EVAN PARKER | ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE - Toward the Margins (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Founded in 1992, Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble is a highly sophisticated grouping, which for this recording conceptually pairs three acoustic musicians with electronic tone manipulators. What keeps it so interesting is the different approaches to electronics, with Walter Prati transforming Parker's sounds, Marco Vecchi reformulating Paul Lytton's percussion, and violinist Philipp Wachsmann processing his own acoustic sounds and those of bassist Barry Guy. It is all fascinating stuff, and if it does not swing or fit into any easy definitions of "jazz," it takes the concept of improvisation to a new level. There is sometimes an aimlessness to it all that can be off-putting, but concentrated listening can produce wonderful rewards for the patient consumer. Parker's role seems less that of a leader than an instigator. He does, nonetheless, afford himself the opportunity to press his revolutionary technique to action. The detailed 20-page booklet, with extensive liner notes by Steve Lake is a real plus. Steve Loewy
Tracklist :
1    Toward The Margins 4:31
Music By – Guy, Parker, Wachsmann
2    Turbulent Mirror 5:51
Music By – Evan Parker
3    Field And Figure 7:06
Music By – Guy, Parker
4    The Regenerative Landscape (For AMM) 3:34
Music By – Evan Parker
5    Chain Of Chance 4:19
Music By – Vecchi, Lytton, Prati
6    Trahütten 6:17
Music By – Parker, Wachsmann
Shadow Without An Object (6:00)
Music By – Guy, Parker, Vecchi, Lytton, Wachsmann, Prati
7.1    (I) Engagement    
7.2    (II) Reversal    
7.3    (III) Displacement    
8    Epanados 4:27
Music By – Guy, Parker, Vecchi, Lytton, Wachsmann, Prati
9    Born Cross-Eyed (Remembering Fuller) 2:49
Music By – Paul Lytton
10    Philipp's Pavilion 7:32
Music By – Parker, Wachsmann
11    The Hundred Books (For Idries Shah) 4:09
Music By – Evan Parker
12    Contra-Dance 3:38
Music By – Guy, Parker
Credits :
Cover – Mayo Bucher
Double Bass – Barry Guy
Electronics [Live Electronics], Effects [Sound Processing] – Marco Vecchi, Walter Prati
Percussion, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Lytton
Soprano Saxophone, Gong – Evan Parker
Violin, Viola, Electronics [Live Electronics], Effects [Sound Processing] – Philipp Wachsmann

EVAN PARKER | ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE - Drawn Inward (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Evan Parker has performed in so many contexts, but he seems to have hit a particular stride with his Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, a strange combination of saxophones, strings, and electronics. What makes this so exceedingly attractive is the continuous wonder that permeates throughout. Parker is no means the standout performer; his soprano and tenor sometimes meld, at others lead, but it is his remarkable companions, Philipp Wachsmann (on violin, viola, and electronics), Barry Guy (on acoustic bass), Paul Lytton (on percussion and electronics), plus three very different electronic sound manipulators, Lawrence Casserly, Walter Prati, and Marco Vecchi, who combine to produce some electrifying and starkly delightful music. Parker fans that have not heard this group before may be surprised at the results. Although the saxophonist embraces his now well-known advanced techniques, they are clearly subordinate to the project. At times there is a busy intensity to it all, at others a serene quality. Highly complex strokes for an increasingly intricate society, perhaps, where moods change and so do their contexts. Don't file under easy listening. Steve Loewy  
Tracklist :
1    The Crooner (For Johnny Hartman) 9:13
Composed By – Parker, Wachsmann
2    Serpent In Sky 7:30
Composed By – Evan Parker
3    Travel In The Homeland 7:58
Composed By – Paul Lytton
4    Spouting Bowl 2:56
Composed By – Lawrence Casserley
5    Collect Calls [Milano-Kingston] [Bugged] 10:38
Composed By – Parker, Prati
6    Aka Lotan 4:24
Composed By – Parker, Wachsmann
7    Reanascreena 5:43
Composed By – Barry Guy
8    At Home In The Universe (For Stuart Kauffman) 3:20
Composed By – Evan Parker
9    Writing On Ice 3:43
Composed By – Philipp Wachsmann
10    Phloy In The Frame 3:49
Composed By – Parker, Lytton
11    DrawnInward 5:59
Composed By – Evan Parker
Credits :
Double Bass – Barry Guy
Electronics [Live Electronics], Effects [Sound Processing] – Lawrence Casserley, Marco Vecchi, Walter Prati
Percussion, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Paul Lytton
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Khene [Khène] – Evan Parker
Violin, Viola, Electronics [Live Electronics], Effects [Sound Processing] – Philipp Wachsmann

