ONE NIGHT STAND is Michael King’s last gift to the fans of the UK”s improvised music scene of the 1970s. Of course, like everyone else, I had no idea it would be his last. As a longtime friend, I knew he was very troubled that music could be downloaded for ‘free’ on the Internet, and he positively hated what he considered “the catastrophe” of today’s technology….even though he used some of it to engineer and re-master the lost treasures he always had the knack to discover. ONE NIGHT STAND is one of those treasures.

The recording was made one night in the Upstairs Room at Ronnie Scott’s Club on Frith Street, in those days a rather seedy red-light district. The continuous 45-minute improvisation is both flowing and serious in tone. It would be Robert Wyatt’s last performance playing drums, as he would have his back-breaking accident only two months later.  

I was in touch with Michael King for weeks about the CD, a copy of which he had sent me to listen to. He was concerned about how the musicians would get paid, and kept hesitating about where to place it. He was also, as usual, concerned about the sound quality. I suggested that it was a 40-year-old recording, that it was a brilliant and unique performance, and that he should go with the offers he had. I also said: “Keep your creative force moving along and do this album.” And he did. A few months later he committed suicide. The recording is now out on vinyl and on CD, and he would be very proud.

WMWS : One-Night Stand (Improjazz)
Enregistrement : 14 avril 1973. Edition : 2015.
CD / LP : A-B/ One-Night Stand
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