Charles Hayward Recorded

Charles Hayward, for those who don’t know, is a veteran drummer and innovator of modern music. One of the founding members of experimental rock group, This Heat, he continues to work as a collaborator as well as a solo artist to this day…

With sounds ranging from free-jazz to more experimental electro-acoustic recordings filmmaker Peter Bromley has set out to convey the musicianship of Charles Hayward in his short documentary “Charles Hayward Recorded”

Blending exerts of rehearsals, live performance, interviews with fellow musicians and collaborators as well as one on one sound bites with the man himself, “Charles Hayward Recorded” is an intricate exploration. With improvisation a key ingredient to his sound, we learn of the differences to his music compared to the free play of jazz where “it happens and goes.” For Hayward, his music is about the creation of multiple sound worlds which in turn become a single piece or a song.

The free nature of Hayward’s music is to some degree reflected in the filmmaking, with the documentary not really holding any particular structure. As a result, the film really feels like a fairly simple joining of performance and interviews and as such as an audience member there is not a great pull towards the subject.

So, while the recordings of the live performances are an interesting means of putting Hayward’s recordings into context, it is the solo interviews that provide the most captivating moments within this film. Hearing him speak, one can feel the true essence of his craft, with his “sound reality” built upon the influences of locations dear to him.

We learn from the offset that Hayward is an anagram for hard way, and while he jokes that this is the story of his life, he also concludes that “music is either about memory or a prediction.” Indeed, it is the unpredictable or hard approach to his music that has left his musical memorable to those who have enjoyed his sounds over the last three decades.

Review by Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio

www.charleshayward.org
www.1968filmgroup.net
www.peterbromley.net