Evan Blaker

For many years Evan Parker, one of the greatest post-Coltrane saxophonists, has played a monthly gig at the London club The Vortex. These gigs in part illustrate Evan’s close ties with the fragile ecosystem of clubs that support the jazz world; the small venues that allow an intimate and powerful connection between the artist and audience that is at the heart of jazz creativity. Evan called these events his ‘jazz’ gigs, the knowing hyphenation an indication of the problematic use of the J word, an acceptance of the Vortex as a ‘jazz’ club, and a nod to his origins in jazz history. I took a friend there one time and it seemed to me that the trio’s performance (Evan, John Edwards and the great and sadly departed Tony Marsh) came close to seeing Coltrane or Ayler playing at the 5 Spot or one of the other legendary New York venues.

Heinrich Biber was a giant of the Baroque violin. Just as the electric guitar has become the instrument of "the people" during the late 20th century, so the violin was for the Baroque period. The older family of viols was a mainstay of the aristocracy, while the lighter and louder violin came to embody the voice of the people, and subsequently of the courts. Heinrich Biber was Austrian, but was inspired by the Italian style of fantastic, wild improvisatory playing, and had a lifestyle to match.

If it seems upon first listen that Evan Marks' snappy, fluid electric lines are vaguely reminiscent of Steve Laury's, the connection makes perfect sense; Marks subbed in Fattburger's guitar chair for a few years after Laury left the group. While select ballads on the Cleveland native's stellar debut ease through that band's familiar laid-back ideals, Marks seems more comfortable darting in new and daring directions as both composer and jam-happy player. Label connections work wonders, with Jeff Lorber's synth rack and Art Porter's funky delicacies punching up groove after funk-filled electronic groove. For example, "Racer X," with its burning blues rock bravura, is one of the most unpredictable genre tracks ever. Marks has the vision of an edgy contemporary instrumentalist, but there is also a healthy dose of jazz seasoning in his mix…

Somnia is proud to offer more music from Bluetech's Evan Bartholomew.
In the second installment of his Somnia series, a Portland based modern classical composer, Evan Bartholomew, continues his meditative descent through Secret Entries Into Darkness. The minimal ambient sound slightly curves around the deep entrance, brushing the wet moonlight on the cave's bold stone, before it breaks into sheaths of white, and vanishes with echoes. Unlike its predecessor, this journey in this follow up is more rhythmic and darker, sustaining an eerie and desolate feeling, as the composer dissects the abstract lines between the realms of life and death during our weightless dive into Xibalba. In his streaming hypnotic voyage, Bartholomew perfects his production and the art of revealing his soul to the listener through music…

Live duo recording of two revered figures on the British free jazz and improv scene - saxophonist Evan Parker and bassist Barry Guy - from February 2023.