With John Edwards (bass), Steve Noble (drums).
The greatest living exponent of free improvisation. Nearly half a century ago, he played alongside the drummer John Stevens and the guitarist Derek Bailey, in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, tunnelling under contemporary American free jazz’s exultant innovations, with precise, near silent, collective improvisations, free of tempi or tunes. In 1968, he was part of the multi-horn assault of Peter Brotzman’s Machine Gun album, bringing unprecedented power to the music. And in the intervening decades, he’s become a quiet colossus. If you’ve ever been tempted by free improvisation, Parker is your gateway drug.
