Evan Parker has been at the forefront of the european avant garde for more than 20 years. If you have never heard of him and if you play saxophone it's about time you did. His playing is to say the least extrordinary and he has been referred to being just as important as John Coltrane. His use of multiphonics and circular breathing are astounding and his work in improvisation is highly respected. This concert has him playing with his most important counterparts. On the first CD he is joined by Alexander von Schlippenbach and Paul Lovens better known as the Schlippenbach trio.
If you can get a hold of anything by this group consider yourself lucky. Most of the recordings are out of print but are documents of extreme importance. This CD has the trio playing a short set of improvisations that give an excellent glimpse of what this group is normally capable of. The other CD has upright bass player Barry Guy and percussionist Paul Lytton. This CD is another great example of this trio that just finally recorded a studio record for Rastacan records. I would highly recommed the FMP release "process and reality" if you would like to hear evans solo work. His early solo releases on Incus records are the most profound and also the hardest to come by. But look for these on cds, some will be reissued. Most of these recordings can be found in the Cadence North Country magazine that is normally sold at finer record stores.
Douglas Theriault