1674 is a collection of four solo Fender Rhodes improvisations – made whilst not intending to make anything in particular. I have always loved the Fender Rhodes, especially in combination with my battle-worn Roland Space Echo RE-20. The Fender Rhodes as a solo instrument is not something I had previously considered, but these pieces might just be just the beginning of something. Each of the pieces explores a different echo echo setting, and you will notice other quirks of the Fender Rhodes, too: the treble control hiss, the side-to-side panning of the tremolo circuit, crackling speakers, earth hum, mechanical noise from the keyboard action/key bed, distorted notes; and the indefinable, magical blurring, or ness, that is created by the combination of these two pieces of analogue equipment.

The recordings are unadorned by lavish post production or any kind of attempt to make them into something else by enhancement, and I hope that you will enjoy 1674 as a snapshot of two pieces of equipment playing themselves: a transparency sans artifice…

(1674 is a four-digit date stamp on the Pickup Rail of the Fender Rhodes – usually the final production component of the instrument to be fitted. The numbers indicate the week / year it was completed – so my instrument was completed sometime during the sixteenth week of 1974)