Unity Variations

Unity Variations
Live album by
Evan Parker and Georg Gräwe
Released1999
RecordedMay 9, 1998
VenueUnity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois
GenreJazz
Length54:46
LabelOkka Disk
ProducerJohn Corbett
Evan Parker chronology
Monkey Puzzle
(1997) 		Unity Variations
(1999) 		Chicago Tenor Duets
(2002)

Unity Variations is an album by British jazz saxophonist Evan Parker and German pianist Georg Gräwe, which was recorded in 1998 during the Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music and released on Okka Disk. Before this live performance, they had played in duo just once before at the 1991 October Meeting at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

In her review for AllMusic, Joslyn Layne states "This excellent performance showcases the very complementary interaction of the duo, the sort of interaction that often becomes a feat of close listening even while playing without pause."[2]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings commented: "something rarefied and remote in these relatively short improvisations."[3]

A reviewer for The Free Jazz Collective called the album "a glorious pan-tonal spray of notes, covering the entire range of their instruments."[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Parker/Gräwe
  1. "Unity Variations 1" – 24:33
  2. "Unity Variations 2" – 15:42
  3. "Unity Variations 3" – 10:37
  4. "Unity Variations 4" – 3:54

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Unity Variations at Okka Disk
  2. ^ a b Layne, Joslyn. Evan Parker/Georg Gräwe – Unity Variations: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1127. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ "Evan Parker / Georg Gräwe". The Free Jazz Collective. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2022.