Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

and

. He has pioneered or substantially expanded an array of

extended techniques In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...

. Critic Ron Wynn describes Parker as "among Europe's most innovative and intriguing saxophonists...his solo sax work isn't for the squeamish."

Early influences

Parker's original inspiration was

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed the group's biggest hit, " ...

. Parker soon discovered the music of

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, who would be the primary influence throughout his career. Other important early influences were free jazz artists

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

and

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

. Since the 1990s the influence of

cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music inspired by bebop and big band that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and a lighter tone than that used in the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz of ...

saxophone players has also become apparent in his music, with Parker recording tributes to

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

and

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

on '' Time Will Tell'' (ECM, 1993) and '' Chicago Solo'' ( Okka Disk, 1997).

Early career

Parker moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1966 and quickly became a part of the city’s improvised music scene based around the Little Theatre Club, joining John Stevens’

Spontaneous Music Ensemble The Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME) was a loose collection of free improvising musicians, convened in 1965 by the late South London-based jazz drummer/trumpeter John Stevens and alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts. SME performances and ...

. Along with guitarist Derek Bailey, he quickly became a leading figure in the improvised music movement in London and throughout Europe. One of his most lasting connections was with German pianist

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orch ...

, whose trio he joined in 1970.

Solo soprano

Parker is perhaps best known for his solo performances. Originally dismissive of solo performance as being too close in nature to traditional composition, he was inspired to experiment with solo performance by the possibilities for musician-instrument interaction demonstrated by Derek Bailey’s solo guitar improvisations. Primarily using the

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

for these solo performances, the music makes use of a principle known as auditory streaming, where the use of wide registers creates the illusion of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

, which Parker terms “pseudo-polyphony”. This effect is achieved primarily by using

multiphonics A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human vo ...

harmonics In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st harm ...

in combination with

circular breathing Circular breathing is a breathing technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by inhaling through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth usi ...

polyrhythmic Polyrhythm () is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rh ...

fingering, and split tonguing.

Electronic music

Working with electronic music since the early days of the

or with his duo with Paul Lytton, Parker has become increasingly interested in

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, usually through inviting collaborators such as Phil Wachsmann, Walter Prati, Joel Ryan, Lawrence Casserley, Sam Pluta or Matthew Wright to process his playing electronically, creating a

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

loop and shifting

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

. His various Electro-Acoustic Ensembles are a showcase for this area of his work, as well as the Trance Map project with Matthew Wight, which has included improvised live events across Europe and the US, involving other invited guest performers, with various Trance Map+ recordings released on psi, Intakt and FMR Records.

Later career and recordings

Parker has recorded a large number of albums both solo or as a group leader, and has recorded or performed with

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his m ...

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

, John Stevens, Derek Bailey, Keith Rowe, Joe McPhee,

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

, Ikue Mori,

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian-born percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship ...

, Milford Graves, George E. Lewis, Tim Berne,

Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...

Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to: *Dave Holland (bassist) David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...

, Sylvie Courvoisier, and many others. Two key associations have been pianist

's trio with Parker and drummer Paul Lovens (documented on recordings such as '' Pakistani Pomade'' and ''Elf Bagatellen'') and a trio with bassist

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of or ...

and drummer Paul Lytton. On Parker's 50th birthday, these two bands played a set apiece at a London concert; the results were issued by

Leo Records Leo Records is a British record company and label, founded in 1979, which releases jazz from Russian, American and British musicians. It concentrates on free jazz. This label is different from the Leo Records that was formed by Edward Vesala i ...

as the '' 50th Birthday Concert''. Parker, Bailey, and

Tony Oxley Tony Oxley (15 June 1938 – 26 December 2023) was an English free improvisation, free improvising drummer and electronic musician. Born in Sheffield, Oxley moved to London in 1966 and became house drummer at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club where he ...

founded Incus Records in 1970. The label continued under Bailey's sole control after a falling-out between the two men in the early 1980s. Parker curates

Psi Records Psi Records is an independent record label that was founded by saxophonist Evan Parker, and that focuses on free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of ...