EVAN PARKER - Free Zone Appleby 2002 + Free Zone Appleby 2003 (2003-2004) 3CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Free Zone Appleby 2002
(2003, psi – psi 03.02/3) 2CD
This double-CD set documents the "Free Zone" feature of the 2002 Appleby Jazz Festival. All these performances were captured live at the acoustically rich St. Michael's Church in Appleby (England). A pool of eight free improvisers, some well-known (Evan Parker, Philipp Wachsmann, Marcio Mattos, John Edwards, Mark Sanders) and others still cruelly under-recorded (Neil Metcalfe, John Rangecroft, Sylvia Hallett), spontaneously combine their skills in a series of ad hoc duets, trios, quartets, and a final octet. It is not said if the pieces are presented in the order of performance, but considering the symmetry with which each disc unfolds, one guesses that some editing and sequencing came into play to make the listening experience more pleasurable. Each CD starts with a solo performance: Hallett's captivating voice-and-violin dirge "Whitethroat" and Edwards' bass solo "Pin Drop." Then the groups gradually grow larger. With a total duration of over 150 minutes, Free Zone Appleby 2002 is a generous set, too generous for a single sitting (the sequencing of the discs as separate entities comes in handy), and highlights abound. But the two outstanding pieces are provided by the rhythm section (using the term oh so loosely) of Edwards and Sanders as they engage with Rangecroft in "Subject Matters" and Hallett in "Phantoms." They gracefully adapt their playing to these two very different musicians -- Rangecroft being a more pragmatic, intellectual player, while Hallett operates on a more atavistic or spiritual level. After such focused music, "Morsman Octet" comes as a light disappointment: the group has a hard time getting the music to flow effortlessly. But that's hardly a turnoff, only a somehow anticlimactic finale. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1-1    Gong (For Phil Seamen)    0:16
1-2    Whitethroat    17:17
1-3    Re Eden    9:53
1-4    Subject Matters    16:31
1-5    Dunsany    14:06
1-6    Ferber String Quartet    20:09
2-1    Pin Drop    15:03
2-2    Sense    9:19
2-3    Phantoms    10:56
2-4    Pica Pica    7:28
2-5    Mgt4all    15:08
2-6    Morsman Octet    16:16
Credits :
Bass – John Edwards (pistas: 1-4, 1-6, 2-1, 2-3, 2-6)
Cello – Marcio Mattos (pistas: 1-5, 1-6, 2-4 to 2-6)
Clarinet – John Rangecroft (pistas: 1-3 to 1-5, 2-6)
Flute – Neil Metcalfe (pistas: 1-5, 2-2, 2-5, 2-6)
Painting [Paintings] – Phil Morsman
Percussion – Mark Sanders (pistas: 1-4, 2-3, 2-5, 2-6)
Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker (pistas: 1-1, 1-3, 2-6)
Violin, Electronics – Philipp Wachsmann (pistas: 1-6, 2-2, 2-6)
Violin, Voice, Sarangi – Sylvia Hallett (pistas: 1-2, 1-5, 1-6, 2-3 to 2-6)

