Jade warrior

The founders of the band, John Field ( English Jon Field ), flute ) and guitarist Tony Duhig ( English Tony Duhig ) met in the early 1960s, when they worked on factory cars. In addition to rock, both were fond of jazz , African and Latin American music . Gradually, Field and Dewig began to experiment with sound overlays, adding the avant-garde compositions from simple components.

Second Thoughts, Tomcats, and July

In 1965, John and Tony with vocalist Patrick Lyons formed The Second Thoughts. The group played rhythm and blues - in the same clubs where John Mayall and Eric Clapton were regulars, and the latter often expressed admiration for Dewig's technique ^[3] . The Second Thoughts, having released one EP, broke up. Around the same time, another band temporarily ceased to exist, Tomcats, where they played Tom Newman (who later joined Mike Oldfield as a sound engineer on Tubular Bells ), Alan James, Pete Cook and Chris Jackson.

Soon, Lyons joined Alex Spyropoulos: this is how the Nirvana duo came about, which became famous thanks to the single “Rainbow Chaser” and released a total of five albums: Jade Warrior members played on one of them, Local Anaesthetic (1971). Reformed Tomcats in the new line-up (Newman, James, Jackson, Field and Dewig) went to Spain in 1966 , where they released 4 maxi singles and became a kind of "plenipotentiaries" of the British rhythm and blues. (In 2000, Acme Records collected longplay from these maxi-singles, which included 4 songs from the album of The Second Thoughts.)

Returning to England, Tomcats changed their name to July ^[2] , played psychedelic pop rock and released an album, three versions of which were released at different times under the headings: July , Second of July and Dandelion Seeds (the last two were loaded with studio "scum") . John Field later regretted that these raw records saw the light of day, but experts believe that the group played an important role in the development of British pop psychedelia ^[4] .

After the collapse of July in 1968, Tony Dewig joined Unit 4 + 2 , remaining in the chart history with the hit “ Concrete and Clay ” (# 1, 1965) ^[5] , where singing guitarist Glynn Haward and drummer Alan Price played among others. . Around the same time, Dewig took a tour of Iran alone, from which he made a lot of impressions and influences, which later left a distinctive mark on the Jade Warrior style. However, according to the recollections of his brother David, he himself believed that he had taken out from there “... perhaps a strange disease that he himself called the 'Persian foot', and which haunted him for the rest of his life” ^[3] .

After the collapse of July, John Field composed two musical performances ^[2] , after which he resumed collaboration with Tony Dewig: Unit Four Plus Two Haward has now become their regular partner ^[6] . Feeling that they were starting to create something unique, the musicians formed a group and called it Jade Warrior. Field later claimed that this was the name of one of Dewig's musical productions; Howard - that the name was "chosen" democratically and was intended to reflect the duality of the musical style of the group. Each of the participants wrote columns of words associated with “rigidity” and “softness” on two sheets: the phrase “Jade Warrior” appeared as a sum (the backup version was “Lotus Spear.” There is also a third version: according to a press release by Red Hot Records , Jade Warrior is a Japanese warrior who also works in poetry and science, and Field claims that he has never heard of anything like this and casts doubt on this fact ^[4] .

Howard recalled that these days King Crimson management became interested in them: “two very hippy young men” who were impressed by the music “for theater and dance” recorded by Dewig and Field. Howard, according to him, felt the “smell of superstars,” but his colleagues did not want to part with the films ^[6] .

The material absorbed many months of work, and they were afraid that the guys from KC, being stoned, would spoil something there. The management of King Crimson proposed, if necessary, to pay for all studio work, which will be required if the films are damaged in any way. But John and Tony were not going to give up their positions and left, so they didn’t release their master tape. If we had even a little prudence, we would have written them a copy on their cassette. I do not understand at all why this did not occur to us. Perhaps the cassette recorder was not yet invented then ^[6] .

Original text

The stuff represented months of work and they were concerned that the KC boys would get stoned and screw up their stuff. The Crimson management offered to pay for all the studio time needed should they harm or damage the tapes in any way. But Jon and Tony were not going to move on the matter, and they left carrying their masters. If we'd had any sense we could have made them a copy onto their cassette player. I really don't know why we didn't think of that. Maybe the cassette recorder hadn't been invented then.

