Association P.C.-Erna Morena, LP 1973(Live recorded in 1972,NWW list!)

Association P. C. recorded the five albums , yet remain virtually unknown. The fact is that there was never much prospect of hearing the milkman whistling a cheery little number by Association P. C., given that they set out expressly to "transcend the boundaries of traditional forms" of music. This they did with considerable accomplishment, involving the talents at various times of some of Europe's best new jazz musicians:

drummer Pierre Courbois

bassists Siggi Busch and Peter Krijnen

guitarist Toto Blanke

keyboard players Joachim Kühn and Jasper van 't Hof

saxman Karl-Heinz Wiberny

and last, but by no stretch of the imagination least flautist sans pareil Jeremy Steig,

while coming up with an unexpected treat late in the 1990sin the company of veteran saxophonist Lol Coxhill.

"Erna Morena" is one of the two live recordings released by the band, and that was very much in keeping with what they were doing. I was fortunate enough to catch them at a gig at Brighton College of Art on England's south coast. My memory tells me that this would have been around the time when "Erna Morena" was recorded in Freiburg - April 25, 1972. Unfortunately for what it says about my memory, they were joined on the occasion of my attendance by a young flute player, Jeremy Steig, who was already building a reputation as one of his generation's shining stars and has since become a leading and widely- recorded jazz improviser. Officially, Steig and the band came together rather later than that, so this period is still a little hazy for me. I know, that's what they all say...
From the liner notes: "The term "free"", in the context of "freeform music", "after being used in the 60s mainly to mean "beyond tonality, melody and metre"...now stands for an entirely new quality of musical freedom in the music of Association P.C....it signifies really sovereign mastery over all musical areas." Judging by what I saw, I have no grounds to dispute that statement.

Toto Blanke (guitar)

Jasper van 't Hof (electric piano, organ)

Siggi Busch (bass, electric bass)

Pierre Courbois (drums)

Karl-Heinz Wiberny (guest) (alto clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones)

(infos from:http://www.underview.com/music/associationpc.html)