Evan Parker @ The Stone

[Steve Reynolds]

September 9th through 14th

Lots of good stuff but I'm posting as the schedule was updated with some changes.

Tuesday is now the quartet that played last year - John Escreet, John Hebert and the great Tyshawn Sorey and now the second set is:

Evan with Joe McPhee on trumpet with Chris Corsano

Yummy

Wednesday is now Parker with Peter Evans and a saxophonist named Charles Evans and then:

Parker with Peter Evans, Hebert and Sorey.

I would love to go on Friday night for the quartet called Rocket Science or for the duets with Milford Graves on Saturday night but for me, these are the nights for me - especially knowing his great Sorey was with him last year - and I've been waiting to hear Corsano with Parker for a few years now - and adding the great Joe McPhee to make it a trio is very exciting indeed.

[clifford_thornton]

Charles Evans is a wonderful player, studied with Dave Liebman.

[Leeway]

I'm going to admit to being a little disappointed with this residency. If one has not been to one of the previous residencies, this is a good opportunity. But if one has, though, it seems needlessly redundant.

I've been to the two previous residencies, and have seen all the announced sets except for the Cymerman and Davis sets (the latter seems interesting). I only wish Evan had brought in some new partners: Ingrid Laubrock, Keir Neuringer, Mary Halvorson, Katharine Young, Syrinx Effect, Max Johnson, Kris Davis, et al, et al, maybe even Mr. Malaby. Hey, about Anthony Braxton, no longer committed to Wesleyan, and giving concerts in NYC.

Maybe scheduling issues holding up some of these possible sets, otherwise I'm frankly perplexed why Evan chose to go with recycling previous shows. I know: it's going to be good anyway. And I will likely go anyway. But it's an opportunity missed in my estimation.

[Leeway]

Charles Evans is a wonderful player, studied with Dave Liebman.

Kind of an interesting irony in that. I read an interview (Cadence, Sept. 1999) with Dave Liebman, where he says this about Evan Parker:

"He's an interesting player, he's a one-dimensional player. And because of that one-dimension, he's very deep into it. He does one thing, and he does it tune after tune. There are musicians like that, who hear one way. They have a kind of uni-direction that is remarkable, and I have to have a lot of respect for them, for having shut out everything else...A guy like Evan has been playing this way since the '60s, and he's the master of it....I like something a little bit wider, that includes more moods, more color."

[Steve Reynolds]

I'm going to admit to being a little disappointed with this residency. If one has not been to one of the previous residencies, this is a good opportunity. But if one has, though, it seems needlessly redundant.

I've been to the two previous residencies, and have seen all the announced sets except for the Cymerman and Davis sets (the latter seems interesting). I only wish Evan had brought in some new partners: Ingrid Laubrock, Keir Neuringer, Mary Halvorson, Katharine Young, Syrinx Effect, Max Johnson, Kris Davis, et al, et al, maybe even Mr. Malaby. Hey, about Anthony Braxton, no longer committed to Wesleyan, and giving concerts in NYC.

Maybe scheduling issues holding up some of these possible sets, otherwise I'm frankly perplexed why Evan chose to go with recycling previous shows. I know: it's going to be good anyway. And I will likely go anyway. But it's an opportunity missed in my estimation.

Parts of me thinks the same, parts of me thinks different.

You are taking the Derek Bailey tact, I think - new combinations with new possibilities. Maybe Parker wants to play again with some of the same musicians to delve further into what they played together before.

I sure got the impression he loved the trio he played with last year that is repeating this year - Escreet, Hebert and Sorey. I, for one person, am thrilled to be able to hear the "encore"!

Of the musicians you mention, I think Halvorsen might be an interesting partner as would Max Johnson. For me I like mostly to hear Evan Parker with drummers - and Sorey and Corsano are great choices for my ears. The one local drummer I would love to hear him with is Randy Peterson.

[Steve Reynolds]

Charles Evans is a wonderful player, studied with Dave Liebman.

