Evan Parker / Georg Grawe Duo – Unity Variations

Musicians

Evan Parker soprano and tenor saxophone

Georg Grwe piano

Cover and Artwork

Cover painting: “The Critic Sees” by Albert Oehlen
Jacket design: Louise Molnar

Songs

1. Unity Variations 1 (24:33)

2. Unity Variations 2 (15:42)

3. Unity Variations 3 (10:37)

4. Unity Variations 4 (3:54)

total time: 54:46

All compositions by Evan Parker & Georg Grwe

Recording Info

Recorded at Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL, May 9, 1998, during the Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music

Producer: John Corbett
Executive Producer: Bruno Johnson
Engineered by: Malachi Ritscher/Savage Sound
Mastered by: John McCortney (at AirWave Studio, Chicago, IL)

Its never easy with Evan Parker. No one demands more of audiences and fellow musicians than this uncompromising saxophonist does. Unity Variations documents a 1998 concert by the improvising duo of Parker and pianist Georg Grwe. Parker, who alternates tenor and soprano saxophones, operates in one of his most abstract and rigorous modes. He starts with a simple theme, then reiterates and embellishes it, ultimately breaking it down and expanding the component parts. The four improvisations reminded me of Coltranes Ascension, but with just two musicians at work. Parkers deconstructions seem likely to polarize an audience into two camps: those dedicated to listening carefully as Parker follows the process, and those who feel alienated and shut out.

Blending Parkers elliptical phrasing with piano can be a challenge. Grwe is a creative, highly energetic player who should be better known, but hes not an optimal partner for Parker. He initially tries to align himself with Parkers variations through unceasing volleys of notes, but the effect becomes a little claustrophobic. Grwe plays with increasing confidence as the set progresses, achieving a real symbiosis with the soprano saxophone of the exhilariting Unity Variations 2.

Parker plays the tenor saxophone about twice as long as the soprano horn. I would have reversed the ratio, preferring to hear more from the soprano sax, his most compelling voice.

Unity Variations may not be an ideal introduction to Parkers explorations, but will reward the listeners patience and close attention.

(three and a half stars)

Jon Andrews, Down Beat, September 1999