| What/If/They Both Could Fly | ||||
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | November 22, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | July 6, 2012 at the Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Norway | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 39:11 | |||
| Label | Rune Grammofon RLP/RCD3149 | |||
| Joe McPhee chronology | ||||
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| Evan Parker chronology | ||||
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What/If/They Both Could Fly is a live album by Evan Parker and Joe McPhee recorded Norway in 2012 and released on the Norwegian Rune Grammofon label. [1] [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| DownBeat | [5] |
AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek stated "For fans of improvised music, What/If/They Both Could Fly has much to offer. For seasoned listeners, it will not likely reveal many hidden new doors, but it is enjoyable and engaging for its lively interplay, presented in a relaxed, open, and inquisitive fashion". [3]
In The Guardian, John Fordham wrote "It's a must for free-jazz disciples of Parker and McPhee, but the uninitiated may also find much to enjoy in this gracefully rational and divertingly varied exhibition of improv". [4]
DownBeat reviewer Bill Meyer commented: "Nothing about this 2012 performance, recorded... when saxophonist Evan Parker was 68 and saxophonist-trumpeter Joe McPhee was 73, sounds like the work of musicians who are anywhere short of the top of their game... they sound quite in tune with each other, whether adding to one another's ideas or holding back to give the other space." [5]
All compositions by Evan Parker and Joe McPhee
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.
Machine Gun is the second album by German avant-garde jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, originally released on his BRÖ label in 1968.
For Alto is a jazz double-LP by composer/multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, recorded in 1969 and released on Delmark Records in 1971. Braxton performs the pieces on this album entirely on alto saxophone, with no additional musicians, instrumentation or overdubbing. Although other jazz musicians, such as Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins, and Eric Dolphy, had recorded unaccompanied saxophone solos, For Alto was the first jazz album composed solely of solo saxophone music.
Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 is a live album by jazz saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell recorded in Germany in September 2004 and released on ECM in 2007.
Boustrophedon is a live album by free jazz saxophonist and composer Evan Parker and the Transatlantic Art Ensemble, featuring Roscoe Mitchell, recorded in Germany in September 2004 and released on ECM in 2008.
Memory/Vision is a live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in October 2002 and released on ECM the following year.
The Moment's Energy is an live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in November 2007 and released on ECM in 2009.
Food is an experimental jazz band initiated by British woodwind multi-instrumentalist Iain Ballamy and Norwegian percussionist Thomas Strønen after a coincidental meeting first in Trondheim, Norway and later in Molde in 1997. They played two gigs at Moldejazz 1998, which were recorded live to two-track, and became their first album Food (2000).
Trinity is an album by American mult-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1972 and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2001.
Underground Railroad is a live album by saxophonist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1969 at the Holy Cross Monastery and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2001 with a bonus concert from the same venue.
Pieces of Light is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee with John Snyder on synthesizer recorded in 1972 and originally released on the CjR label, then reissued by Atavistic in 2005.
Common Threads: Live at the Tractor Tavern, Seattle is a live album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1995 and first released on the Deep Listening label.
Legend Street One is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1996 and first released on the CIMP label.
Legend Street Two is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1996 and first released on the CIMP label.
Inside Out is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee with violinist David Prentice, recorded in 1996 and released on the CIMP label.
McPhee/Parker/Lazro is a live album by saxophonists Joe McPhee, Evan Parker and Daunik Lazro recorded in France in 1995 and first released on the Vand'Oeuvre label.
Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom is an album by percussionist Hamid Drake and multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee recorded in 1999 and first released on the Okka Disk label.
Made in Chicago is a live album by drummer and composer Jack DeJohnette recorded at the 35th Chicago Jazz Festival on August 29, 2013 and released on ECM in March 2015. The quintet features fellow Chicagoan musicians pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, bassist Larry Gray and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill—a reunion of DeJohnette with colleagues from Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Up to Earth is an album by the Chris McGregor Septet, led by pianist McGregor, and featuring saxophonists Evan Parker, Dudu Pukwana, and John Surman, trumpeter Mongezi Feza, bassists Barre Phillips and Danny Thompson, and drummer Louis Moholo. It was recorded at Sound Techniques in London during 1969, and was released by Fledg'ling Records in 2008.
