Evan Parker, widely recognised as one of the most important saxophonists of the post Coltrane period, returns with the fifth ECM disc from his trail-blazing Electro-Acoustic Ensemble.
The group's pioneering work has effectively established a model for a new kind of improvising chamber orchestra, creating fresh colours from the blending and contrasting of acoustic instruments and live electronics. The latest edition is the largest yet - the current 14-strong line-up includes improvisers, composers, and sonic scientists - and is the most international to date with members from the UK, US, Japan, Spain and Italy. New players are two Americans, Ned Rothenberg and Peter Evans, both well-known to followers of improvised music, and a Japanese musician, Ko Ishikawa - and expands the horizons still further.
With more acoustic instruments in the mix, the group now embraces both the ancient and the modern: Ko, for instance, plays exclusively the sh�, the archaic bamboo mouth organ, which sounds thoroughly futuristic when processed by the Ensemble's sonic scientists. Similarly, the borders between improvisation and composition are dissolved in this music: The Moment's Energy features an extended new work commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and first performed there in 2007. This work led to Parker's winning of a Paul Hamlyn Award, as composer, in 2008.
Personnel: Evan Parker (soprano saxophone), Peter Evans (trumpet, piccolo trumpet), Ko Ishikawa (sho), Ned Rothenberg (clarinet, bass clarinet, shakuhachi), Philipp Wachsmann (violin, live electronics), Agust� Fernandez (piano, prepared piano), Barry Guy (double-bass), Paul Lytton (percussion, live electronics), Lawrence Casserley (signal processing instrument), Joel Ryan (sample and signal processing), Walter Prati (computer processing), Richard Barrett, Paul Obermayer (live electronics), Marco Vecchi (sound projection)
