“When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground.”

Across the African continent variations of this proverb exist, and worldwide many of us lose older relatives, only to rue never having interviewed them about their unique experiences. About this particular aspect of loss, many who knew Carole Finer will have little regret, because her years of broadcasting on arts radio station Resonance104.4 fm constitute a considerable archive. A large part of her radio output is interviews on her own and others' oral histories, around the UK's famed grass roots improvisors, The Scratch Orchestra, of which Carole was an original member since 1969.

On Friday 20 March 2020 at 83 years of age improvisor and radio presenter Carole Finer passed away, leaving an immense creative and emotional legacy. This includes but is not exclusive to the following: pioneering community music 50 years ago, new and historic collaborative listening and improvised performances, learning and teaching, especially as a university tutor at University of the Arts London, composition including graphic scores and text based works, radio programming and presenting scores of live interviews and jams, of field recordings and tribute shows, an extensive family, and a huge network of friends and colleagues who also loved her.

Carole's longrunning radio show Sound Out was on air for years, a weekly interview, dedication, poetry, soundscape or an obituary always with excerpts or live music, particularly the fiddle which she loved. Often a challenge for the engineer assisting Carole's show, she presented a broad reach of live music guests. The programme listing is “ranging from the English modernist avant garde (she was a member of The Scratch Orchestra) to bluegrass (she is also a keen banjo player), as well as field recordings from her extensive travels round the world”.

Carole's 'worldliness' was no doubt influenced by the kind of nomadism The Scratch Orchestra life involved, for while performances happened in London, the orchestra would also travel out to remote places and camp en masse, working with locals to immerse them in the performances as players, in town and village halls, universities, youth clubs, parks, and theatres, to circumnavigate promoters and reach everyday people.

Perhaps the most revealing conversation of the many Carole recorded in her long career was in September 2008, her old friend of 40 years Stella Cardew visited the studio. Stella's small, frail voice is led knowingly by Carole through several first-hand insights into what it was like to 'live' The Scratch Orchestra life, ranging from what Carole calls “one of the most long and miserable nights of my entire life”, to how the collective wild camping set-up functioned. The show spontaneously doubles in length after a false ending of closing music and goodbyes (the engineers inform Carole that she can continue so she takes the opportunity to). As ever, Carole remains unflustered and completely transparent about goings on, in a way that was her trademark, possibly because she was so used to improvising and “being natural”. Carole lets you know, the blind listener, what is happening.

Remembering the spontaneity and democracy of the Scratch performances, Stella says, “Makes you nervous!” Carole replies laughing, “I think that's a bit like radio programmes!” The frankness of the recollections really epitomise Carole's presenting style, she asks Stella for confirmation, “Both you and I never really understood what we were doing, did we?” “No,” replies Stella.

In a very revealing moment Carole discusses how the politics manifested through the Scratch's relationship with audience participation, reminiscing to Stella, “In the end that's why we all went into the politics, isn't it, because we used to worry about the audience, then you had people like Mao Tse-tung asking ‘Art for whom?’ And then you begin to think you can't do this kind of art anymore because we're not thinking about anyone but ourselves. […] 72 and 73 we were beginning to get very political weren't we? [...] I was really sad, I kind of didn't have anywhere to go other than the politics, I really missed it. I did miss it.”

By producing the radio shows, Carole was able to pursue some of that politics; the art was for everybody. A familiar sight in the streets around the studios, in her hooded, long puffer coat, carrying her banjo case, she remembered everybody's names with a notable parity. In these circles the fame and legacy of The Scratch Orchestra made Carole a kind of celebrity, yet she was so easy to talk to, which made her the superb broadcaster she was. On one occasion we chatted as if no time had passed, although in truth perhaps a year had gone by, ignoring the quickening drizzle in order to be able to speak long enough to connect again. We were excited at the inclusion of The Scratch Orchestra in the Athens iteration of Documenta arts festival, in the music section at the Athens Conservatoire. Carole had run several days of workshops and performances there and some original flyers and posters were permanently on display, placing Scratch at the heart of an international awareness of experimental music history. Aside from delighting in the day to day details of the trip, Carole expressed what it meant to her for the orchestra to be at the heart of such a sprawling, all-encompassing ode to improvisation and experimentation by the quinquennial's curators.

Talking to Carole you felt that she was completely present. Cocking her head to one side with a resplendent smile, she spoke just as softly and as measuredly as she did when live on air. There was a remarkable sincerity to her that made her seem larger than her small frame, and a sprightliness that belied her years. She was the kind of octogenarian many of us women on the improvising scene wanted to be like, because her example exemplified the kind of freedom and creativity that having children or simply growing older can see something of an end to. Carole is remembered as an energetic, kind, inquisitive, committed, vivacious, humorous person who was a pleasure to be with. Her exemplary life was perfect in its balance between a belief and absolute practice in social justice & community. Always learning, always discovering, Carole lived her life thoroughly, even as per one of her own scores from 1971: CF1971SM14: Invent a private journey and go on it.

The London Improvisers Orchestra have released a community compilation Hive: In Honour Of Carole.