Iskra 1903, Wired, New Phonic Art - Free Improvisation, 3LP Box, 1974

New Phonic Art 1973 - One disc of a triple-set released on Deutsche Grammophon in 1974 aimed at showcasing the contemporary improvised music in Europe by way of three combos: one French (New Phonic Art), one German (Wired - with Conny Plank producing) and one from Great Britain (Iskra 1903, featuring Derek Bailey). Each group was given a full disc to do their thing with seemingly no restrictions. New Phonic Art 1973 was a quartet that assembled notable 20th century composers Michel Portal, Vinko Globokar, Carlos Roqué Alsina (from Argentina), and Jean-Pierre Drouet. [Improvisation Nr. 2 mp3]

Iskra 1903 - Since the formation of this trio in 1970, the name Iskra (with an assortment of date-based suffixes) has been assumed for many different lineups, usually comprised of musicians from the Spontaneous Music Ensemble/Incus/Emanem extended family. Featured in the 1974 Deutsche Grammaphon triple-disc set mentioned above, Iskra 1903: Improvisations represents the original trio, with Derek Bailey (guitars), Barry Guy (bass) and Paul Rutherford (trombone).

Wired - Wired was the German third of the Free Improvisation boxed set (Deutsche Grammophon couldn't very well exclude their own countrymen) - a quartet comprising Harry Partch disciple Mike Ranta on percussion, guitarist Karl-Heinz Böttner on saiteninstrumente (stringed instruments), Mike Lewis on Hammond organ, and the aforementioned Conny Plank on klangregie (sound direction; this indicates the importance of the mixing desk in the session.) The Wired disc (minus the other two from the set) appeared within the last year as a "grey-area" LP, which is available here.

Part 1 - New Phonic Art
Part 2 - Iskra 1903
Part 3 - Wired