Kind of an interesting irony in that. I read an interview (Cadence, Sept. 1999) with Dave Liebman, where he says this about Evan Parker:

"He's an interesting player, he's a one-dimensional player. And because of that one-dimension, he's very deep into it. He does one thing, and he does it tune after tune. There are musicians like that, who hear one way. They have a kind of uni-direction that is remarkable, and I have to have a lot of respect for them, for having shut out everything else...A guy like Evan has been playing this way since the '60s, and he's the master of it....I like something a little bit wider, that includes more moods, more color."

I agree with this to a great extent and probably why I listen to more Evan Parker than any other saxophonist .

What I don't agree with is that he had not been playing this way since the 60's. His playing took a huge step forward from the 70's through the early 90's. Same approach and focus, for sure but by the 1991 set "The Ayes Have It" Parker is playing with a facility on the tenor that is of a different level exponentially from his rough, gritty playing of the days of Pakistani Pomade or Hunting the Snake.

Now some much prefer the earlier playing (and sometimes I can be in that camp depending on my mood) but the later playing is of a brilliance that some refer to casual it is so assured and accomplished.

I believe his playing is do great due to the single minded focus of his playing

[Leeway]

I'm going to admit to being a little disappointed with this residency. If one has not been to one of the previous residencies, this is a good opportunity. But if one has, though, it seems needlessly redundant.

I've been to the two previous residencies, and have seen all the announced sets except for the Cymerman and Davis sets (the latter seems interesting). I only wish Evan had brought in some new partners: Ingrid Laubrock, Keir Neuringer, Mary Halvorson, Katharine Young, Syrinx Effect, Max Johnson, Kris Davis, et al, et al, maybe even Mr. Malaby. Hey, about Anthony Braxton, no longer committed to Wesleyan, and giving concerts in NYC.

Maybe scheduling issues holding up some of these possible sets, otherwise I'm frankly perplexed why Evan chose to go with recycling previous shows. I know: it's going to be good anyway. And I will likely go anyway. But it's an opportunity missed in my estimation.

Parts of me thinks the same, parts of me thinks different.

You are taking the Derek Bailey tact, I think - new combinations with new possibilities. Maybe Parker wants to play again with some of the same musicians to delve further into what they played together before.

I sure got the impression he loved the trio he played with last year that is repeating this year - Escreet, Hebert and Sorey. I, for one person, am thrilled to be able to hear the "encore"!

Of the musicians you mention, I think Halvorsen might be an interesting partner as would Max Johnson. For me I like mostly to hear Evan Parker with drummers - and Sorey and Corsano are great choices for my ears. The one local drummer I would love to hear him with is Randy Peterson.

Steve, I get that, and it's fine with one or two groups, but when the entire schedule with just a couple of exceptions, are "reruns" I get a bit miffed. I don't come to this music because it's comfortable, I come because it's challenging. I don't like partners chosen on a comfort level, like some old lounge act. The best people in the field have an obligation to move the ball forward. A lot of people on the scene in NYC feel this way, that the schedule is a disappointment, but nobody wants to say anything. It pains me to say it too, since I like Evan, and have been to not only the residencies but other concerts in the NE, but I'm baffled by this residency. For the first time, I'm considering not going, something I would not even have thought possible before.

[mjazzg]

Evan Parker regularly plays with the same line-ups is here in London - his monthly Vortex gig tends to perm from a smallish pot of players. I'm not sure any of them have approached the "like some old lounge act." level just yet. I think there's something to be said for investigating further possibilities with the same musicians - heavens, The Schlippenbach Trio have been doing so to great effect for 40+ years. On the other hand I understand the disappointment of 'missed opportunities'. When EP played with Halvorsen over here it was an intriguing match.

I think I'd be going to as many of those gigs as I could make even if I'd seen the line-ups a year or so before just to see EP play and see what happened. Afterwards I might conclude that the revisits hadn't suceeded but I'd've heard some great music, I suspect.

