Evan Parker ought to be knighted for re-mastering and reissuing this, one of the great British orchestral jazz records. Utilising stalwart British jazzers alongside wildcard improvisers like saxophonist Parker, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist Tony Oxley, Wheeler brilliantly fuses gorgeously limpid melodies ("Ballad Two") with free-form interludes. Great cliffs of brass echo Gil Evans, but note the subtle nod to electric Miles (those two electric pianos) and the inspired use of Norma Winstone's voice as an instrument. The highlight is the 15-minute "The Good Doctor", its wan lyricism simultaneously underlined and derailed by the explosive and still shocking climactic freak-out from Parker, Bailey and Oxley. Forget Matthew Herbert's big band; this still sounds like the future.
Evan Parker ought to be knighted for re-mastering and reissuing this, one of the great British orchestral jazz records. Utilising stalwart British jazzers alongside wildcard improvisers like saxophonist Parker, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist Tony Oxley, Wheeler brilliantly fuses gorgeously limpid melodies (“Ballad Two”) with free-form interludes. Great cliffs of brass echo Gil Evans, but note the subtle nod to electric Miles (those two electric pianos) and the inspired use of Norma Winstone’s voice as an instrument. The highlight is the 15-minute “The Good Doctor”, its wan lyricism simultaneously underlined and derailed by the explosive and still shocking climactic freak-out from Parker, Bailey and Oxley. Forget Matthew Herbert’s big band; this still sounds like the future.