, which is issued by Martin Davidson's Emanem Records. From 1999 to 2007 Parker co-ordinated, recorded and played in the Free Zone at the Appleby Jazz Festival, held in Cumbria, England. The recordings were issued through his Psi record label. Although Parker's focus is free improvisation, he has appeared in conventional jazz contexts, such as

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

's big band and

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

's ensembles and participated in

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, Musical historicism, historicism, Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early lif ...

's recording ''After the Requiem'', performing the composition "Alaric I or II" as part of a saxophone quartet. Parker contributed to

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt; 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan (band), Japan. During his time in Japan, Sylvia ...

's albums '' Manafon'' and '' Died in the Wool.'' Parker marked his 80th birthday with a three-concert series at Café Oto, London (April 2024) and
The Heraclitean Two-Step, etc.
' (4CDs of solo performances with a 120 page book; on False Walls).

Pop music

He also has appeared in pop-music contexts: on Scott Walker's '' Climate of Hunter'', and on dub-influenced albums with

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

, the adventurous

drum n bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

duo Spring Heel Jack and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

group

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centred on Pie ...

. He appeared on the b-side to

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), commonly known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour. In 2003, Ree ...

and The Wonderstuff's UK 1991 number-one hit "Dizzy", performing saxophone on "Oh, Mr Songwriter" (based on '' Vic Reeves Big Night Out'' TV show end theme song). At one point during a sax solo, Vic can be heard shouting: "Pack it in, Parker!" Parker has also made notable appearances on record with

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

Gallery

Evan Parker playing in Aarhus, Denmark, 2010 Image:evan-parker.jpg Image:evan-parker02.jpg Image:evan-parker03.jpg Image:evan-parker04.jpg Image:evan-parker05.jpg Image:evan-parker06.jpg

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' The Topography of the Lungs'' (

Incus The ''incus'' (: incudes) or anvil in the ear is one of three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear. The incus receives vibrations from the malleus, to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the stapes medially. The incus i ...

, 1970) with Derek Bailey and

Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal figu ...

*'' The Music Improvisation Company 1968-1971'' (Incus, 1968–70

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after returning from a second campaign against ...

with Derek Bailey, Hugh Davies and

Jamie Muir William James Graham Muir (4 July 1945 – 17 February 2025) was a Scottish painter and musician, best known for his work as the percussionist in King Crimson from 1972 to 1973, appearing prominently on their fifth album '' Larks' Tongues in As ...

* '' The Music Improvisation Company'' (ECM, 1970) with Derek Bailey, Hugh Davies, Jamie Muir and Christine Jeffrey * '' Collective Calls (Urban) (Two Microphones)'' (Incus, 1972) with Paul Lytton * '' At the Unity Theatre'' (Incus, 1975) with Paul Lytton * '' Saxophone Solos'' (Incus, 1976) * ''

Monoceros Monoceros ( Greek: , "unicorn") is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, Canis Major to the s ...

'' (Incus, 1978) * '' Six of One'' (Incus, 1980

982 Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Taranto, and proceeds along the gulf coas ...

* ''Incision'' with

( FMP, 1980) * '' From Saxophone & Trombone'' (Incus (1980); Psi (2002); Otoroku (2023)) with George Lewis * ''Tracks'' (Incus, 1983) Evan Parker DSC0093

* ''Hook, Drift & Shuffle'' (Incus, 1985) * '' The Snake Decides'' (Incus, 1986) * ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'' (Impetus, 1990) * ''Process and Reality'' (FMP, 1991) * '' Three Blokes'' (FMP, 1992

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish general Manjutakin (also the governor ...

with Lol Coxhill and

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

* ''

Conic Sections A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a Conical surface, cone's surface intersecting a plane (mathematics), plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is ...

'' (AhUm, 1993) * ''Synergenics - Phonomanie III'' ( Leo, 1993) * ''Corner to Corner'' (Ogun, 1993

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

with John Stevens * ''Birmingham Concert'' (Rare Music, 1993

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Emperor Kazan. * 2 March: Emperor ...

* ''Imaginary Values'' with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton (Maya, 1994) * '' 50th Birthday Concert'' (Leo, 1994) * ''Obliquities'' with Barry Guy (Maya, 1995) * '' The Redwood Session'' ( CIMP, 1995) with Joe McPhee * ''Breaths and Heartbeats'' with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton (Rastacan, 1995) * '' McPhee/Parker/Lazro'' (Vand'Oeuvre, 1996) with Joe McPhee and Daunik Lazro * ''

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del País in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in it ...

