Unlike New York, the UK never exactly had a No Wave scene. But it did have one band, Blurt, who rivaled the Contortions in mixing the influences of free jazz, funk, punk and post-punk. Led by singer/saxophonist Ted Milton, the band included his brother Jake on drums and a guitarist who doubled on trombone. It may have helped that they were relatively old for the time - Ted is still alive but in his 70s - and had backgrounds going well beyond the scene of the moment: Ted was a published poet who also worked as a puppeteer on Terry Gilliam's film JABBERWOCKY, while Jake had drummed for much less hip artists like Eric Clapton and the prog group Quintessence. I'm now listening to the BLURT + SINGLES compilation, which collects their 1982 self-titled debut album (it followed a 1981 live album IN BERLIN, which was released by Slash Records in the US - I found a used copy for $2 in Providence as a teenager) and the singles they released from 1980 to 1984. Ted's sax work shows his knowledge of Coleman, Tyler and Coltrane, as well as Beefheart, but he also knew how to use his voice as a noisemaker too, while offering up lyrics that went way beyond James Chance's cathartic but somewhat juvenile blasts of anger and misanthropy. Jake's drumming combines a jazzy swing with the forward propulsion of punk. It may be a contradiction to say that Blurt were really unique but also a product of their times. It's a shame that they've been forgotten - iTunes reveals a host of Blurt albums available from them, and the current MP3 version of IN BERLIN is even a Warner Bros. release, but I don't read or hear anyone talking about them as an influence on new bands or citing their music as seminal, while the legacy of No Wave seems to grow stronger each year.
