TRACKLISTING

CD 1
Cello Concerto (Farewell to Philosophy)
1 Untitled
2 Più mosso
3 Untitled
4 Untitled
5 (“The Philosopher”)
6 Poco meno mosso
7 (“Farewell”) a tempo

One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing
for percussion ensemble
8 Lento
9 Più mosso
10 coda

11 Les Fiançailles
12 Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
(with Tom Waits) — Single

CD 2
1 The Green Ray

Adnan Songbook
2–9 Songs I–VIII

The Sinking of the Titanic
10 Titanic Lament (radio edit)
11 The North Shore

12 Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
(with Tom Waits) — Single remix

RECORDING INFORMATION

Gavin Bryars: a portrait is a double album celebrating the 60th birthday (on 16 January 2003) of this incredible musician, as well as his career to date as one of the most prolific, innovative contemporary composers. His work draws together jazz and minimalist composition, creating a sound that sits somewhere between the work of ECM artists, and that of Philip Glass, Michael Nyman and Steve Reich.

During the 1990s, many of Gavin Bryars’s most important works were released or re-released on the Point music label, and his most popular work, his 1993 reworking of Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (with Tom Waits), captured the public's imagination, and introduced Gavin Bryars to an even wider audience.

The original Jesus' Blood emerged from a trip by a camera crew to Waterloo Station in London, 1971, in order to tape interviews with homeless people. When the producers got back to the studio they realised they had caught the singing of an unidentified homeless man in the background of their footage and Gavin Bryars recorded multiple versions of this haunting vocal track.

Other tracks on this album include the Cello Concerto: Farewell to Philosophy (written for Julian Lloyd Webber), The Green Ray (written for saxophonist John Harle and inspired by the novel of the same name by Jules Verne) and the lament from The Sinking of the Titanic (his first major work, recorded in 1969 and re-released on Point in the 1990s).

Bryars has composed extensively for contemporary dance and ballet, working with Lucinda Childs/Rambert Dance Company, Siobhan Davies, Jiri Kylian, Merce Cunningham, the Dutch National Ballet (production 2003) and many more. He has also worked with visual artists such as Bruce MacLean, Tim Head, French artist Christian Botanski, renowned theatre director Robert Wilson and David Byrne.

Extensive information about Gavin Bryars can be found at www.gavinbryars.com.

This is a must-have collection for all fans of Gavin Bryars as well as an impressive illustration of innovative compositional style.