# CD review: Evan Parker Quartet – All Knavery and Collusion 2021: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/04/19/cd-review-evan-parker-quartet-all-knavery-and-collusion-2021-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2021-04-19T14:22:43+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**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.

When we asked Evan if he would record an album for Cadillac, it was this aspect 
of his multifaceted talents that we had in mind. The quartet you hear on this album(
with Paul Lytton, John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins) came together for a gig at
the Vortex in Evan’s regular slot on June 20th 2019, and what a fine gig it was!
Then the next day we relocated to the beautiful barn-like studio of Rimshot, deep
in the Kent countryside to record the album.

The location, close to Evan’s home, had other resonances which Chris Searle has 
described in his sleevenote. The subsequent (and over long) process of mastering
and producing the album coincided with the first Covid lockdown and the coincidence
of Evan and I both reading Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year”, which provided 
context and some track titles. This put me in mind of Stephen Fowler’s brilliant
rubber stamp artwork, and he has created a visual representation that expresses 
many of the themes of the album. ©

**Tracks**

 1. All Knavery and Collusion 7:50
 2. The Alchemy of John Edwards 5:16
 3. A Well Staring at the Sky 2:28
 4. The Influence of the Dog Star 4:43
 5. A Blazing Star or Comet Appeared 3:48
 6. The Weather Set in Hot 24:17
 7. Art Is a Science… 3:10

**Evan Parker – saxophones**
 **Alexander Hawkins – piano** **John Edwards – bass****
Paul Lytton – drums**

![Evan Parker Quartet – All Knavery And Collusion (2021, CD) - Discogs](https://
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