4 Compositions for Sextet
4 Compositions for Sextet is an album by English free-jazz drummer Tony Oxley, which was recorded in 1970 and released on CBS.
The album, the second of a trilogy that Oxley recorded for major labels, features the same band with whom he recorded the previous, The Baptised Traveller, expanded to a sextet with the addition of trombonist Paul Rutherford.
Reception
In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek states "The four tunes are all outer-limits numbers; all methadrine takes on what were happening improvisations. It's true that there are loose structures imposed on all four tracks, but they quickly dissolve under the barrage of sonic whackery."The [Penguin Guide to Jazz] notes that "Four Compositions was a title guaranteed to offend players and fans who wanted to set aside any implications of predetermined structures."
In his book Honesty Is Explosive!: Selected Music Journalism, music writer Ben Watson claims about the album "It is a stone-cold, drop-dead, ice pick-in-the-forehead masterpiece. It was too much for the marketing department at Columbia, and Oxley was dropped."
Track listing
- "Saturnalia" – 10:09
- "Scintilla" – 8:56
- "Amass" – 13:00
- "Megaera" – 6:09
Personnel