This month’s line up:
Evan Parker (sax)
John Edwards (bass)
Mark Sanders (drums)
Tom Challenger (sax)
The spectrum of music played by Evan Parker ranges from “free jazz” to “free improvisation”. Each month Evan invites different guests to play with him.
Evan Parker (born in Bristol, 1944) took up the saxophone at the age of 14. Early influences included Paul Desmond, Eric Dolphy, and above all John Coltrane. After witnessing the Cecil Taylor Trio with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in full flood in New York in 1962 he was, as he says, “marked for life”, converted to the intensities of free jazz. Back in England, he gradually found players to share his fervour, including John Stevens and the members of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble – Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutherford, Derek Bailey and others – and, importantly, Peter Kowald, who made the introductions to the German scene. Parker played on Peter Brötzmann’s still dangerous ‘Machine Gun’ in ’68 and, before the 60s had run their course, had also recorded with Manfred Schoof and Pierre Favre. In 1970 he joined the Alex von Schlippenbach Trio, of which he is still a member, and subsequently the Globe Unity Orchestra. By this point the hallmarks of his unique style were established, his combinations of circular breathing, tonguing, rhythm patterns, overtones and polytones making his sound instantly recognisable.
Evan Parker appears on more than 200 recordings on labels including ECM, FMP, Emanem, Incus, Ogun, Po Torch, Okka, Island, CBS, RCA etc. In 2001, he founded his own label, Psi.
Evan Parker on the Vortex Jazz Club on Bandcamp
Tom Challenger Solo