As the Wind | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 2016 | |||
Recorded | September 22, 2012 | |||
Venue | St Peters, Whitstable, England | |||
Genre | Free improvisation | |||
Label | Psi 16.01 | |||
Producer | Evan Parker, Martin Davidson | |||
Evan Parker chronology | ||||
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As the Wind is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker on which he is joined by percussionists Toma Gouband, playing lithophones, and Mark Nauseef, playing metallophones. It was recorded on September 22, 2012, at St Peters in Whitstable, England, and was issued on CD in 2016 by Psi Records as the label's final release. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Parker declared that the disc was "one of the best records I have ever made." [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
All About Jazz | [5] |
The Irish Times | [6] |
Jazzwise | [7] |
The editors of The Irish Times ranked the album as the year's best jazz release, [8] awarding it a full five stars. [6] Reviewer Cormac Larkin wrote: "The results are so fresh, and ear-craningly delicate that even those who don't think they enjoy this level of abstraction may be forced to re-evaluate." [6]
In a review for Jazzwise , Philip Clark stated: "this record doesn't contain a single note of jazz, but is a remarkably fine document... I get why Parker rates this record so highly – and hearing him building lines on soprano, rather than defaulting to too much circular breathing, is refreshing." [7]
The editors of All About Jazz also awarded the album a full five stars, and writer John Eyles commented: "The music supports Parker's judgment that it is one of his best... Lacking the pyrotechnics of some of his recordings, such as his solo circular-breathing marathons, As the Wind is a slow-burner that ends up being just as impressive in different ways." [5]
Derek Taylor of Dusted Magazine included the album in his year-end "best of" list, [9] and remarked: "The end collective effect often takes on the unexpected superficial semblance to traditional Japanese theater music in its meditative symmetry and controlled dissonances... this is certainly an achievement that stands out in singular and fascinating form." [10]
JazzWord's Ken Waxman described the music as "brimming with unexpected timbres and interactions... inventions of understatement." He noted: "Parker's distinctive saxophone cascades... not only set the session's mood, but as soon as idiophone smacks clip-clop out their messages, he's able to mimic them. With the selections unfolding in real time, very soon a rapprochement is made between the saxophonist's alp-horn-like swells and rhythmic reverberations which resemble the clatter of mah-jong tiles. Nauseef... makes bell-tree shakes and prayer bowl rubs fit the tunes without fissure, moving alongside Gouband's individualistic strategy of slapping stones on drum tops." [11]
Writer Raul Da Gama stated: "Texture is everything: there are no silences; only long slurs and echoes after which the music seems to be punctuated by a series of crescendos... there is always a sense of sculpted sound but the combination of instrumental timbres is often radiantly beautiful, suggesting bejewelled and absolutely aglow." [12]
Two of the writers at The New York City Jazz Record included the album in their list of recommended new releases, [13] and it was also included in the magazine's "Best of 2016" feature. [14]
Writing for the Downtown Music Gallery , Bruce Lee Gallanter called the album a "treasure chest of gems," and commented: "The results are extraordinary... The sound here is very organic, almost ritualistic in the way the stones are so cautiously played. The music is often minimal with no one member soloing or leading. Things take time to unfold and advance at their own pace. Is that a sax or rubbed stones or both or neither?!?" [15]
The Free Jazz Collective's Stuart Broomer included the album in his list of the year's notable recordings, describing it as "superb music... a soundworld at once abstract and intimate, with every sound spontaneously presenting itself with acute detail and a sense of inevitability." [16]
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Tony Oxley was an English free improvising drummer and electronic musician.
Saxophone Solos is a solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. Three of the tracks were recorded live on June 17, 1975, at the Unity Theatre in London, and the remaining music was recorded on September 9, 1975 at the FMP Studio in Berlin. The album was initially released on LP in 1976 by Incus Records, and was reissued on CD in 1995 by Chronoscope records with nine additional tracks bearing subtitles from Samuel Beckett, again on CD in 2009 by Psi Records, and again on LP in 2021 by Otoroku Records. The contents of the album, plus a previously-missing track from the studio session, were also included in a 1989 limited-edition box set compilation titled Collected Solos, issued by Cadillac Distribution.
The Snake Decides is a studio album by British jazz saxophonist Evan Parker. It was released in 1988 on Parker and Derek Bailey's Incus Records label, re-released on Parker's Psi label in 2003, and reissued again in remastered form with new liner notes by Brian Morton on the Otoroku label in 2018.
