4 September 2015

Large Ensemble, with William Parker ~ Homage to Butch Morris ~ Sant'Anna Arresi ~ 3rd September 2015


From a live RAI3 broadcast last night from Sant'Anna Arresi, here is the Large Ensemble with William Parker as guest on exotic reeds(!). There are echoes from many different elements of American and European free & improvised music, but also voices, timbres and rhythms that seem new, and which build towards a propulsive force in the final section. The encore is quite different, and equally interesting. I listened to the broadcast and was enthralled, and will spend more time with this over the next few weeks to listen to it properly - its depth, density and intensity demand that.

Large Ensemble, with William Parker   
Homage to Butch Morris

Large Ensemble 
conduction Evan Parker   
alto saxophone, voice Caroline Kraabel 
trumpet, piccolo trumpet Peter Evans  
trombone Giancarlo Schiaffini 
hocchiku shakuhachi, double reeds William Parker
piano Alexander Hawkins  
vibraphone Orphy Robinson 
cello Hannah Marshall
electric cello, mac, electronics Walter Prati 
synthesizer, electronics Pat Thomas 
electronics Sam Pluta
bass Barry Guy 
bass John Edwards  
drums, frame drum Hamid Drake 
drums Paul Lytton


Sant'Anna Arresi, 3rd September 2015



29 comments:

  1. Thank you for this (and for being so speedy!) I like it. I don't hear Evan playing though so I'm guessing he's doing some conduction (hence the Butch Morris tribute?) Could someone confirm that or not? It's William Parker playing shakuhachi and shenai.

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  2. In the spoken introduction, the Italian speaker says that the group is 'under the direction' of Evan Parker, and then goes on to mention some of the instrumentalists so it is safe to assume that he is the conductor and doesn't play.

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  3. This is great! Thank you Tantris!!

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Here's some more recent Evan Parker - extracts from his Electroacoustic Nonet in Mulhouse on 28th August, broadcast yesterday in France Musique's 'A l'improviste' programme;

    EPEA9_1

    EPEA9_2

    EPEA9_3

    EPEA9_4

    This is very different from the Large Ensemble, and the commentary and interview with Evan is interesting, not least this comment which seems so appropriate for what's happening in Europe today;

    "Penser ne suffit pas, il faut aussi respirer, et je trouve dangeureux les penseurs qui n'ont pas suffisamment respiré"

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  6. Many thanks for these 2 posts - much appreciated

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  7. Thanks Tantris. Yes, very different!

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  8. Thank you very much Tantris for both sessions.

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  9. Thank you Tantris for these two. If it were just me I would have picked up the Homage to Butch Morris as I'm an old fan of his and this is special to me. But I picked up the Evan Parker as a favor for a friend and decided to give it a listen which was a bit of a revelatory experience for me - most of what I've heard of Mr. Parker's work has been difficult for me to digest, not so for this. Now I shall seek out the commercial recordings of this band (a little testimony to how this blog [and others like it] is such a healthy thing for the business). It was a little weird for me as an English speaking person to hear Evan potted back behind a French translator during the interview...turnabout is fair play I suppose - we do the same thing (now I know how difficult it is to be on the other side).

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  10. Thanks very much for both postings. It's good to see Evan getting the kind of support required for these larger works. The Nonet concert in particular contains some of the most successful electro-acoustic work I've heard from him, and I'm sure there were further pieces not in the transmission. No doubt, both concerts will get a commercial release, eventually - the French and Italian broadcasting companies, as well as the BBC and various regional broadcaster in Germany - are excellent in the quality of their broadcasts. They've decades of experience.

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  11. Very nice to get a message from Evan Parker saying -

    'I do not play on the large ensemble piece. I devised a loose structure, led rehearsals (2) and gave indications during the performance. For the sake of brevity I could be credited as "conduction"'

    @Tantris. Please would you change 'saxophone' to 'conduction'next to Evan Parker in the list of players? Also William Parker did not play bass, just shakuhachi and shenai (or something very similar to shenai?). Thank you.

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  12. Great to get that feedback, Andy, and the post has been updated.

