Evan Parker Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Evan Parker
Moers Festival, 2012
Background information
Birth name	Evan Shaw Parker
Born	(1944-04-05) 5 April 1944 (age 81) Bristol, England
Genres	free improvisation, free jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone
Labels	Psi, Emanem, Clean Feed, Incus, Leo, Rune Grammofon, Tzadik
Associated acts	Irene Schweizer, Barry Guy and his London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Globe Unity Orchestra

Evan Parker, Buffalo, New York

Evan Shaw Parker, born on April 5, 1944, is a super talented British saxophone player. He's known for a special kind of music called free improvisation.

Evan Parker has made lots of music with many other artists. He helped shape free jazz and free improvisation in Europe. He also created or improved many cool new ways to play the saxophone. One music critic, Ron Wynn, called him "among Europe's most innovative and intriguing saxophonists."

Evan Parker's Early Musical Journey
Starting His Career in London
Amazing Solo Saxophone Performances
Exploring Electronic Music
Later Career and Recordings
Evan Parker in Pop Music
Images for kids
Selected Recordings
See also

Evan Parker's Early Musical Journey

Evan Parker first found inspiration from a saxophone player named Paul Desmond. More recently, you can hear influences from "cool jazz" saxophone players in his music. He even paid tribute to musicians like Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz on some of his albums.

Soon after, he discovered the music of John Coltrane. Coltrane became the biggest influence on Parker's music throughout his career. Other important early influences were Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, and Jimmy Guiffre.

Starting His Career in London

Parker moved to London in 1966. He quickly became part of the city's lively improvised music scene. This scene was centered around a place called the Little Theatre Club. He joined a group called the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, led by John Stevens.

Along with guitarist Derek Bailey, Evan Parker quickly became a leader in the improvised music movement. This movement grew popular in London and across Europe. One of his longest musical partnerships was with German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. Parker joined Schlippenbach's trio in 1970.

Amazing Solo Saxophone Performances

Visualization of Auditory Streaming

Evan Parker is perhaps most famous for his solo performances. At first, he didn't think much of playing alone. He felt it was too much like traditional music. But then, he was inspired by Derek Bailey's solo guitar playing. Bailey showed how a musician and instrument could interact in new ways.

For his solo shows, Parker mainly uses the soprano saxophone. His music uses a cool trick called auditory streaming. This is where he plays notes in a way that makes it sound like multiple instruments are playing at once. He calls this "pseudo-polyphony." He achieves this by using special techniques like multiphonics (playing more than one note at a time) or harmonics. He also uses circular breathing (breathing in while still playing), polyrhythmic fingering, and split tonguing.

Exploring Electronic Music

Evan Parker has been working with electronic music since his early days with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. He also explored it with his duo partner, Paul Lytton. He has become more and more interested in electronics over time.

He often invites other musicians like Phil Wachsmann or Lawrence Casserley to join him. These collaborators process his saxophone playing electronically. This creates a feedback loop and a changing soundscape. His Electro-Acoustic Ensembles show off this part of his work. He also has a project called Trance Map with Matthew Wight. They've done live shows across Europe and the US.

Later Career and Recordings

Evan Parker, 2005

Parker has recorded many albums as a solo artist or as a band leader. He has also played with a huge number of other musicians. Some of these include Peter Brötzmann, Michael Nyman, John Stevens, Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and John Zorn.

Two very important groups he played with were Alexander von Schlippenbach's trio and a trio with bassist Barry Guy and drummer Paul Lytton. For Parker's 50th birthday, both of these bands played at a concert in London. The recordings were released as the 50th Birthday Concert.

Parker, Bailey, and Tony Oxley started their own record label, Incus Records, in 1970. Later, Parker started his own label called Psi Records. It is released by Martin Davidson's Emanem Records.

From 1999 to 2007, Parker helped organize and play in the Free Zone at the Appleby Jazz Festival in England. The recordings from these events were released on his Psi record label.

Even though Parker mostly plays free improvisation, he has also played in more traditional jazz settings. He played with Charlie Watts's big band and Kenny Wheeler's groups. He also performed in Gavin Bryars's recording After the Requiem.

Parker also contributed to David Sylvian's albums Manafon and Died in the Wool.

Evan Parker in Pop Music

You might be surprised to know that Evan Parker has also appeared in pop music! He played on Scott Walker's album Climate of Hunter. He also played on dub-influenced albums with Jah Wobble. He even worked with the cool drum n bass duo Spring Heel Jack and the rock group Spiritualized.

He also played saxophone on the B-side of a UK number-one hit song called "Dizzy" by Vic Reeves and The Wonderstuff. During one of his sax solos, you can even hear Vic shouting: "Pack it in, Parker!" Parker has also made some great recordings with Robert Wyatt.