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Marteau Rouge / Evan Parker: Live

By Glenn Astarita
May 22, 2009
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Saxophonist Evan Parker performs here with a France-based trio at a Paris venue, in a wily acoustic-electric exhibition and one that transmits yet another side of the artist's musicality. Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recordings for ECM Records are designed upon a large group layout. On this 2009 release, the electronics are placed a bit more in the forefront, where liquefying guitar and synth lines slice and dice through the numerous avant-garde metrics.

The foursome generates a sense of urgency amid intriguing dialogues and streaming treatments, and strikes an asymmetrical balance, awash with lucid imagery, that spans catastrophic events and hardcore noise-shaping motifs. Parker's legendary circular breathing techniques come to fruition during the piece simply titled "Deux." Here, the saxophonist devises a whirling string of notions atop Makoto Sato's rolling and tumbling drum patterns. On "Quatre," the unit initiates a garrulous free-form series of thematic incursions sprinkled with guitarist Jean-Francois Pauvros' odd tunings and distortion-drenched notes.

"Six, Au temps des cerises" features Jean-Marc Foussat's electronically phased voiceovers, while Parker's sax work seems to be treated with live electronics type manipulations. Moreover, the artists perpetuate a broad sound, constructed upon dark layers and bizarre deviations. With Foussat's synthesizer work and Pauvros' radical guitar phrasings, Parker finds himself in the middle of an irrefutably captivating array of musical circumstances.

Hence, an avant-garde gala that offers thrills a minute. Parker's craftsmanship and wit shines radiantly throughout this largely vibrant performance devised on flickering exchanges and a transportable wall of sound.

Track Listing

Un; Deux; Trois, Tourne mon Coeur; Quatre; Cinq; Six, Au temps des cerises; Dix; Onze, Douze, Quand, tout sera rouge.

Personnel

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano

Evan Parker: tenor saxophone; Jean-François Pauvros: guitars, voice; Jean-Marc Foussat: synthesizer, VCS3, voice; Makoto Sato: drums.

Album information

Title: Live | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: In Situ

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