Working week
| Working week | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Acid jazz |
| founding | 1983 |
| resolution | 1989 |
| Founding members | |
| Simon Booth | |
| Larry Stabbins | |
| former members | |
singing |
Juliet Roberts (since 1984) |
piano |
Kim Burton |
| Ernest Mothle | |
bass |
Chucho Merchan |
percussion |
Dawson de Oliveira |
percussion |
Bosco de Oliveira |
Drums |
Nic France |
| Guests | |
singing |
Tracey Thorn |
singing |
Corrine Drewery |
singing |
Julie Tippetts |
singing |
Robert Wyatt |
singing |
Lew Kirton |
singing |
Evyon White |
rap |
Jalal |
Trumpet |
Guy Barker |
Trumpet |
Harry Beckett |
trombone |
Paul Nieman |
trombone |
Annie Whitehead |
trombone |
Malcolm Griffiths |
saxophone |
Dave Bitelli |
saxophone |
Ray Warleigh |
clarinet |
Chris Biscoe |
organ |
Mike Carr |
piano |
Keith Tippett |
Vibraphone |
Orphy Robinson |
percussion |
Frank Ricotti |
Drums |
Louis Moholo |
bass |
Paul "Tubbs" Williams |
Working Week was a British acid jazz band formed in 1983 by jazz guitarist Simon Booth and saxophonist Larry Stabbins . The singer Juliet Roberts was on numerous recordings, other musicians changed frequently.
Histography
The Working Week story began in 1982 in a London recording studio . Simon Booth's band Weekend was recording the album View From Her Room in this studio , which later became one of the triggers for the jazz wave in the London club scene in the early 1980s. Since the band lacked a brass section, saxophonists Larry Stabbins and Olaf Vas were hired for the session. The collaboration went so well that Stabbins played in all of the following weekend appearances. Nevertheless, the band broke up in the spring of 1983.
On a tour of London clubs shortly before, Booth came to the jazz room of the Camden Palace Electric Ballroom one evening , where DJ Paul Murphy had put on the weekend album View from Her Room . The dance floor was full of young people mostly black. Booth became a local player overnight and thought about a new band: it should be bigger than Weekend , the music harder, but also politically motivated, jazz-based and above all danceable. The name of the band: Working Week .
The first piece for Working Week was Venceremos . It was primarily intended for the dancers in London clubs. At the same time, it also addressed the political situation in Latin America and was dedicated to the Chilean songwriter Victor Jara , who was killed by the local military junta. With this piece the Chile solidarity campaign was supported. All musicians involved played for free, and producer Robin Millar provided free studio time. The record was recorded in August 1983, but contractual issues delayed its release for so long that it wasn't released until 1984.
Working Week's first appearance took place in the legendary Wag Club , the hip London location at the time. Paul Murphy was a DJ, the people from the Electric Ballroom brought in the Westend cool , and the band improvised freely to Latin American rhythms. The singer on this gig was Leroy Osbourne. When the band performed for the third time in early 1984, there were more people outside than inside, and the police had to be called to break up the crowd in front of the entrance area. In March 1984 the contractual problems were resolved and Working Week got a contract with the record company Virgin . In the same month there was the first big concert at the Camden Jazz Festival . In mid-May the first single - the Bossa Nova Venceremos with Tracey Thorn as the singer - was released. The maxi single caused some excitement: it was twice as fast in terms of pace, there was a solo by Stabbins and above all the 15-minute film by Julien Temple - an excerpt from Absolute Beginners . And the (music) press reported on a new young jazz scene in London.
In July, the second single, Storm of Light , was released, on which Julie Tippetts sang. Stabbins and Booth meanwhile wrote more pieces for a new album. For this, however, the vowel position should be permanently occupied. Corrine Drewery - who later became the front woman of Swing Out Sister - was hired for a few appearances, but was replaced shortly afterwards by Juliet Roberts, who was the perfect complement with her soul and gospel background. Roberts appeared with the band just two weeks later, and the album Working Nights was briefly recorded in the Powerplant Studios run by producer Robin Millar .
One of the first pieces of these sessions was Stabbins' Stella Marina , a success with the live performances, from which Booth and Stabbins made a mega-opus of 15 minutes in length on 48 tracks. Juliet Roberts sang and Jalal from the legendary New York Last Poets (see Hip-Hop ) contributed the rap. Virgin boss Simon Draper immediately sent the band back into the studio to produce a more suitable track for a single release. That first single became Marvin Gaye's Inner City Blues . The follow-up single was Sweet Nothing , and the band began touring. During this tour she played mostly at universities for a few weeks before she went to Germany. The reviews of the album were good in Great Britain and enthusiastic in Germany. That resulted in Working Week playing in very crowded clubs. The rest of the summer of 1985 the group toured Europe, both in clubs and at (jazz) festivals, among others. a. in Montreux . Some of the highlights of the latter appearance appeared on the third single Thought I'd Never See You Again .