- Glyn Howard. Autobiography

Vertigo: 1971-1974

In 1970, Jade Warrior signed a contract with Vertigo Records : they were helped by the fact that the group was engaged in the management company Mother Mistro, which simultaneously unwound Assagai , the Afro-rockers that Vertigo was hunting for. Mother Mistro agreed to “give” them Assagai, but only complete with Jade Warrior. In addition, it turned out that an old friend Patrick Lyons works at Vertigo as a producer, specializing in finding new talented artists. So Jade Warrior, which at that time included David Dewig, brother Tony, who was under the influence of Hendrix ^[6] , as well as Alan Price and Dave Conners, ended up with a contract, but with a label that was completely not interested in them ^[4] .

In the debut album Jade Warrior (according to Allmusic), Dewig and Field “left a bizarre gloom” that was characteristic of July’s best things - in favor of “symphonic spirituality” expressed by a piercing, as if “planning” guitar sound (“Traveler”). The album, in which there are noticeable similarities with the early releases of Quintessence , The Incredible String Band and Moody Blues (despite the fact that Glyn Howard in his vocal parts reminded me a lot of Ieth Anderson from Jethro Tull ) Allmusic Dave Thompson (giving a rating of 4/5) calls " wonderful ” ^[7] .

In the first album, the style of the group took shape: experimental hard rock with sound elements, which later became known as world music . The defining instrument here was the flute, the parts of which, echoing the guitars, created an atmosphere of developing internal conflict, the expression for which was also found in unexpected transitions, changes in rhythm and volume. A “wordless” refrain, an internal cyclical arrangement, a change of rhythm - all this was also among the finds of Jade Warrior, which later appeared in the arsenal of other artists ^[2] .

In their second album, Released (1971), Jade Warrior somewhat changed their approach, inviting additional musicians to the studio: saxophonist and percussionists, which predetermined the sound of “Three Horned Dragon King”, “Minnamato's Dream” and especially the 15-minute jam “Barazinbar”. The “lyrical” side was represented here by the meditative nature of the tracks “Yellow Eyes” and “Bride of Summer”. As noted by Peter Thelen (reviewer of Gnosis), if the first album showed a variety of sound possibilities, then the second apparently decided to emphasize the contracting nature of the selected sound palette ^[1] .

According to Allmusic, a certain flaw in the album was predetermined by the fact that "... his predecessor expanded all the scope of what was possible in the prog-rock so much that everything here - except for a completely complete rebirth - would be regarded as a repetition of the past" ^[8] . Reviewer Dave Thompson has canceled the subtle, almost bluesy, guitar work, as well as the grace and taste with which the shades of light jazz and classical prog rock are embedded in the arrangements of the compositions. “Again, there is nothing that the Jade Warrior themselves have not hinted at least once before, but the impeccability of the implementation ... is a miracle in itself,” ^[8] , the reviewer concludes.

In the third album Last Autumn's Dream (1971), recorded with the participation of Alan Price (who also played on Released ) and David Dewig, brother of Tony, the group tried to reverse the maneuver, returning to the sound spatiality of the debut album, but at a new technical level, with a more honed arrangements and rich instrumental compositions. The material here is divided into three layers: meditative instrumental compositions with a touch of mystery (“Dark River”, “Obedience”, “Borne on the Solar Wind”), melodic songs sustained in the traditions of symphonic prog (“A Winters Tale”, “May Queen ”) and more tough things close to hard rock (“ Snake ”,“ The Demon Trucker ”,“ Joanne ”) ^[1] .

The group had a successful US tour, performing with Dave Mason , Long John Baldry and Earthquake . The tours were organized by Mercury Records , which transferred Jade Warrior to the Gaff-Masters Management (led by Billy Guff).