Mark Nauseef is an American drummer and percussionist who has enjoyed a varied career, ranging from rock music during the 1970s with his time as a member of the Ian Gillan Band and, temporarily with Thin Lizzy when Brian Downey left for a short time, to a wide range of musical styles in more recent times, playing with notable musicians from around the world.
Sylvie Courvoisier is a composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Prize in 2022 and was named Pianist of the Year for 2023 in the international critics poll of Spanish jazz publication El Intruso. NPR’s Kevin Whitehead has encapsulated the distinctive character of Courvoisier’s art this way: “Some pianists approach the instrument like it’s a cathedral. Sylvie Courvoisier treats it like a playground.”
John Russell was an acoustic guitarist who worked in free improvisation beginning in the 1970s. He promoted concerts and appeared on more than 50 recordings.
Near Nadir is a studio album by four musicians Ikue Mori, Mark Nauseef, Evan Parker and Bill Laswell. The album was released in 2011 for Zorn's Tzadik Records.
At the Unity Theatre is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton. It was recorded in January 1975 at the Unity Theatre in London, and was released later that year by Incus Records. The album was reissued on CD, with three extra tracks, by Psi Records in 2003.
Psi Records is an independent record label that was founded by saxophonist Evan Parker, and that focuses on free improvisation.
Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, double bassist Barry Guy, and drummer Paul Lytton. It was recorded on July 14, 2016, at the Vortex Jazz Club in London, and was released in 2018 by Intakt Records. The album is dedicated to the founder of the Vortex, who died in December 2018.
'Smatter is an album by saxophonist Gerd Dudek. It was recorded on February 20, 1998, at Gateway Studios in London, and was issued in 2002 by Psi Records as the label's second release. On the album, Dudek is joined by guitarist John Parricelli, double bassist Chris Laurence, and drummer Tony Levin. The album features three compositions by Kenny Wheeler, including the title track, plus three jazz standards.
Day and Night is an album by saxophonist Gerd Dudek. It was recorded on January 30, 2012, at Curtis Schwartz Studio in Ardingly, West Sussex, England, and was released later that year by Psi Records. On the album, Dudek is joined by pianist Hans Koller, double bassist Oli Hayhurst, and drummer Gene Calderazzo.
Hasselt is a live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, recorded during the Open Circuit: iNTERACT 2010 festival, held at Kunstencentrum Belgie in Hasselt, Belgium. The first three tracks, recorded on May 21, 2010, feature sub-groups drawn from the Ensemble, while the final track, recorded on May 22, 2010, is an extended outing for the entire Ensemble. The album was released in 2012 by Psi Records.
Six of One is a live solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. It was recorded on June 18, 1980, at St Jude-on-the-Hill in London, and was initially released on vinyl in 1982 by Incus Records. In 2002, it was reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label with an additional track from the same session, and in 2021, it was reissued on vinyl in remastered form but with the original six track format by Cafe Oto's Otoroku label.
Lines Burnt in Light is a live solo soprano saxophone album by Evan Parker. It was recorded on October 11, 2001, at St Michael and All Angels Church, Chiswick, London, and was issued on CD later that year by Psi Records as the label's inaugural release. Track one was recorded prior to the audience's arrival, while the remaining two tracks were recorded in concert. The album is dedicated to the memory of recording engineer Michael Gerzon, and cover art was provided by Roger Ackling.
The London Concert is a live album by guitarist Derek Bailey and saxophonist Evan Parker. It was recorded on February 14, 1975, at Wigmore Hall in London, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by Incus Records. In 2005, it was reissued on CD by Parker's Psi label with additional tracks, and in 2018, it was reissued on vinyl in remastered form but with the original four track format by Cafe Oto's Otoroku label.
The Bleeding Edge is a live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, cellist Okkyung Lee, and trumpeter Peter Evans, three musicians from different continents, playing instruments of different families. Featuring five improvised duos and six trios, it was recorded on May 4, 2010, at St. Peter's Church in Whitstable, England, and was released on CD in 2011 by Psi Records.
America 2003 is a two-disc live album by saxophonist Evan Parker, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and drummer Paul Lytton. It documents two concerts presented during a month-long tour of the United States, with disc one recorded on May 1, 2003, at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and disc two recorded on May 14, 2003, at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The album was released on CD in 2004 by Psi Records.