| 1 | 8th & How | 6:55 |
| 2 | 6th & Why | 6:17 |
| 3 | 4th & Who | 5:39 |
| 4 | Double Trouble | 6:12 |
| 5 | Shakin Tongues | 10:52 |
| 6 | Saw & Clarinet | 4:19 |
| 7 | 1:4 To 3 | 2:46 |
| 8 | Ya Boo, Reel & Rumble | 7:46 |
| 9 | Fin | 5:24 |
Alex Ward's debut release, out on Derek Bailey's Incus! Having first played together at Derek's Company Week in the late 80s, the pair clicked on a punk tip, recorded this, and went on to found trio N.E.W. with with John Edwards, who have also enjoyed fantastic releases on Bo'Weavil & Dancing Wayang.
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Tracklisting:
1. 8th & HOW - 6:51
2. 6th & WHY - 6:15
3. 4th & WHO - 5:35
4. DOUBLE TROUBLE - 6:09
5. SHAKIN TONGUES - 10:50
6. SAW & CLARINET - 4:17
7. 1/4 TO 3 - 2:44
8. YA BOO, REEL & RUMBLE - 7:43
9. FIN - 5:23
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Alex Ward / clarinet, alto saxophone
Steve Noble / percussion
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Produced by Derek Bailey & Steve Noble. Post Production by John Haddon. Design by Steve Noble & Karen Brookman. Photos by Anne Clvin & Gerald Wright. Tracks 1 to 3 recorded at HOW studio, 11 March 1989; tracks 4 to 9 recorded at PING PONG studio 1 July 1990.
Steve Noble is London's leading drummer, a fearless and constantly inventive improviser whose super-precise, ultra-propulsive and hyper-detailed playing has galvanized encounters with Derek Bailey, Matthew Shipp, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Stephen O'Malley, Joe McPhee, Alex Ward, Rhodri Davies and many, many more.
In the early eighties, Noble played with the Nigerian master drummer Elkan Ogunde, Rip Rig and Panic, Brion Gysin and the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, before going on to work with the pianist Alex Maguire and with Derek Bailey (including Company Weeks 1987, 89 and 90). He was featured in the Bailey's excellent TV series on Improvisation for Channel 4 based on his book ‘Improvisation; its nature and practise’. He has toured and performed throughout Europe, Africa and America and currently leads the groups N.E.W (with John Edwards and Alex Ward) and DECOY (with John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins).
Alex Ward's diverse musical activities since the early '90s have straddled the worlds of free improvisation, contemporary composition and avant rock, and have seen him work with such significant musical figures as Derek Bailey, Duck Baker, Lol Coxhill, Eugene Chadbourne, Simon H. Fell, Thurston Moore, Joe Morris, Steve Noble, Evan Parker, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Pat Thomas and Weasel Walter, amongst a host of others. His work as a composer/bandleader has encompassed his own ensembles such as Predicate, Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet and Items 4, 6, 7 & 10, alongside collaborative projects such as his duos with Dominic Lash, Jem Doulton (as Dead Days Beyond Help) and Sean Noonan (as Noonward); while his solo releases have ranged from unaccompanied performances on clarinet and guitar to the layered studio creations found on 2021's Gated. He currently plays guitar and sings in math/noise trio Heckle Chamber (with Roberto Sassi and Jem Doulton), and is working on the completion of the final album by legendary band Pere Ubu (which he joined in 2021) alongside the other surviving members.
"...guitarist Alex Ward [is] a compulsively creative polymath... a reliably unpredictable axe-hero for collaborators of all backgrounds." – Stewart Lee, The Sunday Times Review
