Nucleus (& Ian Carr): Torrid Zone - The Vertigo Recordings 1970-1975, 6CD Box Set

•    6CD CLAMSHELL BOXED SET FEATURING EVERY TRACK RELEASED BY NUCLEUS AND IAN CARR FOR THE LEGENDARY VERTIGO LABEL.

•    REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL VERTIGO RECORDS MASTER TAPES.

•    WITH AN ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET FEATURING AN ESSAY BY SID SMITH.

The trumpeter and flugelhorn player Ian Carr was one of the most respected musicians of his era, a true pioneer who saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with some of rock music’s sensibilities. Tiring of the current forms in British jazz, Carr formed Nucleus in 1969, around the same time as Tony Williams was pursuing new paths with his band Lifetime and Miles Davis was experimenting on the album ‘In a Silent Way’. The first line- up of Nucleus signed to Vertigo in late 1969 and recorded the ground-breaking album ‘Elastic Rock’ in January 1970. The original album liner note stated the aims of the band thus; “Nucleus is just what the word implies – a small, tightly knit group of musicians.

We’re all closely involved with each other musically, and some of us have played together in different contexts before, but this is the first time we’ve met to try and realise our common musical ideals. We see music as a continuous process and have tried to express this on the album. We mean continuous not simply in the physical sense of non-stop sets, but in the general sense that we don’t recognise rigid boundaries, but try to use our total musical experience, whatever it may be”.

‘Elastic Rock’ received praise from both jazz and rock critics and was followed early the following year by the equally innovative album ‘We’ll Talk About It Later’, then ‘Solar Plexus’ (also issued in 1971) was credited to Ian Carr & Nucleus. Following the solo album ‘Belladonna’ (1972), Ian Carr formed a new line up of Nucleus to record the impressive ‘Labyrinth’ in 1973. Over the next two years and on the albums ‘Roots’, ‘Under the Sun’, ‘Snakehips Etcetera’ and ‘Alleycat’ the line-up of Nucleus would fluctuate, but Carr would continue to guide a group of innovative and skilled musicians, creating albums that took jazz to new levels of creativity.

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