ECM50 | 1986 David Torn

"Snapping the Hollow Reed" (Torn) and "Network of Sparks" (Torn/Isham/Levin/Bruford)

from "Cloud About Mercury" (ECM 1322)

David Torn: electric and acoustic guitars

Mark Isham: trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizer

Tony Levin: Chapman Stick, synthesizer bass 

Bill Bruford: Simmons Drums, synthesizer drums, percussion

Recorded March 1986 at Audio International, London

Engineer: Andy Jackson

Mixed at Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug

Cover Design: Dieter Rehm

Produced by Manfred Eicher

Released in 1987, "Touchstone" Re-release 2019

℗ 1987 © 2019 ECM Records GmbH

Everyman Band photos © Ralph Quinke (1982), Jon Crispin (1984)

“Everything is in a state of transition,” David Torn explained. “Mercury is an element that captures the essence of change.” The changing soundscape of improvisation in the mid-1980s informs the textures and colours of Cloud About Mercury, whose sonorities are closely related to progressive rock (the rhythm section is half of one incarnation of King Crimson) and to the experimental end of ambient music. Drummer Bill Bruford’s affection for this album is undying: “To this day, Torn’s guitar on ‘Three Minutes of Pure Entertainment’ from Cloud About Mercury makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck."

https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/143038751188/cloud-about-mercury-david-torn

Interview filmed in Bearsville, New York, October 2019

ECM50 | 1969-2019 is a video series of 50+1 videos by IJB