Then it went to Japan and - after a break - back to Germany. This time the concerts took place in large concert halls instead of crowded clubs. Like other British jazz bands before them, Working Week had more success on the continent than with British audiences.
In the winter of 1986 the pieces for the album Companeros were written and in the spring they were recorded in the Townhouse studio together with producer Ben Rogan. Being single was Too Much Time, South Africa and Do not Touch My Friend decoupled. Due to its international success, the band was mostly on tour. She had the most success with young left-wing intellectuals, so that interviews were more about political and philosophical questions than about whether she was a "real" jazz band. The next country she wanted to conquer with her music was Italy . They succeeded in doing this at a large benefit concert for the African National Congress , which was organized by Fillipo Bianchi - an acquaintance of Stabbins. They also received the Golden Europe for their social commitment.
With the third album - Surrender - it was time for change. Booth and Stabbins were impressed by Miles Davis' new sound - who often played at the same festivals as they did. The upcoming album should be more funky and electronic and Robert's soul influence should be more pronounced. Band manager Steve Baker proposed to record the album in New York with an American producer and American musicians. The band initially met with mixed feelings about the proposal.
The album was produced by Carl Beatty, and it included some of New York's best session musicians - some of whom toured with Miles Davis. It was done in a completely different style: more Afro-Cuban than Brazilian, and the drums came from the computer.
In the summer the band went on tour again. The new style was well received in Italy and a tour of Germany was unnecessary because of the television appearances. Therefore, Working Week played several times as opening act for Peter Gabriel in stadiums. Booth, Roberts and Stabbins were ordered to the American Virgin headquarters to talk to the boss there about the album. This - an African American - was of the opinion that a band with a black singer and two white musicians had no chance in the United States. Due to the rigid format thinking , neither white nor black radio stations would play the record. Hence, no album would ever be released in the US. Roberts then left the band in the winter of 1988.
After a longer creative break, a negotiation took place with Simon Draper (the Virgin boss) about the upcoming album, whereby it became clear that he wanted "real" jazz and that the budget was cut in half. In the Swanyard Studios thereupon the fourth album Fire from the Mountain with singer Julie Tippetts was created at the expense of the band . Her husband, pianist Keith Tippett , was a guest soloist. Udo Lange (then head of Virgin Germany), who heard the tapes, immediately sent them to Simon Draper, and Working Week was back under contract with Virgin .
For the fifth album - Black and Gold - they were looking for a permanent singer and found Eyvon Waite in the Dingwalls club scene . This time there was a mixture of brass sections, programmed rhythms and percussion. The whole thing went in the direction of breakbeat . The album was released in 1991, and after a three year hiatus, Working Week went on one final tour, mostly in Europe.
When filmmaker Mike Connolly made a three-part documentary on the history of British jazz in the summer of 2004, he conducted extensive interviews with Stabbins and Booth. On February 12, 2005, Booth, Roberts and Stabbins played again with a completely new young band at the Barbican in London .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1985 | Working nights |
DE23 (19 weeks) DE |
AT12 (14 weeks) AT |
CH12 (13 weeks) CH |
UK23 (9 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: March 1985
|
| 1986 | Compañeros |
DE58 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK72 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: September 1986
|
More albums
- 1987: Surrender
- 1988: Payday
- 1989: Fire in the Mountain
- 1991: Black and Gold
- 2015: May 1985
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1984 | Venceremos (We Will Win) Working Nights |
UK64 (3 weeks) UK |
First published: May 1984
|
| Storm of Light Working Nights |
UK88 (4 weeks) UK |
First published: July 1984
|
|
| 1985 | Inner City Blues Working Nights |
UK93 (2 weeks) UK |
First published: February 1985
|
| Sweet Nothing Working Nights |
UK83 (3 weeks) UK |
First published: May 1985
|
|
| I Thought I'd Never See You Again Working Nights |
UK80 (6 weeks) UK |
First published: August 1985
|
|
| 1986 | Too Much Time Compañeros |
UK94 (2 weeks) UK |
First published: August 1986
|
| 1991 | Positive Black and Gold |
UK96 (1 week) UK |
First published: February 1991
|
More singles
- 1985: Stella Marina
- 1986: South Africa
- 1986: Rodrigo Bay
- 1986: Don't Touch My Friend
- 1987: Surrender
- 1987: Largo
- 1988: Knocking On Your Door
- 1989: Eldorado
- 1989: Blade
- 1990: Testify
- 1991: Holding On
Web links
- Facebook fan page
- Working Week: Does Jazz Go Into Pop? (Matt Phillips)
- Working Week at Allmusic (English)
- Working Week at Discogs (English)