Evan Parker & Matthew Shipp - Leonine Aspects (2021)

At a French festival in the summer of 2017, two elders of advanced jazz improvisation paid tribute to the Grand Poobah of improvisation. Leonine Aspects captures saxophonist Evan Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp at opening night of the Meteo Festival, paying homage to John Coltrane not by playing his songs but by creating their own spontaneous music in the spirit of ‘Trane.

Their performance that night lasted about an hour, almost entirely a single, impetuous piece. When there is only one or two musicians playing whatever enters their head at the moment, it’s akin to peering to their artistic soul.

Parker’s revelation is how much he thinks like a piano player when playing his saxophone; whatever pattern Shipp is playing, Parker can match it, wrapping his sax around Shipp’s piano with the same cadence, rhythm and harmony. Shipp, for his part, is frisky and fearless, but also takes the time to show uncommon melodicism and reflection.

Parker starts off on tenor sax but swaps it out for a soprano, from which he cuts loose a gnarly ostinato around the fifteen minute mark lasting for over two minutes that must have brought the house down. Later on, Parker pulls off the feat again, but with a tenor saxophone. Following the main piece “Leonine Aspect #1” comes a sort coda “Leonine Aspect #2,” a whirling entanglement of piano and soprano saxophone, winding down to a graceful denouement.

Neither Evan Parker nor Matthew Shipp have anything left to prove, but that doesn’t diminish their drive to leave it all on the stage, as they did here. Leonine Aspects is now on sale and comes to you courtesy of RogueArt Records

Evan Parker - tenor & soprano saxophones
Matthew Shipp - piano