
Quaquaversal means pointing in all directions and the word Quaqua itself is Latin and means 'withersoever' a very useful term when describing the journeys of free improvisation. Quaqua started life as a weekly club for free improvisation in 1981 in London's Islington and I have used the name for numerous projects ever since. The first Fête Quaqua was in 1982 at the old London Musicians Collective building in Camden Town. After moving the Mopomoso concerts to London's Vortex, Fête Quaqua became an annual three day event and this playlist is from the 2017 version. There are a number of errors in the videos, not least being that Gina Southgate is out of shot for the entire first day which is why she is billed as 'off screen bric a brac'. However I feel the music here is worthy of sharing in a play list despite the lapses in production. What comes across for me, and is something I try to nurture in all the Quaqua groups I put together, is the total openness of the musicians to the music as it is happening, Nobody has a stylistic axe to grind and there is a relaxed atmosphere of sharing the music. Ideally free improvisation is a music to be enjoyed live so these films are a kind of scrapbook, nothing more, but I hope they give a slight taste of what went on. Above all have fun!