Nucleus - Live At The BBC

2022 release

Formed by trumpeter and future Miles Davis biographer Ian Carr, Nucleus were a distinctly British jazz-rock group forged in the musical village-like cauldron of London at the end of the 60s.

Within its first year alone (1970), Nucleus had caused a sensation at both the Montreux and Newport jazz festivals, and had recorded two albums (the first of nine for progressive-rock label Vertigo) and a torrent of sessions and concerts for the BBC, from John Peel’s Top Gear and Sounds of the 70s on Radio 1 to Jazz in Britain on Radio 3.

Curated by John McLaughlin biographer Colin Harper and mastered by the mighty Eroc – the same team responsible for Repertoire’s acclaimed Colosseum and Pretty Things BBC sets – Nucleus Live At The BBC boasts nearly 15 hours of material spanning 1970-91.

Almost four hours of that content documents the legendary founding line-up, featuring Chris Spedding (guitar), Karl Jenkins (keys, oboe), Brian Smith (saxes), Jeff Clyne (bass) and John Marshall (drums). The set is annotated by Ian Carr discographer/Jazz Journal contributor Roger Farbey. Aside from The Pretty Redhead (Hux, 2003), this is the first collection of BBC Nucleus and is assembled from numerous private collections and the BBC itself.

Over 14 hours of music expertly remastered and restored by Eroc, collated from such seminal shows as Top Gear, Sounds of the 70s and Jazz in Britain

A decades’ spanning 13CD set comprising music and interviews drawn from BBC radio programmes broadcast between 1970 and 1991

Disc 10 comprises an exciting collection of entirely improvised works, never before released on CD

Liner notes by Roger Farbey, author of Elastic Dream: The Music of Ian Carr - A Critical Discography

Box set comprises 13CDs presented in attractive double digipaks, with a fully annotated booklet