Enjoy whichever ones you get to see guys.

Steve - I'm wholeheartedly with you on Sorey. Only seen him once with Lehman Octet, great drumming

Edited June 30, 2014 by mjazzg

[Leeway]

Charles Evans is a wonderful player, studied with Dave Liebman.

Kind of an interesting irony in that. I read an interview (Cadence, Sept. 1999) with Dave Liebman, where he says this about Evan Parker:

"He's an interesting player, he's a one-dimensional player. And because of that one-dimension, he's very deep into it. He does one thing, and he does it tune after tune. There are musicians like that, who hear one way. They have a kind of uni-direction that is remarkable, and I have to have a lot of respect for them, for having shut out everything else...A guy like Evan has been playing this way since the '60s, and he's the master of it....I like something a little bit wider, that includes more moods, more color."

I agree with this to a great extent and probably why I listen to more Evan Parker than any other saxophonist .

What I don't agree with is that he had not been playing this way since the 60's. His playing took a huge step forward from the 70's through the early 90's. Same approach and focus, for sure but by the 1991 set "The Ayes Have It" Parker is playing with a facility on the tenor that is of a different level exponentially from his rough, gritty playing of the days of Pakistani Pomade or Hunting the Snake.

Now some much prefer the earlier playing (and sometimes I can be in that camp depending on my mood) but the later playing is of a brilliance that some refer to casual it is so assured and accomplished.

I believe his playing is do great due to the single minded focus of his playing

The early playing with Derek Bailey, John Stevens, et al is some great playing, and some true improvisation. It's always been my view that Derek Bailey devised the grammar, ethic and logos of improvisation (with John Stevens operating in a parallel mode), and that Evan Parker imbibed it like mother's milk. Once Evan really mastered circular breathing, the game changed. It became "Evan Parker music" (I think Lytton called it that). (Is this what contributed to the break with Bailey?) It's incredibly virtuosic but rather predictable. I think this is what Liebman is aiming at too. In solo performance, "single-minded focus" is great, but in group performance, it can bend the music to that previously dug canal, it can make anything "Evan Parker music" and that is troublesome. Yes, I am thrilled when Evan uncorks one of his patented solos, but it is more visceral than cognitive. Well, Evan is a pantheonic figure, but it doesn't mean we can't be candid either.

[Leeway]

Evan Parker regularly plays with the same line-ups is here in London - his monthly Vortex gig tends to perm from a smallish pot of players. I'm not sure any of them have approached the "like some old lounge act." level just yet. I think there's something to be said for investigating further possibilities with the same musicians - heavens, The Schlippenbach Trio have been doing so to great effect for 40+ years. On the other hand I understand the disappointment of 'missed opportunities'. When EP played with Halvorsen over here it was an intriguing match.

I think I'd be going to as many of those gigs as I could make even if I'd seen the line-ups a year or so before just to see EP play and see what happened. Afterwards I might conclude that the revisits hadn't suceeded but I'd've heard some great music, I suspect.

Enjoy whichever ones you get to see guys.

Steve - I'm wholeheartedly with you on Sorey. Only seen him once with Lehman Octet, great drumming

MJAZZG, I think there is a difference between a residency and a regular gig. A residency is a showcase for the musician and his/her music. It's a special event. It sure is priced that way. Filing the schedule with previously scheduled musicians seems, to me at least, a negation of the whole purpose of the residency. My guess is that it's just a lot easier to do that, but it doesn't make for innovative music.

[Steve Reynolds]

I'm going to admit to being a little disappointed with this residency. If one has not been to one of the previous residencies, this is a good opportunity. But if one has, though, it seems needlessly redundant.

I've been to the two previous residencies, and have seen all the announced sets except for the Cymerman and Davis sets (the latter seems interesting). I only wish Evan had brought in some new partners: Ingrid Laubrock, Keir Neuringer, Mary Halvorson, Katharine Young, Syrinx Effect, Max Johnson, Kris Davis, et al, et al, maybe even Mr. Malaby. Hey, about Anthony Braxton, no longer committed to Wesleyan, and giving concerts in NYC.