'' (Nova Era, 1996) with Agustí Fernández * '' Chicago Solo'' ( Okka Disk, 1995) * ''London Air Lift'' (FMP, 1996) * '' At the Vortex'' with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton ( Emanem, 1996) * '' Toward the Margins'' ( ECM, 1996) * ''Monkey Puzzle'' (Leo, 1997) with Ned Rothenberg * '' Natives and Aliens'' (Leo, 1997) with Barry Guy, Paul Lytton, and Marilyn Crispell * ''Most Materiall'' (Matchless, 1997) with

Eddie Prévost Edwin John Prévost (born 22 June 1942) is an English percussionist who founded the free improvisation group, AMM. Early years Of Huguenot heritage, Prévost's silk weaving ancestors moved to Spitalfields in the late 17th century. He was born ...

* '' Unity Variations'' (Okka Disk, 1999) with Georg Gräwe * '' Drawn Inward'' (ECM, 1999) * '' Foxes Fox'' (Emanem, 1999) with

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

, John Edwards, and

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The ...

* '' After Appleby'' (Leo, 2000) with Barry Guy, Paul Lytton, and Marilyn Crispell * '' Lines Burnt in Light'' (Psi, 2001) * ''Passage to Hades'' (30Hz, 2001) with Jah Wobble * '' The Ayes Have It'' (Emanem, 2001) * '' Chicago Tenor Duets'' (Okka Disk, 2002) with Joe McPhee * '' Memory/Vision'' (ECM, 2002) * ''Set'' (Psi, 2003) * '' Birds and Blades'' (Intakt, 2003) with Barry Guy * '' America 2003'' (Psi, 2004) with

and Paul Lytton * '' The Eleventh Hour'' (ECM, 2004) * ''

Boustrophedon Boustrophedon () is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the l ...

'' (ECM, 2004) * '' The Bishop's Move'' (Les Disques Victo, 2004) * '' Naan Tso'' (Psi, 2005) with Foxes Fox (Parker, Steve Beresford, John Edwards, and Louis Moholo-Moholo) * ''Crossing the River'' (Psi, 2005) * ''Time Lapse'' (

Tzadik Tzadik ( ''ṣaddīq'' , "righteous ne; also ''zadik'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadīqīm'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ...

, 2006) * ''Zafiro'' (Maya, 2006) * '' The Moment's Energy'' (ECM, 2007) * ''A Glancing Blow'' ( Clean Feed, 2007) with

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

, Chris Corsano * ''Whitstable Solo'' (Psi, 2008) * ''House Full of Floors'' (Tzadik, 2009) * ''Psalms'' (Psi, 2010) with Sten Sandell * ''Scenes in the House of Music'' (Clean Feed, 2010) * ''Nightwork'' (

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

, 2010) * ''Round About One O'Clock'' (Not Two, 2011) with Zlatko Kaucic * '' The Bleeding Edge'' (Psi, 2011) with Okkyung Lee, Peter Evans * ''The Voice is One'' (Not Two, 2012) with Agustí Fernández * ''

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

'' (Psi, 2012) * '' Dortmund Variations'' (Nuscope, 2012) with Georg Gräwe * '' Rex, Wrecks & XXX'' ( RogueArt, 2013) with Matthew Shipp * '' Live at Maya Recordings Festival'' ( NoBusiness, 2013) * '' Rocket Science'' (More is More, 2013) * '' What/If/They Both Could Fly'' (

Rune Grammofon Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its a ...

, 2013) with Joe McPhee * '' Either Or And'' (

Relative Pitch Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes. For example, if the notes ''Do'' and ''Fa'' are played on a piano, a ...

, 2014) with Sylvie Courvoisier * ''Seven'' (Victo, 2014) * ''Extremes'' (Red Toucan, 2014) with Paul Dunmall, Tony Bianco * ''Ninth Square'' (Clean Feed, 2015) with Joe Morris, Nate Wooley * '' As the Wind'' (Psi, 2016) * '' Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London'' (Intakt, 2018) with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton * ''Then Through Now'' (False Walls, 2022) with Henry Dagg * ''The Heraclitean Two-Step, etc.'' (4 CDs and book; False Walls, 2024) * ''Branches'' (Otoruko / Open Mouth, 2025) with Bill Nace With Derek Bailey *'' The London Concert'' (Incus, 1976) *''Compatibles'' (Incus, 1986) *''Arch Duo'' (Rastascan, 1999)

As sideman

With

*''The Grass is Greener'' (Psi, 2000) With Borah Bergman *''The Fire Tale'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1994) With

Paul Bley Paul Bley, Order of Canada, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live per ...

