A first insight into the personality of British musician-composer Evan Parker I got through an interview (here) with CJ Mitchell, owner of the British label False Walls. From that I went on to compulsively listen to and review (here) the beautiful box set ‘The Heraclitean Two-Step, etc.’, that False Walls released to celebrate his 80th birthday. Since 3 is the perfect number, the third step was deciding to interview Evan Parker, with the help of CJ Mitchell, about the genesis of the box set, and his artistic and musical vision in the field of jazz and contemporary music. Evan Parker, was willing to tell me in depth the story behind the box set and give me lighting views into his poetics and art. As always, it is up to you to read (photo home by Caroline Forbes).
First of all… Happy belated birthday!!!
Thank you
How did the idea to celebrate your birthday with this box for the label False Walls (come up)?
It began as a discussion of one CD. That would have been what is now CD1 in the set with the title “The Heraclitean Two Step”; the etc in the box title refers to the other three CDs.
What was the parameter that guided you in choosing the albums for the box set?
The book talks about coincidences from several angles. The crucial fact is that CJ Mitchell aka False Walls is a friend and neighbour. According to Ornette, “that’s where it’s at.”
I discuss this in the book which is part of this boxset. Here’s an extract from my writing:
This four CD set evolved from an idea for which I just had a title.
For years I had kept returning to a recording which Andy Isham had made at a concert he had promoted in the Unitarian Chapel in Warwick back in 1994. The solo was played as part of a group concert but was too short to release on its own. At a certain point in 2023 I had the idea to go back to the Unitarian Chapel to determine whether it would still produce special results. My son Sam is a front of house engineer for stadium-type gigs and was free to drive and record. As the idea took shape, the saying of Heraclitus about not being able to step in the same river twice started swirling around too. And there it was – I had the title. The “concept”, even – or at least, the conceit …
I talked to CJ Mitchell of False Walls about the idea of an album with the 1994 and 2023 recordings and how happy I was with the title. There was no “etc.” at this point. He liked the idea, but felt that in my 80th year I should think of something grander. I immediately thought of the False Walls boxset he had collaborated with Andrew Poppy on as a model. To my artfully concealed astonishment he agreed.
Back to the Unitarian Chapel, Warwick. Sam and I drove up together from London and got there early afternoon. Andy was there to meet us at the chapel door. I realised how vague my memory was of the place and of the original concert which Andy had promoted. The truth of Heraclitus’ famous saying was immediately apparent. Maybe the river was the same but it was certainly flowing at a different rate. The day went well and almost all the material recorded is on the first CD. After the recording we met up with our friend and colleague, maestro Paul Dunmall, who has been such a good friend to me over the years. His advice about repairs, reeds, mouthpieces and all of the saxophone arcana has been wise and much valued.
Now to the “etc.”
I went through many different options. There are quite a few unissued, well-recorded solo concerts, and I spent some time thinking about memorable occasions where I felt I had played well, but the more I rummaged, the more I felt like Beckett’s Krapp (“He raises his head, broods, bends over machine, switches on and assumes listening posture …”). I had exploited Beckett’s play for titles in the boxed set of LPs that, with encouragement from the late John Jack, I originally released to celebrate my escape from the prison that Incus had become, but I digress …
Over the next months my idea about digging out old unissued solo concerts faded and I decided to concentrate on the sequence of recordings I had begun at Arco Barco.
I was introduced by Matt Wright, the other half of Trance Map, to Filipe Gomes and his Arco Barco studio in Ramsgate on the Kent coast. The studio is located in the upper floors of one of the former chandlers’ work spaces overlooking the harbour. A loft space with control room, a live main room and a smaller, less reverberant room. The acoustic response of the live room and Fil’s passion for sound recording has made Arco Barco my favourite studio and I have recorded there as often as possible. Leaving home late afternoon and taking the short train ride along the North Kent coast, turning the corner at Broadstairs for the last stretch to Ramsgate.
Over the many visits Fil has tested various microphones and their positioning. The variation means that some recordings are noticeably “dryer” and/or “closer” than others. Much of the thinking was inspired by the work of the late Michael Gerzon and his pioneering ambisonics. What I brought to the occasions was variability in reed behaviour and embouchure and perhaps most importantly my state of mind.
The recording dates show that the Arco Barco material falls both pre and post “Covid Interlude”, another instance of the Heraclitean Two-Step. The analogy is weaker – the acoustics remain supportive and so does Fil, but what has the intervening interruption done to the more fluid elements in the mix? The saxophone, the reed and mouthpiece remain constant but my thinking is no longer the same.
Starting with this box set and assuming a partial listening guide to his output from his early days to the present, what albums would you recommend to a listener who wants to get to know Evan Parker’s music?
Well you could take the strictly chronological approach and start at the first one and listen in the sequence 1,2,3,4… or 1,3,5,7… or just be lead by the exciting titles. Who could fail to be attracted to a record beguilingly called “Saxophone Solos”?
What is your relationship with improvisation?
Intimate.
How do you see the contemporary improvisational music scene?
From the conical tube in front of me.
What is your relationship with painting – visual art?
I am more attracted to specific individuals than to schools or movements. I like Roger Ackling’s work, Ad Rinehart, Dieter Rot, Tomas Schmit, Sol LeWitt, Thomas Struth and … this could be a very long list. That’s before we start to look back to the Russians – Malevich et al, and before that Piranesi …
Who are you listening to at the moment? What genre of music?
I suppose Gagaku is a genre and I have been collecting the available recordings rather obsessively lately. Otherwise it’s the same answer: specific individuals rather than genres. But there are musics where I don’t know the names of the individual musicians: the field recordings of Charles Duvelle, Ragnar Johnson and John Levy spring to mind and I regularly listen to such material.
Are you going to take a break after the record for your birthday celebrations?
I will take a welcome break from birthday celebrations.
I end the book in the boxset with a quote from my dear friend, the late Paul Haines: “After older, old.”
Link: Evan Parker Home Page
Link: False Walls Home Page
Link: Evan Parker ‘‘The Heraclitean Two-Step, etc.’’ Box on Soundohom
