EVAN PARKER | AGUSTÍ FERNÁNDEZ - Tempranillo (1996) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The pairing of legendary soprano saxophonist Evan Parker with Spanish pianist Augusti Fernandez on record is one of those magical dates where everything that happens does so for a reason, and the result clarifies the process without much effort. This is deeply instinctual music that reflects the artist's drive to create against his given means of expression in order to engage it more fully. Parker's skeins of cascading arpeggios are employed throughout here, using his circular breathing technique to take the arc out of arpeggios and render the range of chromatic color useless against his barrage of forced air heroics. Fernandez doesn't play foil so much as accomplice. There is no contrapuntal relationship between pianist and saxophonist. His greased-lightening acrobatics create chords and tone cluster based not on Parker's root idiomatics, but on his sense of intervallic flow and legato phrasing. His unusually large two-handed chords offer a perfect middle drop for Parker to come roiling out of on at least six of this suite's eight parts. Where Parker advances into the mechanics of his horn, Fernandez speaks out of the tonal facility of his pedals and middle register offering Parker the wide way out into the open with his angular dissonances and bleating song lines. There isn't anything remotely "intellectual" about this music, but that said, it is artful carefully considered music that comes from a familiarity with instinctual process. The talk and flow, skip and shove of these two musicians create mannered tensions that are not resolved so much as taken into account. By the time it's all over, and Fernandez touches the last seven 16th notes from Parker's horn with a two chord tonal vamp, the pair will have switched places countless times and will have virtually become one another. This is as fine a duet record as Parker has ever released with anyone, and better than most of them.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1        Part I (Mercerioso)    6:01
2        Part II    8:00
3        Part III    5:07
4        Part IV (31 Davids)    5:38
5        Part V    5:22
6        Part VI    6:41
7        Part VII    5:50
8        Part VIII (Nana For Núria)    3:17
Credits :
Cover – Ferrán García Sevilla
Piano, Composed By, Producer – Agustí Fernández
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Composed By – Evan Parker

EVAN PARKER | ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE - Memory/Vision (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble has been an ever-changing entity in both personnel and musical direction. Originally structured as a free jazz unit whose players were given "electronic shadows," this model has given way to something entirely other in composition and execution. The ensemble now numbers nine members. Only five of these players -- Parker (saxophones, tapes, samples), Philipp Wachsmann (violin, electronics), Augusti Fernandez (piano, prepared piano), Barry Guy (double bass), and Paul Lytton (percussion, electronics) -- are considered "free jazz" players in anything resembling proper usage. Six members of the ensemble play electronics (the others are Joel Ryan, Walter Prati, Marco Vecchio, and Lawrence Casserley). Memory/Vision is a work commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Oslo's Ultima Festival. These recordings of the work were taken from those performances. What is so remarkable about this work is that four of the ensemble members (the final four mentioned above) make music by transforming sounds and phrases from the musicians in real time according to individual interpretation and re-offering them as improvisational material. Talk about walking on a wire; this all happened live in front of an audience! In his introductory notes, Parker gives credit for the inspiration for the structure of this work to Charles Arthur Musés and his concept of "chronotopology." At each of the seven stages here a "strand" of prior recordings exists, sometimes already containing prior recorded improvisations. These are reacted to and acted upon, creating within their new framework the resonances of something previous, something other. Sure, it's interesting, but how does it "sound"? Like excitement, like something emerging that moves beyond itself in each phase; it sounds like a dialogue that cannot be insular because of its input from "outside" as each member contributes from previously held notions not only of the music itself, but from previous improvisations; it sounds like movement directed at other movement for the purpose of moving further still. And finally, it sounds like a group, an ensemble, fixed on a direction where many articulations create seams and cracks from which emerge musico-linguistic utterance that becomes a communicative language both poetic and speculative. It is at times startling, wondrous, puzzling, and beautiful. It is always compelling, engaging, and full of interest for any listener with an open mind. Ultimately, this is one of the most emotionally resonant works Parker has given listeners. And one hopes that such a description will not insult his brilliant mind or his aesthetic sensibilities. Wonderful.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
Memory / Vision - Staring Into The Time Cone    
1    Part 1    10:22
2    Part 2    11:18
3    Part 3    5:09
4    Part 4    13:21
5    Part 5    12:43
6    Part 6    9:10
7    Part 7    8:31
Credits :
Computer, Effects [Sound Processing] – Joel Ryan
Design – Sascha Kleis
Double Bass – Barry Guy
Electronics, Effects [Sound Processing] – Marco Vecchi, Walter Prati
Music By – Evan Parker
Percussion, Electronics – Paul Lytton
Piano, Piano [Prepared Piano] – Agustí Fernandez
Soprano Saxophone, Tape [Tapes], Sampler [Samples], Liner Notes – Evan Parker
Violin, Electronics – Philipp Wachsmann

