Nucleus: Live At Loughborough University 1976 (Esoteric Recordings)

 Nucleus: Live At Loughborough University 1976 (Esoteric Recordings)

This double CD was previously released under the title UK Tour ’76 (Major League Productions, 2006). The following review of this album is reproduced in its entirety. The 2006 release included sleeve notes by Ian Carr’s biographer Alyn Shipton and Nucleus keyboardist Geoff Castle. There were eight photographs or illustrations included and it was presented in a double jewel case. The newly reissued version (Esoteric Recordings, 2026) contains six different photographs or illustrations. It also has a four-page essay by Sid Smith. The new remastered release is presented in a digipak format.

(Recorded live 18 February 1976 and from information garnered from Ian Carr’s engagement diary for 1976: the concert took place in the Student Union Edward Herbert building of Loughborough University in Ashby Rd, Loughborough)

This was a remarkable double CD released in 2006 by Major League Productions Ltd. It was remarkable inasmuch as this broadcast quality stereo recording was ever found, rescued and subsequently released. The music is absolutely superb and it is easy to see why this band was being lauded as the premier protagonists of British jazz rock. Judging by the announcements made by Ian Carr in between the tunes heard on this recording, it is likely that this tour was aiming to promote the Alleycat album released the previous year.

The album / concert kicks off with ‘Snakehips Etcetera’ and has an extended wah wah inflected trumpet solo by Ian Carr. Roger Sutton’s imaginatively entitled ‘Phaideaux Corner’ is next and is a slightly faster version than the studio version on the ‘Alleycat’ studio album. Despite a few slight mistakes at the beginning, and some trumpet fluffs which reflect the difficulty of the piece, these are hastily and professionally rectified and mostly unnoticeable. A confident Bob Bertles sax solo ensues. A marginally slower version of ‘Alleycat’ than on the studio album follows. Again, there are a few minor fluffs but the presentation of it resounds with the excitement of heavy rock and jazz fusion. The live, untreated sound of the drums here – minus the ubiquitous compression heard on studio recordings – shows just how effective a musician and timekeeper Roger Sellers is, his percussion exuding raw power and energy. There is an affecting and lengthy Ian Carr solo here followed by a great, exciting guitar solo where Kenny Shaw’s talent really starts to shine.  

The second CD begins with Bob Bertles excellent ‘Nosegay’, which is surely one of the most difficult tunes in the entire Nucleus canon and which is handled here with great aplomb. There ensues some excellent sax soloing from Bob Bertles, closely followed by a keyboard solo over a very tight bass and drum rhythm unit. ‘You Can’t Be Sure’ opens with a bluesy solo by Ken Shaw, swiftly joined by Roger Sutton on bass and Ian Carr on trumpet. This track smartly segues into ‘Pastoral Graffiti’ with its elegant flute solo, the piece ending with the theme now being taken up by Carr, played quietly and sensitively. 

‘Splat’ is introduced by Ian Carr (there are several introductions throughout this double album, which adds to its interest, not least Carr’s pronunciation of ‘Alleycat’ as ‘Allécat’) and this twelve-minute workout demonstrates that the band has clearly warmed up by this point in the concert. The piece is no easier than, say, ‘Nosegay’ yet they tackle it with great expertise.  Roger Sutton’s ‘Alive and Kicking’ ends the set. This is the longest track on the album (twenty-two minutes) involving a long bass solo introduction (six minutes) followed by a marathon sax solo where Bertles manages to weave in a couple of quotes from ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ and it’s a full ten minutes before the main theme is even introduced. This is followed by some brilliant guitar shredding by Kenny Shaw. However, the piece ends, after its ‘official’ synth–rich coda, with an additional and unexpected trumpet solo coda accompanied only by a quiet guitar line and cowbell, plus some strains of Moog synth. The audience is taken by surprise but the applause at the end of the concert is appropriately ecstatic. For any genuine Nucleus fan this album is a compulsory purchase particularly if they never managed to see the band live. A wonderful and essential piece of jazz history and one of the best live albums to be heard by any band.

The review above is reproduced in full from Elastic Dream: The Music Of Ian Carr An Annotated Discography by Roger Farbey, Jazz In Britain, 2023 pp. 127-128 (review previously titled: UK Tour ’76).