Phil Manzanera

Phil Manzanera - Firebird V11 - 2008 - Expression Records

Firebird V11 is a studio album by Phil Manzanera, guitarist of rock band Roxy Music. The album's title is inspired by a guitar of the same name, made by Gibson, a guitar with which Manzanera has had a long career - WIKIPEDIA

They say you can never go back, but this new album teams Phil Manzanera with Charles Hayward, the drummer from his first school band in south London. A chance airport encounter led to this loosely structured and cheerfully experimental reunion, named after the raw-toned Gibson Firebird V11 guitar that Manzanera played in Roxy Music (you can see it on the cover of their album For Your Pleasure, and indeed on this one, too). Besides Hayward, who founded the pioneering This Heat and remains a force on London's improvising scene, we have Israeli jazz-classical-rock bassist Yaron Stavi (a regular Gilad Atzmon collaborator) and the brilliant Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer, whose keyboards add a dramatic dimension to the art-rock lineup. It's very much a guitar album, driven by Hayward's big beat, yet Manzanera shines best on the tunes written by his mates: Bill MacCormick's opening Fortunately I Had One With Me, Możdżer's FIReEBIReD and Hayward's After Magritte. © John L Walters The Guardian, Friday 14 November 2008 ***/5 © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/14/phil-manzanera-firebird-v11-review

On Firebird VII, the Roxy Music guitarist returns with drummer Charles Hayward to the territory they staked out as jazz-rock outfit Quiet Sun in the mid-Seventies, here accompanied by bassist Yaron Stavi and pianist Leszek Mozdzer. The Gibson Firebird VII is Manzanera's signature guitar, which he's used since For Your Pleasure, here offering the double benefits of a wiry high register and the kind of hefty, limitless sustain of which Nigel Tufnell might fondly fantasise. Besides Manzanera's title-track, each band member contributes a composition apiece, along with former Quiet Sun alumnus Bill MacCormick, with a seventh track, "Mexican Hat", improvised from 16 chords drawn from the hat in question, four per player. Like Manzanera's "Cartagena" and Hayward's "After Magritte", MacCormick's "Fortunately I Had One With Me" was written for Quiet Sun; here, it opens the album like The Stooges playing art-rock, before settling into a jazz-rock riff of dark urgency. Mozdzer is outstanding on "Cartagena", scattering little piano runs over Manzanera's rising guitar figures, followed by scurrying clusters of furtive, mouse-like synth as it gathers momentum. It's an impressive piece of work overall. So: is it time for the Stomu Yamash'ta revival yet? Pick of the album:'Fortunately I Had One With Me', 'After Magritte', 'Cartagena', 'Firebird VII' ***/5 Reviewed by & © Andy Gill Friday, 7 November 2008 © independent.co.uk http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-phil-manzanera-firebird-vii-expression-997587.html

Yes! Phil has delivered an instrumental classic which shares a kinship with the best of Diamond Head, Mainstream, and 801. Really! It even sounds as if it was recorded with vintage instruments, and isn't that a good thing? Charles Hayward is a breath of fresh air - a real drummer playing a real kit with subtlety and restraint, and not merely a technobot who likes to "lift things up and put them down" as fast as possible. This release was a pleasant surprise - as the last trio of Manzanera solo offerings sounded somewhat constrained by self-conscious song writing and vocal delivery. Phil sticks to his strengths here, with maybe his best and tastiest guitar work yet. With no high profile guests and nothing to prove, the result is an organic work in which the songs are given room to breath and develop. They are not over produced or overworked, and sound almost like spontaneous jams flowing in and around strong foundations (think: Miss Shapiro from 801 Live) A tasteful, mature, yet risky work. A good cup of coffee in a sea of 5-hour energy snorts! 4.5 stars. by & © muddymouth | 4/5 | 2010-11-13 © Prog Archives, All rights reserved http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=317670

"Firebird Vii" is a good jazzy instrumental suite with a Latin tinge written for Phil Manzanera's signature Gibson guitar. Despite being called "jazzy/avant garde", it is totally accessible, and sidesteps any accusations of self-indulgence. Phil is backed by bassist Yaron Stavi, pianist Leszek Mozdzer, and drummer Charles Hayward. The album was recorded in one week at Phil Manzanera's Gallery Studios in June 2007. The music is very much in the tradition of Quiet Sun and the instrumental side of the 801 Live project. Some of the tracks were originally written in 1970 for Quiet Sun's 'Mainstream' album. Sound quality on track one is not on a par with the rest of the album, and the album could do without the intended "scratching" and "sound clip" intros to each track, but they're minor quibbles. Listen to Phil's "K-Scope" and "801 Live @ Hull" albums, and Phil Manzanera & Quiet Sun's "Mainstream" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 109 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Fortunately I Had One With Me (W MacCormick) 4:47
2 Cartagena (Manzanera) 6:11
3 FIReEBIReD (Mozdzer) 5:57
4 Mexican Hat (Manzanera/Hayward/Mozdzer/Stavi) 10:42
5 Firebird V11 (Manzanera) 5:58
6 A Few Minutes (Stavi) 7:12
7 After Magritte (Hayward) 7:18

MUSICIANS

Phil Manzanera - Gibson Firebird V11 Guitar, Vocals
Yaron Stavi - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Bass, Vocals
Leszek Mozdzer - Piano, Synths, Vocals
Charles Hayward - Slingerland Drums, Vocals

SHORT BIO

The longtime guitarist for legendary British art pop sophisticates Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera was born Philip Targett-Adams in London on January 31, 1951. The child of an English father and Colombian mother, he was raised in various spots, including Hawaii and Cuba, and while living in Venezuela began playing guitar at the age of eight. Profoundly influenced by both Latin music and rock & roll, while attending school at London's Dulwich College in 1966 Manzanera co-founded the psychedelic band Pooh and the Ostrich Feather, later rechristened Quiet Sun concurrent with a move toward a more avant-garde approach. When the group dissolved in 1972, Manzanera replaced guitarist Dave O'List in Roxy Music, joining in time to record their self-titled debut LP. A series of classic albums followed and upon completion of 1974's Country Life, Manzanera returned to the studio to record his first solo effort, the largely instrumental Diamond Head. Around that same time, he contributed to solo efforts from fellow Roxy Music alums Bryan Ferry (Another Time, Another Place) and Brian Eno (the groundbreaking Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain [By Strategy]), and even cut a Quiet Sun reunion LP, Mainstream. Manzanera continued balancing his Roxy Music duties with solo projects and session dates, in 1975 producing the up-and-coming New Zealand group Split Enz; with Roxy Music entering a state of suspended animation a year later, he formed the short-lived 801 before touring with Ferry. The 801 aegis was revived for 1977's Listen Now!!; upon completing the follow-up, K-Scope, Manzanera joined the revived Roxy Music for Manifesto, their best-selling album in the U.S. He remained with the group through their last studio album, the 1982 masterpiece Avalon, and following their final tour he reunited with ex-Roxy saxophonist Andy Mackay as the Explorers, also recording a 1986 LP with onetime Asia frontman John Wetton. While 1990's Southern Cross featured extensive vocal contributions from onetime Split Enz member Tim Finn, Manzanera was largely absent from the studio during much of the decade to follow, primarily focusing on live performances (including appearances at the Guitar Legends and WOMAD festivals). In 1999, he issued the Latin-influenced Vozero, closing out the year by backing Ferry at the British Gas Millennium Concert, their first joint performance in 18 years. © Jason Ankeny © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/phil-manzanera-p4839/biography