PSI

Few rifts in improvised music have been as lasting as that between Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. The reality that the catalyst of mutual estrangement is decades past raises doubts as to whether either man even remembers its particulars. Their row may have robbed listeners of recent meetings, but consolation lies in several concerts the duo recorded before their split.

One of the bittersweet byproducts of Derek Bailey’s death was a final dissolution of his earthly discord with Evan Parker. It’s unfortunate that the two didn’t reconcile prior to Bailey’s passing, but Parker’s decision to reissue one of their most heralded early meetings with a memorial tag speaks to a post-mortem accord.

Serpents have long been associated with the anthropomorphic attributes of cunning and deception. Over the years, Evan Parker’s saxophones have established a similar outsider status based on clever subversion of existing norms. There’s nothing quite like his sound on soprano or tenor in the annals of improvised music.

A 1983 Brussels concert featuring three improvisations by this electro-acoustic quartet.