A fine Freeness episode with at its heart a very well put together tribute to the guitarist and Mopomoso paterfamilias John Russell who died last month. Presenter Corey Mwamba in the course of the tribute talks to Russell's collaborator Irish pianist and fellow improviser Paul G. Smyth who quips with no little warmth that Mopomoso was ''like stepping on to the set of a Ken Loach movie.'' Pieces played in the course of the show, Radio 3's only significant outlet for avant-jazz as an unerring focus, included Juliana Day's 'Concealed/Classified 5 for Juliana Day,' Geri Allen's 'Dancing Mystic Poets At Twylight,' the Susan Alcorn Quintet's 'Pedernal' and Fête Quaqua's 'Archaeology'. John Russell, above Listening: link
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