A Band | en

The A Band are a British improvised music collective formed in Nottingham, UK in the late 1980s. In 2005, The Wire magazine stated that "the importance of The A-Band to the UK rock underground is commensurate with the explosive impact that groups like AMM, SME or The People Band had on the free jazz and Improv set. An ever-fluctuating group of artists, dole boys, punk conceptualists and record collectors, they were the first UK ensemble to anchor a free drone music in the muscle and scorch of the most high-energy rock, while keeping it as untutored as the most elemental folk."

The A Band itself was founded at the behest of saxophonist Vince Earimal, who required a backing band, and the unit quickly became an ever-changing, freeform improvisation unit, able to play without Earimal. Richard Youngs joined upon moving to Nottingham and he recalled in The Wire (also issue 259) that Jim Plaistow and Neil Campbell (of Astral Social Club) were the only constantly present members. They could number up to 18 on any given occasion (largely due to Campbell's insistence that he would only perform with the band if there was a new member each time). The original collective came to a halt around 1995.

The line-up of the group has never been fixed, with over two dozen members credited on recordings, and several other people appearing live, including Philip Julian of Cheapmachines and Phil Todd of Ashtray Navigations, Karl Waugh, John Aziz, Martin Bizarro, Sharen Woodward (SPeW), Simon Murphy and Simon Wickham-Smith.

Name

The group never performed under the name A Band or any obvious permutation thereof (they are occasionally listed as The A-Band). Instead, the group used a different name for each performance, all of which began with the letter A. These included Anusol, Arachnid, Arse-over-tit, Awkward, Afterclap, American Evil, Anaglypta, Artex, AC/DC, Ack Ack, Anglegrinder and Advent the latter in commemoration of the then-recently released Richard Youngs LP - in fact, it was at this show that Youngs' spoken word record 171 Used Train Tickets (released 2004) was recorded. However, the releases were almost always credited to "A Band" and these included several cassette releases, an LP on Siltbreeze and a 7" single. Some archive recordings later saw daylight; a CD of recordings from 1991 was issued in 1997 and live activity, also from 1991, was given a vinyl release in 2003, the material being edited by Youngs with artwork from Campbell and Plaistow.

Reformation

In June 2007, the group performed at the 4th Festival Of Improvised Music in Warrington, as Afterclap. The line up included many original participants. Further performances have included American Evil, Alphabet, Again, Aberystwyth, Apparition, Anklebiter, and Avacado

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