*'' Time Will Tell'' (ECM, 1994) *'' Sankt Gerold'' (ECM, 2000) With

*'' Ensemble (Victoriaville) 1988'' (Victo, 1988

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as far south as Germany and Korea. Euro ...

*'' Duo (London) 1993'' (Leo, 1993) *'' Trio (London) 1993'' (Leo, 1993) With

*'' Machine Gun'' (FMP, 1968) *''

Nipples The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in lactating females, milk from the mammary gland leaves the body through the lactiferous ducts to nurse an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively, ...

'' (Calig, 1969) *'' Fuck de Boere'' (Atavistic, 2001) recorded in 1968 and 1970 With

*'' After the Requiem'' (ECM, 1991) With Lawrence Casserley *''Solar Wind'' (Touch, 1997) *''Dividuality'' (Maya, 1997) With Alvin Curran *''In Real Time'' (Ictus, 1978) With Pierre Favre *''Pierre Favre Quartet'' (Wergo, 1970) With Joe Gallivan *''Innocence'' (

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

, 1992) With the Globe Unity Orchestra *''Hamburg 1974'' (FMP, 1974) *''Rumbling'' (FMP, 1976) *''Pearls'' (FMP, 1977) *''Jahrmarkt/Local Fair'' (Po Torch, 1977) *''Improvisations'' ( JAPO, 1978) *''Compositions'' (JAPO 1979) * ''Intergalactic Blow'' (JAPO, 1982) * ''20th Anniversary'' (FMP, 1986) * ''Globe Unity 2002'' (Intakt, 2002) With

/The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra *''

Ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

'' (Incus, 1972) *''Study II/Stringer'' (Intakt, 1980–91) *''Stringer'' (1984) *''

Zurich Concerts ''Zurich Concerts'' is a double live album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra featuring recordings of two large-scale compositions, one by Guy, the other by guest artist Anthony Braxton. The Guy work was recorded on November 11 ...

'' (Intakt, 1987–88) *''

Harmos ''Harmos'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, ...

'' (Intakt, 1989) *'' Double Trouble'' (Intakt, 1990) *''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mysticism, mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative pr ...

'' (Intakt, 1991) *''Portraits'' (Intakt, 1993) *''Three Pieces for Orchestra'' (Intakt, 1995) *''

Double Trouble Two ''Double Trouble Two'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra with guest artists Irène Schweizer (piano), Marilyn Crispell (piano), and Pierre Favre (drums). Documenting a large-scale, 47-minute composition by Guy, ...

'' (Intakt, 1998) *'' Radio Rondo/Schaffhausen Concert'' (Intakt, 2009) *''That Time'' (Not Two, 2020) With the

New Orchestra * '' Inscape–Tableaux'' (Intakt, 2001) * '' Oort–Entropy'' (Intakt, 2005) With Paul Haines *''Darn It!'' (American Clavé, 1993) With

*'' Uncharted Territories'' (Dare2, 2018) With

Tony Hymas Anthony James Keith "Tony" Hymas (born 23 September 1943) is an English keyboard player, pianist, and composer. In the Eighties he formed the band Ph.D. (band), Ph.D., who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song "I Won't Let You Down (Ph.D. so ...

- Barney Bush *''Left for Dead'' (nato, 1995) With

*''Saxophone Special'' (Emanem, 1975) *''Chirps'' (FMP, 1985) *'' Three Blokes'' with Lol Coxhill (FMP, 1994) With

Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Prov ...

*Chris McGregor Septet. '' Up to Earth'', 1969 ( Fledg'ling, 2008) *Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath '' Travelling Somewhere'', 1973 (Cuneiform, 2001) *Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath ''

Live at Willisau ''Live at Willisau'' is a live album by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor's big band Brotherhood of Breath. It was recorded on January 27, 1973, in Willisau, Switzerland, and was released on LP by Ogun Records in 1974. In 1994, the ...

