4CDs box set with 120 page book. A monumental box set marking the 80th birthday of one of the most singular voices in improvised music. The Heraclitean Two-Step, etc. collects four CDs of solo soprano and tenor saxophone recordings spanning three decades - from a 1994 session at the Unitarian Chapel in Warwick to performances captured between 2018 and 2024 at Arco Barco in Ramsgate by Filipe Gomes. This is Parker at his most focused and uncompromising, working that extraordinary circular breathing technique that turns a single horn into a polyphonic organism.

The accompanying 120-page hardcover book is a thing of beauty in itself, with contributions from John Corbett, Robert Stillman, Richard Leigh, poet Stephen C. Middleton, and an extended interview with the late Martin Davidson of Emanem. An email exchange with Hans Falb of the Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen festival and a selection of Parker's own visual collages - published here for the first time - round out what feels less like liner notes and more like a proper monograph on one of the great musical minds of our time.

Third release on False Walls dedicated to Parker's work, following Then Through Now with Henry Dagg (2022) and Marconi's Drift by Transatlantic Trance Map (2024). If you care about solo saxophone music in any serious way, this is absolutely where it starts and where it keeps going. Essential on every level.

 

_________________________________

THE HERACLITEAN TWO-STEP, etc. 

MUSIC CONTENT, notes from Evan Parker:

CD 1, Unitarian Chapel, Warwick, 1994 and 2023:
“Andy Isham organised a concert in the Unitarian Chapel, Warwick on 29 June 1994. As part of a longer concert I played a solo piece on soprano which is the first track on CD 1.  It was not long enough to issue on its own and things moved on. Since then I have kept coming back to it because I think it is some of the best solo playing I have ever done. The idea came to me that I should go back to the chapel and see what it was about the space which drew that playing out. As the idea took shape, the saying of Heraclitus about not being able to step in the same river twice started swirling around too. And there it was – I had the title. The “concept”, even – or at least, the conceit … ”

CDs 2-4, a sequence of solo recordings made at Arco Barco, Ramsgate, 2018-24:
“I was introduced by Matt Wright, the other half of Trance Map, to Filipe Gomes and his Arco Barco studio in Ramsgate on the Kent coast. The studio is located in the upper floors of one of the former chandlers’ work spaces overlooking the harbour. A loft space with control room, a live main room and a smaller, less reverberant room. The acoustic response of the live room and Fil’s passion for sound recording has made Arco Barco my favourite studio and I have recorded there as often as possible.
 Over the many visits Fil has tested various microphones and their positioning. The variation means that some recordings are noticeably “dryer” and/or “closer” than others. Much of the thinking was inspired by the work of the late Michael Gerzon and his pioneering ambisonics. What I brought to the occasions was variability in reed behaviour and embouchure and perhaps most importantly my state of mind.”


THE HERACLITEAN TWO-STEP, etc.

BOOK CONTENTS:

-- Writing by John Corbett (writer, curator, producer; Corbett vs Dempsey Gallery, Chicago), Filipe Gomes (Arco Barco, Ramsgate), Richard Leigh (writer), Stephen C. Middleton (writer/poet) and Robert Stillman (musician).
-- An extended interview with Evan Parker by Martin Davidson (Emanem label).
-- An email exchange between Evan Parker and Hans Falb (Konfrontationen Festival, Nickelsdorf).
-- Writing and visual artwork by Evan Parker. 



Helping to mark Evan Parker’s 80th birthday in 2024, the book compiles both historical and contemporary perspectives on Evan’s work, by a range of contributors as well as Evan himself. The book also includes a selection of Evan’s visual collages, which are shared publicly for the first time. 
credits
released November 29, 2024

Music: Evan Parker
Mastering: Filipe Gomes
Design: David Caines
Print and CD production: Akcentmedia