The Cigar That Talks, recorded by the trio of Michel Doneda, soprano and sopranino saxophones, John Russell, acoustic guitar and Roger Turner, drums and percussion, is an album of radical improvisation where copper, wood and steel become music by the only miracle of a perfect interaction seized on the spot.
Michel Doneda (born in 1954 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France) is a soprano saxophonist of improvised music. He multiplies the meetings and the collaborations since the beginning of the years 1980: Didier Masmalet, Steve Robins,
Beñat Achiary,
Fred van Hove,
John Zorn,
Lol Coxhill, Raymond Boni, Phil Wachsmann, Ravi Prasard,
Joëlle Léandre,
Daunik Lazro,
Lê Quan Ninh, Alain Joule, Barre Phillips, Martine Altenburger, Dominique Regef, Elvin Jones, Elliot Sharp, Jin Hi Kim, Mats Gustafsson,
Sonic Youth,
Camel Zekri, Keith Rowe, Tetsu Saitoh, Kazue Sawai, Gunter Muller,
Fabrice Charles, Gérard Fabbiani, Bhob Rainey,
Bertrand Gauguet,
Giuseppe Ielasi,
Stéphane Garin,
Jérôme Noetinger,
Alfredo Costa Monteiro,
eRikm,
Serge Pey, Masaki Iwana, Valérie Metivier, Yukiko Nakamura...
John Russell (1954-2021) got his first guitar in 1965 while living in Kent and began to play in and around London from 1971 onwards. An early involvement with the emerging free improvisation scene (from 1972) followed, seeing him play in such places as The Little Theatre Club, Ronnie Scott's, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Musicians' Co-Op and the London Musicians' Collective. From 1974 his work extended into teaching, broadcasts (radio and television) and touring in the United Kingdom and, ever extensively, in other countries around the world. He has played with many of the world's leading improvisers and his work can be heard on over 50 CDs and albums. In 1981, he founded QUAQUA, a large bank of improvisers put together in different combinations for specific projects and, in 1991, he started MOPOMOSO which has become the UK's longest running concert series featuring mainly improvised music.
Roger Turner (born 1946 in Whitstable, UK) is a drummer and percussionist who has been active in the experimental and improvised music scene since the 1960s-70s. His many collaborations reflect his eclectic approach, from the Ghanaian percussion group Mask and the experimental music group The Ritual Theatre to Annette Peacock and The Nose Flutes, as well as Toshinori Kondo,
Derek Bailey,
John Russell,
Steve Beresford, Carlos Zingaro,
Evan Parker,
Joëlle Léandre,
Otomo Yoshihide, Shelley Hirsch, Keith Rowe, Wolfgang Fuchs, Cecil Taylor, Alan Silva,
Phil Minton, Tom Cora, Lol Coxhill, Elton Dean (Soft Machine),
Mike Cooper, Thomas Lehn, Tim Hodgkinson...
