Harmos
Harmos
1989 studio album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra
Harmos is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released later that year by Intakt Records.[1][2][3][4] Guy interpreted the Greek title in its original meaning of "coming together,"[5] and the work attempts to find solutions to the challenges surrounding the coexistence of improvisation and composition.[6]
In a retrospective interview, Guy recalled the LJCO's financial difficulties, and reflected: "Luckily, things went very well for me in the baroque music business. I bought instruments, strings and bows so that I could perform the Mozart symphonies as adequately as possible. And when I needed money for improvised music, I'd sell one or two instruments. The first CD I made for Intakt, Harmos, was financed by selling one of my basses."[7]
A version of "Harmos" also appears on the 2001 trio recording Odyssey with Guy, Marilyn Crispell, and Paul Lytton.[8] In 2012, Intakt released a DVD documenting a live performance of the work by the LJCO.[9][6]