (1985) *''Delightful Precipice'' (1986) *''

'' (1988) *''Loose Tubes: Jazzbühne Berlin 87'' *''Dancing on Frith Street'' (Lost Marble LM005, 2010) – live album recorded at Ronnie Scott's Sept 1990] *''Säd Afrika'' (Lost Marble LM006, release date 14 May 2012) – live album recorded at Ronnie Scott's Sept 1990] *'' Arriving (Loose Tubes album), Arriving'' (Lost Marble LM008, release date 2015) – live album recorded at Ronnie Scott's Sept 1990 and at the BBC in 2014]

Other media appearances

Film and television

* ''Loose Tubes at Bath International Festival'', May 1986, and in Green Park Station. BBC TWO 3 January 1987 * ''Celebration: Loose Tubes'' documentary. The 21-piece jazz orchestra had its first national tour. The musicians are shown conducting a jazz 'workshop' in Sheffield, as well as performing. Directed by Christopher Swann. Produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commer ...

, January 1987. * ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 to 1992 and presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...

'', BBC ONE, 7 September 1987. The band performed "Sticklebacks" from their 1988 album ''

''.

Radio

*"Loose Tubes @ Pendley Manor Festival 1985". 55m total: Chip, Delightful Precipice, Would I Were, Rowingboat Delineation Egg, Full Moon, Stanley Shuffle. BBC Radio 3 "Magnum Opus" broadcast from March, 1986. *"Magnum Opus". Loose Tubes perform at the Logan Hall, London. Sad Africa – 6'35" BATES, Sunny – 5'34" EACOTT, Delightful Precipice – 7'50" BATES, Blue – 7'17" BERRY We Are, Are You? 5'01" HARBORNE, Eden Express – 8'52" BATES, Mo mhuirnin ban – 4'12" TRAD arr. BATCHELOR, Sosbun Brakk 5'43" PARKER Hermeto's Giant Breakfast – 12'24" DEFRIES, Psycopath-a-go-go – 4'48" BERRY, Accepting suites from strangers – 8'25" BATES, Arriving – 4'40" BATCHELOR, Mister Zee – 7'44" BERRY. BBC Radio 3, 1 May 1987 *"The Proms 1987: Loose Tubes" (1) BERRY, Steve "Mister Zee" (2) Eddie PARKER "Sosbun Brakk" (3) CREWE/GAUDIO "Can't take my eyes off you" (4) BATES, Django: "Sweet Williams" (5) BERRY, Steve: "Blue" (6) BATES, Django: "Accepting suites from strangers" (7) Chris BATCHELOR "Sticklebacks" (8) Dave DEFRIES "Open letter to Dudu Pukwana" (9) Chris BATCHELOR "Arriving" (10) BATES, Django: "Yellow hill". BBC Radio 3, 30 August 1987

References

External links

MusicWeb Encyclopedia of Popular Music page on Loose Tubes
interview with Iain Ballamy by Anil Prasad 7 July 1993 on Innerviews website. *''Arts (Promenade Concerts): Emphasis on real talents / Review of 'Loose Tubes' At the Albert Hall and on Radio 3'', ''

'', 1 September 1987 *''Arts (Music): Kind of brassy – The 21-strong band Loose Tubes is among the brightest hopes of British jazz'', ''The Times'', 11 January 1988
NME live review of Loose Tubes
{{Authority control British jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 E.G. Records artists 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom 1990 disestablishments in the United Kingdom