Music for David Mossman

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Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London
Parker Guy Lytton Music for David Mossman.jpg
Live album by
Released16 February 2018 (2018-02-16)
Recorded14 July 2016 (2016-07-14)
Venue Vortex Jazz Club, London
Genre Free improvisation
Label Intakt
CD296
Producer Evan Parker, Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt
Evan Parker chronology
Duets 71977
(2017)
Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London
(2018)
Linger Like Joy in Memory
(2018)

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 14 July 2016, at the Vortex Jazz Club in London, and was released on 16 Febrauary 2018 through Intakt Records. [1] The album is dedicated to the founder of the Vortex, who died in December 2018. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
DownBeat Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]
The Free Jazz CollectiveStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Jazzwise Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

In a review for DownBeat , Martin Longley wrote: "Even though these players all are hovering around age 70, they each play with the tempestuousness of younger men, adding expansive layers, resulting from years of experience." [6]

John Sharpe of All About Jazz called the album "a dazzling account from a superlative threesome revealing a hitherto underappreciated emotional dimension to the richly-detailed tapestry they weave." [7]

The Free Jazz Collective's Martin Schray described the recording as "music of an incredible density, music that varies harmonies and tempos constantly, music that changes its shape," and noted: "Hardly ever have these excellent musicians shown such a disposition to integrate their individual sounds and typical patterns to an all-encompassing unity." [8]

Writing for Jazzwise , Daniel Spicer stated: "the three of them trade in a dense, information-rich music through which they seem to achieve the holy grail of free-improvisation: the group mind." [9]

In an article for JazzTimes , Thomas Conrad commented: "The excitement comes from the spikes and crescendos, but even more from the overwhelming extravagance of detail. You can drown in the seas of this trio... Parker, Guy and Lytton celebrate the act of making music itself. They celebrate sound itself. Noise and melody are not as different as we thought." [10]

Point of Departure's Jason Bivins stated that the album "is as powerful as anything the trio have done in recent years," and remarked: "the trio never lingers overlong in any particular place, nor do they change arbitrarily or too rapidly. It's as exploratory and organic as ever... There remains nothing like this group. Truly glorious." [11]

Derek Taylor of Dusted Magazine wrote that the album is "affirmation that free isn't just a face value signifier, but something deeper and more elemental. With maestros such as Parker, Guy and Lytton it's a mantra that means every encounter will contain the means for finding something worthwhile and apart regardless of what's arisen before from their enduring associations." [12]

In a review for The Whole Note, Stuart Broomer noted that the album's "dominant texture is that of philosophical dialogue, a rapid conversation in which participants discourse while responding to the simultaneous intrusions of partners in the fray, who may quibble or launch counter-offensives, sending the first speaker to submit background material or new support for his previous theses." [13]

Track listing

  1. "Music for David Mossman I" – 12:50
  2. "Music for David Mossman II" – 11:58
  3. "Music for David Mossman III" – 24:15
  4. "Music for David Mossman IV" – 12:29

Personnel

References

  1. Parker, Evan; Guy, Barry; Lytton, Paul (February 16, 2018). "Music for David Mossman I". Bandcamp. Retrieved January 24, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London". AllMusic. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  3. "Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Paul Lytton - Music for David Mossman - Live at Vortex London". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  4. "Evan Parker - Barry Guy - Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman (Live at Vortex London)". Intakt Records. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  5. Weindling, Oliver (December 10, 2018). "David Mossman – 17 July 1942 - 8 December 2018". Jazzwise. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Longley, Martin (June 2018). "Reviews". DownBeat. p. 68.
  7. 1 2 Sharpe, John (September 2, 2018). "Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton: Music For David Mossman". All About Jazz. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Schray, Martin (June 15, 2018). "Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton - Music for David Mossman". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Spicer, Daniel. "Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton - Music for David Mossman". Jazzwise. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  10. Conrad, Thomas (May 22, 2018). "Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London (Intakt)". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. Bivins, Jason (June 2018). "Moment's Notice: Reviews of Recent Recordings". Point of Departure. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  12. Taylor, Derek (February 6, 2018). "Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton – Music for David Mossman (Intakt)". Dusted. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  13. Broomer, Stuart (March 1, 2018). "Music for David Mossman - Evan Parker; Barry Guy; Paul Lytton". The Whole Note. Retrieved April 23, 2023.