Centipede

Centipede: Septober Energy

by John Kelman
November 6, 2004

One look at the fifty-piece Centipede orchestra, organized and led by British free jazz pianist Keith Tippett over thirty years ago, and the mind boggles that such an unwieldy collection of musicians, from such a multitude of musical camps, could ever be brought together to create a remotely coherent musical statement. And, truth be told, when Septober Energy was released in '71, it was met with almost universal critical derision. Maybe it's because Tippett, who had already burst ...