AGUSTÍ FERNÁNDEZ | EVAN PARKER | BARRY GUY | PAUL LYTTON | - Topos (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Coalescence    1:58
2    Open Systems    9:44
3    In Praise Of Shadows    5:20
4    Air/Luft    4:30
5    Still Listening    6:43
6    Moon Over BCN    6:28
7    Smart Set    3:46
8    This One Is For Kowald    6:31
9    Inner Silence    3:51
Credits :
Artwork [Cover Art] – VANCHE
Composed By – Fernández, Guy (pistas: 1 to 4, 6 to 8), Parker (pistas: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9), Lytton (pistas: 1 to 6, 8, 9)
Double Bass – Barry Guy (pistas: 1 to 4, 6 to 8)
Percussion – Paul Lytton (pistas: 1 to 6, 8, 9)
Piano – Agustí Fernández
Producer [Produced By] – Agustí Fernández, Maya Recordings
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker (pistas: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)

EVAN PARKER | ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE – The Eleventh Hour (2005) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Eleventh Hour is the fourth offering by Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble on ECM. The ensemble here numbers 11 members, six of whom are electronic sound sculptors and sound processors, with the remainder -- including Philipp Wachsmann and Paul Lytton -- are free jazz and new music improvisers. The title piece, in five parts, was commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Center in Glasgow, where the album was recorded. The first track, "Shadow Play," is a separate entity employing the same strategies of music being played live, then fed through a number of sampling keyboards as live electronics are added and processed as yet other sounds and other music is being played atop it all, beginning the cycle over again. The sheer sparseness and ghostliness of "Shadow Play" is a hook in and of itself. There is a lot going on as violin, soprano saxophone, percussion, and piano all fall together, but as the sounds are treated and added to electronically, they have an air of space and separation that creates an immense space for the listener. On "Eleventh Hour," free improv of a more intense variety kicks off the first section with live acoustic instrumentation in the foreground and sonics are slipped forward and backward through the dialogue. As the piece develops, silence, ambience, and repetition play more and more of a role, as new modes and routes are proposed and integrated through the sections as each "real" instrument is allowed its own free play, and then dialogue, in duet and trio engagements with others. The final five minutes of this work is one of the most ominous and tense dronescapes, punctuated by high-pitched industrial sounds and offering a mood of pure foreboding, and even dread. It's dynamic, dramatic, and utterly unsettling, leaving the listener spellbound once the recording has drifted into silence.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Shadow Play 17:29
Composed By – Parker / Ryan / Casserley / Prati
The Eleventh Hour
Composed By – Evan Parker
2    Part 1    12:52
3    Part 2    9:33
4    Part 3    12:02
5    Part 4    15:32
6    Part 5    5:28
Credits :
Double Bass – Adam Linson
Effects [Computer Processing] – Walter Prati
Effects [Sample And Signal Processing] – Joel Ryan
Effects [Sound Projection] – Marco Vecchi
EInstruments [Signal Processing Instrument], Percussion, Voice – Lawrence Casserley
Keyboards [Sampling Keyboard], Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Obermayer, Richard Barrett
Percussion, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Lytton
Piano, Piano [Prepared Piano] – Agustí Fernandez
Soprano Saxophone, Voice – Evan Parker
Violin, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Philipp Wachsmann

