Evan Parker

“Free improvisation is not a style, it is a way of dealing with the unpredictable.”

“I'm trying to make a case for a kind of music that doesn't have a narrative basis, that has a more abstract basis.”

“For me, the saxophone is a machine for producing a continuous stream of sound.”

“I'm interested in the physics of the instrument, the acoustics of the instrument.”

“The instrument is a conduit, a channel for ideas that are floating in the air.”

“You have to find your own voice on the instrument. It's not about copying others.”

“Improvisation is a way of thinking in action.”

“The silence is as important as the notes.”

“The whole point of free improvisation is that it's about the eternal present.”

“My test for a good concert is when I leave the stage and I don't know what I did.”

“Circular breathing is just a plumbing detail, really. It's the musical thinking that has to be continuous, not just the sound.”

“The music is a conversation. Sometimes it’s a monologue, sometimes it’s a dialogue, sometimes it’s a group discussion.”

“The challenge is to be open to whatever happens in the moment.”

“The tradition I come from is the tradition of innovation.”