National Health

National Health (1978) [Reissue 2009]. Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered edition of the classic 1978 debut album by National Health. Evolving from Canterbury stylists Hatfield & the North, National Health featured the talents of Dave Stewart on keyboards, Pip Pyle on drums and Phil Miller on guitar along with guests such as Jimmy Hastings. At various times the group also included such luminaries as Bill Bruford, Mont Campbell and Alan Gowen. Released by Affinity Records in February 1978, the album is a classic of the ‘Canterbury’ style and is sure to be a much sought after release by all aficionados of the genre…

National Health were one of those rare English progressive bands whose classic mid-'70s output still sounds fresh today. Their sound prospered on imaginative linear musicality, often in a jazzy format that emphasized extended instrumental solos. Arising during a challenging time when progressive rock was being overtaken by a tidal wave of punk, National Health featured members of other Canterbury and post-Canterbury bands Hatfield and the North (a band considered a Canterbury supergroup in itself), Gilgamesh, and Henry Cow. After the release of 1977's debut album National Health and 1978's sophomore Of Queues and Cures, the group issued 1982's D.S. Al Coda – an homage to keyboardist Alan Gowen, who died of leukemia in May 1981 – and then fell silent as its members pursued other ventures.

National Health (1978) [Reissue 2009]. Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered edition of the classic 1978 debut album by National Health. Evolving from Canterbury stylists Hatfield & the North, National Health featured the talents of Dave Stewart on keyboards, Pip Pyle on drums and Phil Miller on guitar along with guests such as Jimmy Hastings. At various times the group also included such luminaries as Bill Bruford, Mont Campbell and Alan Gowen. Released by Affinity Records in February 1978, the album is a classic of the ‘Canterbury’ style and is sure to be a much sought after release by all aficionados of the genre…

If it never serves any other purpose, this two-disc collection of National Health's complete official output will at least always work as an effective refutation of the belief that all 1970s British prog-rock was overblown, self-indulgent, Mahlerian twaddle. Of course, most British prog-rock was just that, so it would be easy to understand anyone's reluctance to spend much time with it. Also, National Health has to be the least inviting band name in the history of British rock. But if you make the effort, you'll be richly rewarded. Yes, the compositions are long and they have titles like "Borogoves" and "Tales of a Damson Knight." Yes, there are lots and lots of solos. But there's also lots of structure and self-discipline undergirding those compositions and guiding those solos, and the band never seems to lose sight of the fact that they're playing for people other than themselves. That means there are melodies (sometimes even jazzy ones) and rhythmic hooks (sometimes even funky ones…okay, very slightly funky) as well as interesting textures and impressive fretwork. Highly recommended. (This isn't actually a "complete" collection of National Health's recorded output – see Missing Pieces, also on East Side Digital, for a good compilation of outtakes.)

D.S. Al Coda is the third album by the progressive rock and jazz fusion group National Health. It is a tribute to former member Alan Gowen, who died of leukaemia in May 1981, and consists solely of compositions written by him. Most of these had not been recorded in the studio before, although "TNTFX" and "Arriving Twice" both appeared earlier on albums by Gowen's other band Gilgamesh.

In his newest release, cellist Bion Tsang returns to Glasgow, Scotland for his second recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Scott Yoo. CANTABILE, available from Universal Music Group on digital platforms tomorrow, April 14, and on CD in May 2023, features two works by Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme (Op. 33) and Andante Cantabile (Op. 11), and Schumann's Cello Concerto, bookended by two renditions of Pablo Casals' "Song of the Birds."

Intelligent, moving, jazz influenced, progressive rock performed by a stellar cast of musicians including amongst others and in addition to Pip himself is: Dave Stewart, Barbara Gaskin, Phil Miller, Jakko M Jaksyk, Richard Sinclair, John Greaves, Fred Thelonious Baker, Hugh Hopper, Paul Rogers, Didier Malherbe and Elton Dean. Pip Pyle has played drums with amongst others Gong, Hatfield and the North, National Health and In Cahoots and this album shows also what a great composer he is. Quite simply this album contains some of the best examples of the Canterbury/Prog Rock music that has been heard on CD.

Phil Miller is an English progressive rock/jazz guitarist who is part of the Canterbury scene. In addition to his solo work, he has played in Hatfield and the North, National Health, and Matching Mole. He has released a number of solo albums, some with his group In Cahoots.
After the demise of National Health, he began preparing for a solo career that began with "Cutting Both Ways" (1987) and continues to this day. This was the first album released under his own name, and the first album to feature his band In Cahoots, who are pretty much of a supergroup themselves: Hugh Hopper - bass (Soft Machine), Elton Dean - saxes (Soft Machine), Peter Lemer - keyboards (Gilgamesh, Mike Oldfield, Pierre Moerlen's Gong) & Pip Pyle - drums (Gong, Hatfield, National Health)…

This Edition presents the “Magnificent Seven” and the “encore” in optimum technical quality. In the mid-Fifties of the last century, with the Cold War freezing relations between East and West, the English record label Decca decided to record a series of Russian operas with the Belgrade National Opera. Belgrade in the Yugoslavia of those days under Josip Tito was more open to “the West” than the Warsaw Pact countries gathered under the wing of the Soviet Union. The deal had been struck by former Decca manager and successful promoter of east European folklore in the USA, record executive Gerald Severn. Thanks to his excellent contacts, Decca director Arthur Haddy eventually obtained a visa and travelled to Belgrade to find a suitable recording venue, which turned out to be the cinema in the House of Culture in the city centre.