ESP-Disk dig out and repress a long lost classic with the avant-garde masterpiece from the Peter Lemer Quintet.

Track Listing:
A1. Ictus 5:55
A2. City 7:42
A3. Frowville 7:52
B1. In the out 9:21
B1. Carmen 8:53
B3. Enahenado 2:51

All tracks written by Peter Lemer except #1 by Carla Bley.
Personnel: Nisar Ahmad (George) Khan, tenor saxophone; John Surman, baritone and soprano saxophones , bass
clarinet; Peter Lemer, piano; Tony Reeves, bass; Jon Hiseman, drums
Overview: See that amazing personnel list? All five of those musicians are scheduled to reunite for a special one-time
concert on February 20, 2018 at noted London jazz club Pizza Express. To celebrate, ESP-Disk' is reissuing this seminal
album of British avant-jazz on vinyl.
British pianist Peter Lemer studied with Jaki Byard, Paul Bley, and Bill Dixon, so his roots in jazz are strong. His
lengthy and distinguished career has found him in a wide variety of settings. As an avant-garde jazz pianist, he recorded
with Spontaneous Music Ensemble; in the jazz fusion realm, he was a member of Gilgamesh and Paraphernalia; as a
progressive rock keyboardist, he played with Gong, Baker Gurvitz Army, the Mike Oldfield Group, Seventh Wave, and In
Cahoots. Sideman credits include work with Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, and more.
Surprisingly, Local Colour – his debut recording – is Lemer's only album as a leader. Recorded in London in 1966,
before jazz fusion or prog-rock even existed, it belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about the British jazz
scene, and not only because of Lemer's talents. Everyone in this quintet went on to notable achievements. This was sax
great John Surman's recording debut; he is now arguably the premiere British jazz saxophonist, with a prolific and muchpraised
discography. Chances to hear the also scintillating sax sound of the more obscure Nisar Ahmad Khan (AKA
George Khan) in a jazz context are much rarer, though near the end of 2017 Emanem released an excellent two-disc
compilation of concert recordings and prog-rock fans may remember his appearance on Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger
than Richard and his work with Cream lyricist Pete Brown and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Drummer Jon (then
going by John) Hiseman had already established himself on the British jazz scene by co-founding the New Jazz Orchestra
in 1964; two years after the Local Colour session he started Colosseum, one of the most successful British jazz-rock
bands, and he even collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musical Cats. Bassist Tony Reeves had had a hit
single in 1965 with Sounds Orchestral ("Cast Your Fate to the Wind"); after a brief stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers,
Reeves joined Hiseman in Colosseum; he was also a member of Greenslade and Curved Air in addition to session work
with Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny and guitarist John Martyn. That's a whole lot of talent in the Peter Lemer
Quintet! Together, they make a sort of inside/outside jazz that doesn't abandon themes and harmony but is still quite
freewheeling when it wants to be.
Media: Press release and advance promo sent to top music publications, major weeklies, and blogs/webzines including
Down Beat, All About Jazz, Signal to Noise, The Wire, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork Media.
Press: "...another ESP-Disk gem back from the massive archives of one of the finest labels in avant-garde jazz." – Forced
Exposure