EVAN PARKER OCTET - Crossing the River (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded at Gateway Studios on May 2, 2005, this session features a generous cross section of Evan Parker's recent musical partners, delightfully recorded as always by engineer Steve Lowe. The lineup consists of Parker (on tenor sax only); regulars Philipp Wachsmann, Marcio Mattos, John Edwards, and John Russell; lesser-known figures pianist Agustí Fernández and clarinetist John Rangecroft; and the too rarely documented Neil Metcalfe on flute. This octet is featured in three pieces, two of them in the 20-minute range. The other half of the album consists of smaller groupings. This is collective free improvisation at its finest, with telepathic turns, instantly choreographed exchanges, and a tight yet detailed group sound, especially in "Octet I," in which Parker himself remains conspicuously discreet. After this intense ensemble piece, the group breaks down into gradually smaller formations for a number of shorter pieces, starting with a strong string quintet (violin, cello, bass, guitar, and piano). Rangecroft displays a lot of uncanny elegance in "Trio III," but the highlight of these small-scale numbers is the "Duo" between Metcalfe and Fernández, oddly romantic in its own way. "Octet 2" gets back to a denser sound and epic interaction, peaking with a frantic episode between strings and saxophone. As a whole, Crossing the River is more subdued or tempered than the average Parker release. It leaves room to breathe, which might offer fans of quieter improv a good occasion to get back in touch with Parker's work. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1    Octet 1    23:41
2    Quintet    10:25
3    Trio 1    3:00
4    Trio 2    5:45
5    Trio 3    6:40
6    Duo    7:05
7    Octet 2    19:18
8    Octet 3    0:40
Credits :
Bass – John Edwards
Cello – Marcio Mattos
Clarinet – John Rangecroft
Flute – Neil Metcalfe
Guitar – John Russell
Piano – Agustí Fernández
Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker
Violin – Philipp Wachsmann

EVAN PARKER ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE - The Moment's Energy (2009) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

It has been fascinating to listen to the ways Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble has developed its approach over the past 13 years. Some of its members, such as Paul Lytton, Barry Guy, Lawrence Casserley, Walter Prati, and Philipp Wachsman, have been here continuously since 1996's Toward the Margins, and the original sextet has now grown to 14 members, including new ones Peter Evans, Ned Rothenberg, and Kô Ishikawa. The Moment's Energy, an extended work in seven sections, is their fifth recorded outing. What is so immediately striking about this piece of music is how formally constructed it is. That does not mean there isn't improvisation -- after all, this is an Evan Parker-led group -- but more important is the place of composition in the framework of the whole. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival commissioned Parker to write something for their event, and this piece, with its cascading sonics shaping the international array of acoustic sounds, includes Parker's soprano, Ishikawa's sho, Agusti Fernández's piano and prepared piano, Rothenberg's clarinets and shakuhachi, Guy's bass, and Lytton's live percussion. Much of the work is restrained, full of space and a muted color palette -- though at all times there is a lot going on. In certain movements, such as "II," and "V," full-blown free improvisation between the acoustic instruments almost overwhelms the electronic elements -- half the ensemble is involved in the creation or projection of these sounds and their processing -- in the longer middle section of the piece. Elsewhere, color and dynamic -- such as on the moody, and even harrowing "IV," and the forcefulness of the work's closing movement "VII" -- offer proof of just how rich, disciplined, and wide-ranging the soundworld of this ensemble is. In addition, Parker's compositional method has employed a different scale here: he seems to have composed not only a work for performance by this particular ensemble, but has written with the ideal scale of the group itself as a principle concern. Hence, this work is more modern composition than merely free or experimental jazz. This is a gorgeous work when taken as a whole, a musical journey through multi-dimensional landscapes and sonic shadows that seems to stretch time itself.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
The Moment's Energy   
1    I    9:29
2    II    9:45
3    III    9:34
4    IV    4:19
5    V    9:23
6    VI    8:11
7    VII    11:14
8    Incandescent Clouds    5:05
Credits :
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Shakuhachi – Ned Rothenberg
Double Bass – Barry Guy
Effects [Computer Processing] – Walter Prati
Effects [Sample And Signal Processing] – Joel Ryan
Effects [Sound Projection] – Marco Vecchi
Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Obermayer, Richard Barrett
Instruments [Signal Processing Instrument] – Lawrence Casserley
Music By – Evan Parker
Percussion, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Lytton
Piano, Piano [Prepared Piano] – Agustí Fernández
Sho [Shô] – Ko Ishikawa
Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker
Trumpet, Piccolo Trumpet – Peter Evans
Violin, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Philipp Wachsmann

EVAN PARKER | AGUSTÍ FERNÁNDEZ - The Voice Is One (2012) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Part I    15:38
2    Part II    11:13
3    Part III    11:14
4    Part IV    6:23
5    Part V    16:36
6    Part VI    5:00
Credits :
Piano – Agustí Fernández
Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker