When Ornette Coleman curated 2009’s Meltdown at the South Bank Centre, the main hall hosted the likes of Yoko Ono, Patti Smith and Robert Wyatt; but, on a small stage in the Queen Elizabeth Hall’s foyer, a riot was going on, closest in spirit to the free jazz legend’s volcanic trailblazing of the 50s. Blowing together in a marathon display of full-tilt improvisation and telepathic sonic peaks were veteran jazz/ experimental drummer Steve Reid (Sun Ra, Horace Silver, Miles, Freddie Hubbard, untold more), electronic manipulator Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, and Ayler-esque sax titan Mats Gustafson.
Reid and Hebden began their partnership in 2005, recording four albums for Domino. That evening, they let rip a full-tilt mélange of dense ambient trajectories and free-form anarchy, sometimes imbued with motorik rhythms. Six of that night’s incandescent forays are spread over two CDs, a peak-heavy rollercoaster highlighted by the rabid skronk and jet plane ascension of Lyman Place or dervish drone of Morning Prayer – where Gustafson was too entranced to even start playing. It was to be one of Reid’s last performances before succumbing to throat cancer in April 2010.
