On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.
Basil Kirchin: Primitive London (Trunk Records, 12/6/10)
Basil Kirchin: “Primitive London 3”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/03-basil_kirchin-primitive_london_3.mp3|titles=Basil Kirchin: “Primitive London 3”]As one of the most under-appreciated artists of his time (roughly from the late 1950s to the mid-’70s), Basil Kirchin’s music has been shrouded in obscurity. But thanks to Jonny Trunk and the folks at Trunk Records, who’ve reissued titles such as Particles and Abstractions of the Industrial North, Kirchin has not only been realized as one of jazz’s most eccentric characters, but as a musician ahead of his time in terms of experiments in sound and fusion.
Trunk Records’ latest release, Primitive London, reveals some of the grooviest music Kirchin ever made, bringing together two never-before-released film scores. The first is the strange cult-classic Primitive London, the 1965 Arnold Louis Miller shock-doc that explores the dark side of London during its birth of cool. Accompanying Primitive London is an even more obscure unreleased gem, The Freelance, a 1971 gangster film shot in London featuring a score by Kirchin.
Trunk Records’ decision to release them together is a fantastic idea: each film reflects two distinct periods in Kirchin’s musical career and development. Primitive London listens like a double feature; Kirchin’s swinging ’60s jazz turns into something entirely different by the 1970s, as he delves deeper into the spontaneity of free jazz and the nuances of the experimental.