Continuum - Continuum (Reissue) (1970/2004)

Continuum was conceived in Holland by Hungarian multi-instrumentalist Yoel Schwarcz in 1967. The name "Continuum" was taken from the title of exhibitions of Schwarcz's paintings in a London gallery for whom he painted professionally.

He developed his musical ideas with a Czech guitarist called "Jan" and they performed as a duo in a club in Amsterdam the following summer. Schwarcz returned to London while Jan decided to remain in Amsterdam, and shortly afterwards Schwarcz joined forces with classical guitarist John Warren. They decided to form a group to develop their common ideas, the line up being completed with the arrival of Mike Hart on double bass and Dick Wildman on drums. Although the project was formalised in the framework of a band, Schwarcz was the de-facto leader, and it was very much his baby.

RCA entered into a contract with Yoel Schwarcz (not with Continuum) and Continuum released their self-titled first album in 1970. Side one of the album consisted of four improvisations on music by Bach and Handel. Side two was a side long suite in four parts composed by non-band member Richard Hartley and based on the poetical work of Lord Byron.

By 1971, only Schwarcz remained of the line up which recorded the first album. The musicians on that album were uncomfortable with improvisation, which Schwarcz wanted to explore further. He also sought to replace some of the acoustic sounds of the band with electric ones. Although Warren had decided to leave the band, he and Schwarcz remained good friends.

In came Peter Billam and Harvey Troupe to form the rhythm section, Billam also providing lead guitar. The new line up was completed by the arrival of respected keyboard player Tim Rice (no relation to the stage show writer of that name). This line up recorded the first side of the "Autumn Grass" album, released in 1971. Once again, the album consisted of one side of classical variations, plus a Rice composition, and one side long suite. The track "Autumn grass" was written by modern composer Patrie Standford specifically for the group. Interestingly, it was actually recorded by the first line up of the group before they split up, the album sleeve listing the former band members as "guest musicians". Apart from the wonderful improvisations by Schwarcz, the piece is particularly notable for its length. At over 26 minutes, it is one of the longest (but by no means THE longest) tracks to appear on one side of an LP. This resulted in some compression of the recording being necessary, a factor which will hopefully one day be addressed by a remastering of the album for CD. (Their first album has recently been remastered and re-released in Germany).

The band continued to tour after the release of "Autumn Grass", but the ubiquitous musical differences emerged, and founder Schwarcz decided it was time for him to move on. The remaining members kept the band going for a further few months, but when it became clear that their efforts were futile, they disbanded.

Yoel Schwarcz went on to become a session musician and sound engineer, touring with Henry Cow among others. He had spells living and working in France and the UK being involved in a diverse range of sound related projects. He retired from that work in early 2006 and bought a small farm in the Loire valley, where he is still active in the fields of music and art.