Maybe scheduling issues holding up some of these possible sets, otherwise I'm frankly perplexed why Evan chose to go with recycling previous shows. I know: it's going to be good anyway. And I will likely go anyway. But it's an opportunity missed in my estimation.

Parts of me thinks the same, parts of me thinks different.

You are taking the Derek Bailey tact, I think - new combinations with new possibilities. Maybe Parker wants to play again with some of the same musicians to delve further into what they played together before.

I sure got the impression he loved the trio he played with last year that is repeating this year - Escreet, Hebert and Sorey. I, for one person, am thrilled to be able to hear the "encore"!

Of the musicians you mention, I think Halvorsen might be an interesting partner as would Max Johnson. For me I like mostly to hear Evan Parker with drummers - and Sorey and Corsano are great choices for my ears. The one local drummer I would love to hear him with is Randy Peterson.

Steve, I get that, and it's fine with one or two groups, but when the entire schedule with just a couple of exceptions, are "reruns" I get a bit miffed. I don't come to this music because it's comfortable, I come because it's challenging. I don't like partners chosen on a comfort level, like some old lounge act. The best people in the field have an obligation to move the ball forward. A lot of people on the scene in NYC feel this way, that the schedule is a disappointment, but nobody wants to say anything. It pains me to say it too, since I like Evan, and have been to not only the residencies but other concerts in the NE, but I'm baffled by this residency. For the first time, I'm considering not going, something I would not even have thought possible before. Points well taken. He may feel like it is a challenge to dig deeper with the same or similar ensembles. As far as comfort, I do believe it might be more comfortable for him but maybe he believes the music will be stronger the second or third time rather than the first time with new musical cohorts. I think I'm somewhere in the middle as I am one who thinks that Parker-Guy-Lytton and Schlippenbach Trio continue to be his strongest vehicle for his playing to this day with odd exceptions such as the trio with Edwards and Sanders or the Foxes Fox quartet.

Now that is what I really want - those guys WITH him in NYC

Edited June 30, 2014 by Steve Reynolds

[Leeway]

I agree with you. I'd prefer Parker-Guy-Lytton and/or Schlippenbach Trio for the week to what is on offer this time around.

I'm not sure that trying to get deeper performances from groups one is not really associated with is a useful aim. "In the moment" would be a better guide.

[mjazzg]

Evan Parker regularly plays with the same line-ups is here in London - his monthly Vortex gig tends to perm from a smallish pot of players. I'm not sure any of them have approached the "like some old lounge act." level just yet. I think there's something to be said for investigating further possibilities with the same musicians - heavens, The Schlippenbach Trio have been doing so to great effect for 40+ years. On the other hand I understand the disappointment of 'missed opportunities'. When EP played with Halvorsen over here it was an intriguing match.

I think I'd be going to as many of those gigs as I could make even if I'd seen the line-ups a year or so before just to see EP play and see what happened. Afterwards I might conclude that the revisits hadn't suceeded but I'd've heard some great music, I suspect.

Enjoy whichever ones you get to see guys.

Steve - I'm wholeheartedly with you on Sorey. Only seen him once with Lehman Octet, great drumming

MJAZZG, I think there is a difference between a residency and a regular gig. A residency is a showcase for the musician and his/her music. It's a special event. It sure is priced that way. Filing the schedule with previously scheduled musicians seems, to me at least, a negation of the whole purpose of the residency. My guess is that it's just a lot easier to do that, but it doesn't make for innovative music.

Leeway, I can see that point, definitely. It's funny because often I wonder whether EP suffers a 'hired gun' syndrome whereby there's many recordings where the session appears to be a one-off either from a gig or probably the day after and in these sessions I often feel that EP's musical personality can overshadow the others involved. Equally these can produce marvellous results that I wish weren't one-offs.