Despite the fact that Jade Warrior had a very strained relationship with Vertigo, they actively collaborated with Assagai, an ensemble whose core was made up of respectable African musicians Luis Mojolo, Mongesi Fez and Dudu Puquana. Assagai released two albums: the first (named after the group) included the song Jade Warrior “Telephone Girl”, as well as the song “Irin Ajolawa”, co-authored by Tony Dewig. The second Zimbabwe album (later re-released under the name AfroRock ) contains versions of “Barazinbar” (from the Released album) and “Sanga” (from Eclipse ), as well as the song “Kinzambi” written by Tony Dewig. Dewig, Field and Havard took part in the recording of Assagai's second album, and also formed a short-term joint project with them, Simba, two of which were included in the Afro Rock Festival compilation.

The first three albums were followed by Reflections ( Butt Records ), which included items from Released and Last Autumn's Dream , as well as three tracks recorded for Eclipse . In 1988, the German label Nine Records released the first three albums on CD, but in terrible quality, using not the originals locked in Vertigo / Polygram repositories as original sources, but draft recordings from Tony Dewig’s personal collection ^[4] . In 2000, the same material (but in the original version) was re-released by Hi-Note Records : the sound here is an order of magnitude better. Eclipse was released in 2001 by Acme Records (limited edition CD and vinyl). Some things that appeared after the 4th album (8 tracks, 36 minutes) were released by Background Records under the title Fifth Element . In the early 1970s, in addition, Jade Warrior recorded the main theme for the film “Bad Man's River” (based on “Too Many Heroes” from the Eclipse album and rewritten the text), as well as part of the music for the film “Game for Vultures” ^[4] .

The fourth Eclipse album was recorded amid escalating disagreements. As soon as the recording was finished, Vertigo Records sent the album “on the shelf” and terminated the contract with the group. Jade Warrior went on tour to Holland, but could not even finish them: the group broke up on the road, thus completing the “first period” of its history ^[4] .

Island: 1974-1978

One fan of Jade Warrior was Steve Winwood of Traffic . It was he who persuaded Chris Blackwell, the boss of Island Records, to sign the group for four instrumental albums (thus automatically eliminating Glynn Havard from the composition), which could serve as: a) “decorative decoration” of the company's products, b) Virgin's response, which was phenomenally successful with Mike Oldfield . Field and Dewig, agreeing to the experiment, radically changed direction and began to create thematic music, more ambient than hard rock ^[4] .

All four Island albums (released from 1974 to 1978 with the participation of, among others, David Dewig, Steve Winwood and Fred Freet) were hard to get in the USA and almost impossible in England. The reason, according to Field, was the selfishness of Blackwell, who "loved Jade Warrior so much that he considered the group as his property: he wanted to listen to them himself and did not want to sell to anyone." There were even more prosaic reasons: the Island boss himself admitted that his fellow distributors had been working disgusting in those years ^[4] .

Floating World (1974) is a musical study of the Japanese concept of Ukiyo : “flying” through eventful “heavens,” in complete freedom and tranquility. The outstanding track of the album is “Monkey Chant”: a combination of kekak chants ( Bali island) and Dewig's guitar solo in the spirit of Hendrix ^[4] .

Waves (1975) is a mesmerizing sonic journey through pastoral dawn landscapes: over the river surface - to the ocean and further along the waves with whales. Kites (1976) - a review of the artistic landscapes of Paul Klee , as well as a look at the 9th century China and the wanderings of the Zen monk Teh Ch'eng ^[4] . The album was praised by many critics and musicians, in particular, Brian Eno ^[2] .

Way of the Sun (1978) is dedicated to Central America - before and after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. This is the most accessible album of four for ordinary perception and gives the most complete picture of the depth, richness and complexity of Jade Warrior music. All four albums are not similar to each other and at the same time, are a kind of tetralogy. “This resembles the work of a treasure hunter who cuts into the mountain, knowing that there are treasures, cannot find them, returns and makes an attempt to get to the target in another way ...” ^[4] - said John Field. All four albums were packaged by Island / Polygram in the Elements box set, as an appendix to which was released a biography of the group, written by Vivien Goldman. The boxing sect was released without the knowledge of the group: Polygram mistakenly believed that after "Way of the Sun" Jade Warrior broke up.