'', 1973 ( Ogun, 1974) *Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath ''

Procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

'' (Ogun, 1978) *Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath '' Bremen to Bridgwater'', 1971 and 1975 (Cuneiform, 2004) With

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

*'' Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3'' (ECM, 2004) With

*''Spirits Rejoice!'' (Ogun, 1978) *'' Bush Fire'' (Ogun, 1995) With The Music Improvisation Company *'' The Music Improvisation Company'' (ECM, 1970) *'' The Music Improvisation Company 1968-1971'' (Incus, 1976) With Natural Information Society * '' descension (Out of Our Constrictions)'' (Eremite/Aguirre, 2021) With

*''

'' (Piano, 1981) With

*'' The Baptised Traveller'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, 1969) *'' 4 Compositions for Sextet'' (CBS, 1970) *'' Ichnos'' (

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, 1971) *''Tony Oxley'' (Incus, 1975) With Jean-François Pauvros *'' Master Attack'' (nato, 1987) With Paul Rutherford and Iskra 1912 * ''

Sequences 72 & 73 ''Sequences 72 & 73'' is an album by trombonist Paul Rutherford and the group known as Iskra 1912. It was recorded during 1972–1974 in London, and was released in 1997 by Emanem Records. The album features studio recordings of two ensemble work ...

'' (Emanem, 1997) With

*'' Pakistani Pomade'' (FMP, 1973) *''Three Nails Left'' (FMP, 1975) *''The Hidden Peak'' (FMP, 1977) *''Detto fra de Noi'' (Po Torch, 1982) *''Anticlockwise'' (FMP, 1983) *''Das Hohe Lied'' (Po Torch, 1991) *''Elf Bagatellen'' (FMP, 1991) * '' The Morlocks and Other Pieces'' (FMP, 1994) with the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra *''Physics'' (FMP, 1996) * '' Live in Japan '96'' (DIW, 1997) with the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra *''Complete Combustion'' (FMP, 1998) *'' Swinging the Bim'' (FMP, 1998) *''Gold is Where You Find It'' (Intakt, 2007) With Manfred Schoof *'' European Echoes'' (FMP, 1969) With Setoladimaiale Unit *''Live at Angelica 2018'' ( Setola di Maiale, 2019) With the

*''Karyobin'' (

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, 1968) *'' Quintessence'' (Emanem, 1974 986 With Spring Heel Jack *''Masses'' ( Thirsty Ear, 2001) *''Amassed'' (Thirsty Ear, 2002) *''Live'' (Thirsty Ear, 2003) *''The Sweetness of the Water'' (Thirsty Ear, 2004) With

*'' Manafon'' (Samadhi Sound, 2009) *'' Died In The Wool'' (Samadhi Sound, 2011) with

*'' The Hearth'' (FMP, 1988) *'' Alms/Tiergarten (Spree)'' (FMP, 1988) *'' Melancholy (FMP, 1990) *'' Nailed'' (FMP, 1990) With

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album '' Jazz Suite Insp ...

*''Suspensions and Anticipations'' (Psi, 2003) *''Crevulations'' (Psi, 2005) With Trance Map *''Marconi's Drift by Transatlantic Trance Map'' (False Walls, 2024) With Scott Walker *'' Climate of Hunter'' (Virgin, 1984) With

*'' Vol pour Sidney'' (nato, 1991) With

*'' Song for Someone'' (Incus, 1973) *'' Around 6'' (ECM, 1979) *'' Music for Large & Small Ensembles'' (ECM, 1990) With

*'' Shleep'' (Hannibal, 1997)

References

External links

Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Evan 1944 births Living people 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century British saxophonists Avant-garde jazz musicians Avant-garde saxophonists Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra members British jazz soprano saxophonists British male jazz musicians British male saxophonists Musicians_from_Bristol Brotherhood of Breath members Clean Feed Records artists English jazz saxophonists Free improvisation Globe Unity Orchestra members Incus Records artists Intakt Records artists Leo Records artists NoBusiness Records artists RogueArt artists Rune Grammofon artists Spontaneous Music Ensemble members The Dedication Orchestra members Tzadik Records artists Okka Disk artists Emanem Records artists Psi Records artists