Free Zone Appleby 2003
(2004, psi – psi 04.05)
This release from PSI Records has all the markings of its affiliated and prestigious Emanem label: a stable of (mostly) London-based free-style improvisers who are associated with Emanem; extraordinary musicianship, with all the music freely improvised; and very good recording fidelity. Taken from the Appleby Jazz Festival in 2003, the collection centers around the string quartet of bassist John Edwards, violinists Sylvia Hallett and Philipp Wachsmann, and cellist Marcio Mattos, with eight musicians in the aggregate participating, including the well-known Evan Parker and Kenny Wheeler. The groups are varied, so that there are a couple of duos, and various quartets and quintets. While the quality of the performances is uniformly high, and there are wonderful moments almost everywhere, it is perhaps surprising that the best tracks (such as "S4-1"), that is, those that challenge the listener the most and contain the most variety emotionally, are the ones featuring the core string quartet. The finely executed "S4/TC-2," in which Tony Coe's clarinet melds gently with the hushed cries of the string quartet, presents a distinctly sophisticated and tuneful chamber feel, something that characterizes much of the album. Wheeler is a strong addition to the few tracks on which he plays, focusing on a genre of lyrical free improvisation in which he is most effective. Evan Parker's appearances are slightly disappointing, if only because he appears so infrequently and his anticipated duo with Wheeler on "W2-1" is somewhat of a letdown. Nonetheless, the album does offer the opportunity to hear him in different contexts than usual. While hardly indispensable, Free Zone Appleby offers yet another glimpse into the astonishingly creative world of British free improvisation. Steve Loewy
Tracklist :
1    S4-1 3:14
2    S4/TC-1 4:58
3    S4-2 5:05
4    W2-1 4:56
5    S4/KW-1 2:42
6    S4-3 4:12
7    S4/EP 5:18
8    S4-4 8:13
9    W2-2 3:13
10    S4/KW-2 7:47
11    S4-5 6:32
12    S4/TC-2 3:19
13    W4/JE 8:53
14    S4/AH 7:16
Credits :
Bass – John Edwards
Cello – Marcio Mattos
Clarinet – Alan Hacker, Tony Coe
Flugelhorn –  Sylvia Hallett
Painting – Phil Morsman
Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker
Violin, Electronics – Philipp Wachsmann
Violin, Voice, Sarangi – Sylvia Hallett

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

EVAN PARKER - Free Zone Appleby 2004 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 2004, the Free Zone feature of the Appleby Jazz Festival presented a sequence of duo and trio combinations featuring bassist Barry Guy, percussionist Paul Lytton, saxophonist Evan Parker, violinist Philipp Wachsmann, and Joel Ryan on live computer processing. Free Zone Appleby 2004 culls pieces taken from each of the four sets. Every set was twofold, starting with a duo between Ryan and one of the acoustic players, followed by a trio between the three other musicians. The track list on the CD reflects this organization, systematically permuting players. Ryan's work with free improvisers never ceases to amaze; his approach is much more complementary than the usual fragmentation processes of other computer artists working in live situations. His duo with Wachsmann ranks among the best material he has recorded yet. The two of them are literally fused together, each one reinventing the language of the other. The duo with Barry Guy also reaches impressive heights. The other duos fall more within expectations -- strong, but not surprising. The trios are also rather uneventful, as Guy, Lytton, Parker, and Wachsmann have been improvising together for so many years. Each lineup produces good interaction levels, with a special mention going to "Trio-3" by Parker, Guy, and Wachsmann, but these pieces present nothing different that would recommend them over earlier recordings. That said, Ryan's presence on over half of the album is reason enough to add this title to your collection. François Couture
Tracklist :
1    Duo-1    11:38
2    Trio-1    7:28
3    Duo-2    6:33
4    Trio-2    6:50
5    Duo-3    11:45
6    Trio-3    8:44
7    Duo-4    18:24
8    Trio-4    7:57
Credits :
Bass – Barry Guy (pistas: 2, 3, 6, 8)
Effects [Live Processing] – Joel Ryan (pistas: 1, 3, 5, 7)
Painting – Phil Morsman
Percussion – Paul Lytton (pistas: 2, 4, 5, 8)
Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker (pistas: 2, 4, 6, 7)
Violin, Electronics – Philipp Wachsmann (pistas: 1, 4, 6, 8)

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