I also agree with your analysis of "Evan Parker Music" to the point that for a number of years I just didn't get it, especially the circular breathing solos in a group setting but somehow having persevered I came to realise that the furrow could be ploughed again and again and came tolove the results. Your phrase 'more visceral than cognitive' I think hits a nail square on the head.

I'm not sure that trying to get deeper performances from groups one is not really associated with is a useful aim. "In the moment" would be a better guide.

but are those options really either/or? Association can only come from repeat opportunities, can't it. It could just be that the repeat appearance of Escreet Quartet is part of a process of greater association (I think they're playing at least one European festival) that could in a few years be one of EP's 'regular' bands. Maybe somewhere in the 60s someone was saying 'oh no, not that Lovens and Schlippenbach back with Evan again. They played last year'

apologies if this doesn't make sense, I've one eye on Algeria trying to beat Germany....

[Steve Reynolds]

Don't spoil the futball results - I have it on tape for later....

I any event I can't wait to see Evan Parker play the saxophone in September

[Leeway]

Evan Parker regularly plays with the same line-ups is here in London - his monthly Vortex gig tends to perm from a smallish pot of players. I'm not sure any of them have approached the "like some old lounge act." level just yet. I think there's something to be said for investigating further possibilities with the same musicians - heavens, The Schlippenbach Trio have been doing so to great effect for 40+ years. On the other hand I understand the disappointment of 'missed opportunities'. When EP played with Halvorsen over here it was an intriguing match.

I think I'd be going to as many of those gigs as I could make even if I'd seen the line-ups a year or so before just to see EP play and see what happened. Afterwards I might conclude that the revisits hadn't suceeded but I'd've heard some great music, I suspect.

Enjoy whichever ones you get to see guys.

Steve - I'm wholeheartedly with you on Sorey. Only seen him once with Lehman Octet, great drumming

MJAZZG, I think there is a difference between a residency and a regular gig. A residency is a showcase for the musician and his/her music. It's a special event. It sure is priced that way. Filing the schedule with previously scheduled musicians seems, to me at least, a negation of the whole purpose of the residency. My guess is that it's just a lot easier to do that, but it doesn't make for innovative music.

Leeway, I can see that point, definitely. It's funny because often I wonder whether EP suffers a 'hired gun' syndrome whereby there's many recordings where the session appears to be a one-off either from a gig or probably the day after and in these sessions I often feel that EP's musical personality can overshadow the others involved. Equally these can produce marvellous results that I wish weren't one-offs.

I also agree with your analysis of "Evan Parker Music" to the point that for a number of years I just didn't get it, especially the circular breathing solos in a group setting but somehow having persevered I came to realise that the furrow could be ploughed again and again and came tolove the results. Your phrase 'more visceral than cognitive' I think hits a nail square on the head.

I'm not sure that trying to get deeper performances from groups one is not really associated with is a useful aim. "In the moment" would be a better guide.

but are those options really either/or? Association can only come from repeat opportunities, can't it. It could just be that the repeat appearance of Escreet Quartet is part of a process of greater association (I think they're playing at least one European festival) that could in a few years be one of EP's 'regular' bands. Maybe somewhere in the 60s someone was saying 'oh no, not that Lovens and Schlippenbach back with Evan again. They played last year'

apologies if this doesn't make sense, I've one eye on Algeria trying to beat Germany....

Those are all good points, and believe me, I have considered them and rationalized them in my own mind, to attempt to make this residency seem better than it was, but my gut feeling of disappointment would not be surmounted. Having been to both previous residencies, the reasons just don't accord with my prior experiences of the music. I think you hit it with "hired guns." Even if something were to emerge from this event, I don't think it would justify the safe and predictable programming. Frankly, the bar has been set low.

I think I'm following your path concerning EPs music, but in reverse order, moving from earlier adulation to a now rather troubling skepticism. I suppose this also underlays my reaction to the residency. Well, it will sell out, so no matter.