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  13. Thanks for this. I was fortunate enough to see William Parker in a larger more conduction oriented context:

    William Parker Double Quartet
    Sunday, November 11, 2012

    The U.S. Premiere of “Alphaville Suite”

    Re-scored music inspired by and performed with the Jean Luc Godard Film ‘Alphaville’

    The U.S. premiere of the William Parker Double Quartet’s “Alphaville Suite” project, inspired by iconic filmmaker Jean Luc Godard’s classic 1960's film. The world-renowned double bassist has re-scored the film for double quartet and voice. One quartet is made up of strings (violins, viola, and cello), and the other bass, trumpet, saxophone, and piano, augmented by the voice of singer Leena Conquest. In re-scoring the film, Parker’s goal was to “…swing from the stars and write poems from the sky”.

    Rob Brown-alto sax
    Lewis “Flip” Barnes-trumpet
    Cooper Moore-piano
    William Parker-bass
    Leena Conquest-voice
    Jason Kao-Hwang-violin
    Jean Cook-violin
    Alex Waterman-cello
    Jessica Pavone-viola

    I thought it was extremely effective, both musically and as a soundtrack accompaniment of the film.

    It was essentially a conduction and he played very little bass, focusing more on shakuhachi and shenai and perhaps another flute as I recall.

    I'd since seen him in another conduction-ish setting as a workshop around Patricia's They Put Vision In Handcuffs piece. That featured him more centrally on the bass, but he opened with woodwinds. That performance is posted with their permission via link at the earliest post here: http://soundsfromdc.blogspot.com/ (not my best work but a very engaging effective open-ended collaboration).

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  14. ...I was there, these are the right details:

    Evan Parker - conduction
    Caroline Kraabel - alto saxophone, voice
    Peter Evans - trumpet, piccolo trumpet
    Giancarlo Schiaffini - trombone
    William Parker - hocchiku shakuhachi, double reeds
    Alexander Hawkins - piano
    Orphy Robinson - vibraphone
    Hannah Marshall - cello
    Walter Prati - electric cello, mac, electronics
    Pat Thomas - synthesizer, electronics
    Sam Pluta - electronics
    Barry Guy - bass
    John Edwards - bass
    Hamid Drake - drums, frame drum
    Paul Lytton - drums

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  15. Thank you, Tantris.
    That's a great share!!!

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  16. Thanks for the update, boldsouls, and the post has been updated.

    What was the atmosphere at the concert, and did the radio broadcast the entire performance?

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  17. ...for me as an alert listener and an enthusiastic music lover the atmosphere all along the concerts was awful because not the musicians but all the accredited photographers were the main actors. After many years at the Sant Anna Arresi festival, that was definitely my last visit. It would be fine if photograpers as Ziga K. with his autistic behaviour during the concerts can publish their further festival and concert plans on the internet, so that the music freaks can go elsewhere...

    ...the RAI broadcast was the complete concert!

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  18. je länger je mehr sind die photographen by jazzconcerten unerträglich. Ziga K. ist der schlimmste der schlimmen.
    für all diejenigen, denen die musik an erster stelle steht, eine katastrophe.
    nicht alleine die endlosen klicks nerven, ebenso die unruhe, die sie erzeugen.
    aber es ist ja meist nicht nur einer, sondern eine ganze armada von photographen, die insgesamt nicht zu bändigen sind.
    es sei mal daran erinnert, dass sich in einem klassischen konzert niemand traut sich so unverschämt gegen die hörenden (und die musiker) zu gebärden.
    die veranstalter sind angehalten, solche excesse durch verbote einzudämmen.
    leider lässt sich dieses miese verhalten auch zunehmend bei angesagten festivals feststellen.

    the longer the more the photographers by jazz concerts are unbearable. Ziga K. is the worst of the bad .
    for those where the music comes first, a disaster.
    not alone annoy the endless clicks, as the unrest that they generate.
    but it's usually not just one, but a whole armada of photographers who are not altogether to subdue.
    it was once remembered that concert in a classical nobody dares so outrageously against the hearing ( and the musicians ) to sign.
    the organizers are urged to consider excesse curb by prohibitions.
    unfortunately can be this lousy behavior also increasingly find in the trendy festivals.

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  19. Would absolutely love to hear this, a reupload would be great appreciated if anyone has this, thank you!

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