1978-1993

Since 1978, there has been a pause in the history of Jade Warrior, overshadowed by troubles of a household and financial nature. John Field divorced, moved from London to the village, but soon became aware that in the pursuit of pastoral harmony as a source of “pure inspiration” he lost the ability to work effectively. Tony Dewig fell ill, moved from London to Glastonbury and, having laid a house, founded a commercial studio located next to the famous abbey . The adventure turned into a disaster: the studio went bankrupt, and the musician was homeless. This blow, apparently, became fatal for his health ^[4] .

During this period, Jade Warrior released two albums. Horizen ( 1984 , Pulse Records ) is a grim piece in which the main thing, “Dune,” stretched out across the entire plate. This is practically a Dewig solo work with minimal involvement from Field. At Peace ( 1989 , Earthsounds Records ) - a quiet, meditative and expressionless record (not even ambient, rather, new age) - was recorded in Dewig's studio in just 4 days. Field said that both of his albums now "cause nothing but disgust." “Jade Warrior completely lost the thread of development and changed its own principles,” he said ^[4] .

Having sold his rural house, John returned to the capital. Here he began to look for jobs in studios and play jazz in small clubs. Soon, he founded a recording studio, where he met Dave Stuart, a young bass player from the north of England. Stewart, amazed at the musician’s skill level, first invited him to participate in his own jazz band, and then persuaded him to revive Jade Warrior. Soon they were joined by Colin Henson, the guitarist whom his girlfriend, Carol Bellingham, introduced to John: all three started recording a new album. Tony Dewig wanted to join the new composition, but - not having time to record anything, he died of a heart attack.

Breathing the Storm was released in 1992 by Red Hot Records . The theme of the album was chaos: in the mathematical, physical and spiritual sense. Distant Echoes also released Red Hot in 1993 : a musical exploration of the prehistoric world, more compact and focused, largely reminiscent of Way of the Sun , was highly praised by music critics. Among the musicians who joined Jade Warrior in the studio were Theo Travis (ex- Gong , Soft Machine ) and David Cross ( King Crimson ).

Some time later, the group began work on the next album, but all the films were sent to the shelf. Over the next decade, Jade Warrior, not officially breaking up, remained in hibernation. Since 2004, members of the team began to discuss the possibility of resuming studio work and exchange ideas. Vocalist Glyn Havard decided to return to Jade Warrior, on the contrary, Colin Henson decided to withdraw from the composition ^[4] .

NOW

On June 30, 2008, WindWeaver Records ^[9] released the 14th studio album Jade Warrior NOW . The group recorded it as part of: Glyn Howard, John Field and Dave Sturt ( Eng. Dave Sturt ), a new member of Jade Warrior.

... Years passed, and after several not too persistent attempts to return to the London stage (it was in the 80s, not the most pleasant time), I sold my guitar, took up sculpture and martial arts, got married and “settled down”. But the feeling that the first part of Jade Warrior did not realize its potential did not leave me. So, when a year ago, Dave Stert called me and offered to join the group as a vocalist and guitarist, I agreed without hesitation ... The new album “Now” met all my expectations and marks the next stage of renewal and revival that were characteristic of the whole story groups.

- Glyn Howard ^[10] .

Among the invited musicians who participated in the work on the disc are the famous British jazzman saxophonist Theo Travis, guitarist Tim Stone, drummer Jeff Davenport, pianist Chris Inham, flute player Charlotte Field (John's daughter), saxophonist Gowan Turnbull ^[11] . Bob Mulvey (www.dprp.net) gave the album an 8.5 / 10 rating ^[12] . On October 23, 2008, Jade Warrior gave a concert at Astoria , marking a return to the concert stage after 35 years of absence ^[4] .

• 1971 - Jade Warrior
• 1971 - Released
• 1972 - Last Autumn's Dream
• 1972 - Eclipse
• 1974 - Floating World
• 1975 - Waves
• 1976 - Kites
• 1978 - Way of the Sun
• 1984 - Horizon
• 1994 - Distant Echoes
• 1995 - Breathing the Storm
• 2001 - At Peace
• 2002 - Fifth Elemen t
• 2005 - Eclipse
• 2008 - NOW

• Samples Dave Sterth Commerce. Howard Telephone Interview for BBC Radio 6
• Friends of jade warrior
• Ashley Franklin's article on the Classic Rock Society
• Glyn Howard. Autobiography. 2000