Keith Rowe: The Room Extended by Brian Olewnick (powerHouse Books)

The first time that I saw a reference to the British improvising ensemble AMM was probably in Op magazine in the late ’70s or early ’80s. I’m sure that their name popped up again in issues of Option and The Wire, too. But, it really wasn’t until into the 1990s that I was able to access CDs and finally discover their music for myself.

At that time, I had already been involved with creating improvised electroacoustic soundscapes and their sounds appealed to me in much the same way as Cage, Stockhausen or Feldman. It also helped to reinforce my own sonic ideas and provided added inspiration.

In this extremely well researched book, Brian Olewnick traces the path of one of the original members of the group and succeeds in connecting many dots within their historical picture.

After covering Keith Rowe’s earliest years growing up and subsequently becoming a member of Mike Westbrook’s ensemble, the real meat of the story begins to unfold.

Rowe eventually connected with percussionist Eddie Prevost and the ideas for a new form of group improvisation started to develop. Into the picture, Lou Gare (a saxophonist Rowe had worked with in Westbrook’s group) joined the duo. Bassist Lawrence Sheaff was also recruited, as well. And in 1965 a group with no name began to create unique sounds. Around this time, composer and pianist Cornelius Cardew also began to get involved, too.

For Rowe’s part, he envisioned the guitar as a tool with which he could produce raw sound. He was not interested in notes or riffs. He put the guitar on a table and proceeded to shove objects between the strings in an effort to create a new sonic vocabulary for the instrument.

It wasn’t until 1966 that the moniker AMM was stamped upon the ensemble. At this point, the group was invited to make their debut recording for the Elektra record label. Subsequent recordings from the 1960s (like the The Crypt, 1968) would not wind up  seeing release until the end of the 1980s with the formation of the Matchless record label.

While the members of the group continued to work together, some of them got involved with other musical projects including the Scratch Orchestra. Over the years, the lineup of the group was somewhat fluid with Sheaff leaving and others such as Christopher Hobbs joining.
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As time passed, there were many states of flux and upheaval. Rowe and Cardew became well entrenched in their political ventures and friction was caused amongst others. This lead to an eventual split of the group and various iterations of the group starting to appear.

The story of AMM is one that has been going on for over fifty years. In this book, Olewnick manages to search every available dark and dusty corner to present a thorough and cohesive picture of the events which lead to the various stages of that lengthy career.

Of course, Keith Rowe is the main focus of this tome although it could just as easily been labeled as a history of AMM. But, the concentration on Rowe’s later solo and collaborative works does in fact make it more of his story.

In the long run, this is a long and winding tale which involves artistic ideas, disagreements, outright battles and eventual reunions. It is a fascinating story which was long overdue in its telling.

The inclusion of a well-detailed discography at the end of the book is icing on the cake. Collectors of their music (like yours truly) will likely wind up cursing the investment in future purchases as their wallets get progressively lighter. But, it’s the price that one pays to get exposed to such wonderfully creative sounds.

In the meantime, anybody who has an interest in AMM or creative sounds in general would be well advised to read this essential volume.