At the BBC 1969-70 [CD]

Pianist Keith Tippett was only twenty-one when his group cut the first of these sessions for the BBC's Jazz Workshop in May 1969, a few months ahead of his debut album You Are Here... I Am There. That set centres on the three-part "Portishead Suite," a trio of contrasting portraits of three generations of the Somerset town, from gently flowing to a driving 5/4 to playful Caribbean-tinged rhythms, plus "Hail Conquering Hero," which Tippett called a jazz study of war. None of it had been released before. Two 1970 Jazz Workshop sets follow, with versions of material from his second album Dedicated to You; the last, billed as Keith Tippett & Heavy Friends, is a single unbroken 23-minute piece.

Very good broadcast fidelity, with sleevenotes by Duncan Heining. On CD from 1960s Records.

• 01. Portishead Suite - First Generation
• 02. Portishead Suite - Second Generation
• 03. Portishead Suite - Third Generation
• 04. Hail Conquering Hero
• 05. How Long This Time
• 06. Thoughts To Geoff
• 07. In A Vacant Mood
• 08. Thoughts To Geoff (2)
• 09. Five After Dawn
• 10. Green & Orange Night Park