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ARTIST
TITLE
Wigmore Hall 1968
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
6FFCND186 6FFCND186
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
4/17/2026

To the best of anyone's knowledge this performance by John Tchicai and Cadentia Nova Danica was the first ever jazz- or improvisation-type concert held at London's hallowed recital room Wigmore Hall. 1968 was a year of Denmark's extensive cultural program in Britain, which included a poorly attended CND concert, not recorded, on 2nd October at Manchester's Free Trade Hall. That this was to be the sole concert by Tchicai -- of New York Contemporary Five, New York Art Quartet, Coltrane's Ascension fame -- was stupefyingly ridiculous so Anthony Barnett set about trying to organize a London concert. He traipsed the capital in search of an available venue without luck until, with no thought of a positive outcome, he entered Wigmore Hall. To his astonishment, with few questions asked, they said yes. Following that, there was the matter of work permits. Barnett visited the relevant office and they too said yes, probably because of the involvement of The Royal Danish Embassy and the Danish Cultural Ministry with the Manchester concert. Danmarks Radio asked the BBC to record the concert on its behalf. The arrangement was that Barnett would receive a small fee and a complete set of the tapes. Afterwards, it turned out that the BBC had edited the tapes down to what it sent to Danmarks Radio, as broadcast and now heard here for the first time since. Sadly, and quite true to form, the BBC had wiped the rest. And it was a struggle for Anthony Barnett to get back the tape that did remain. Possibly it shows how difficult things can be when one acts independently. Featuring Cadentia Nova Danica at the absolute peak of their powers; furious, rich and dense, moving between freeform improvisation and African touchstones before erupting into incandescent free improvisation. Includes an insert with the reproduction of both Wigmore Hall and Manchester's Free Trade Hall original press releases. Liner notes by Anthony Barnett.