The Moment's Energy is an live album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in November 2007 and released on ECM in 2009.[1]

The Moment's Energy
Live album by
Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble
Released2009
RecordedNovember 2007
VenueLawrence Batley Theatre
Huddersfield, England
GenreJazz
Length66:55
LabelECM
ECM 2066
ProducerSteve Lake
Evan Parker chronology
Time Lapse
(2006)
The Moment's Energy
(2009)
Whitstable Solo
(2008)

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [2]
All About Jazz     [3]
The Guardian     [4]
DownBeat     [5]

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "this work is more modern composition than merely free or experimental jazz. This is a gorgeous work when taken as a whole, a musical journey through multi-dimensional landscapes and sonic shadows that seems to stretch time itself."[2]

On All About Jazz John Kelman called it "an album where there's both greater density and delineation, an even broader dynamic scope and, quite simply, one of the most ambitious mixtures of form and freedom, and extant and new-found textures" and "A composition that could never be performed the same way twice, its careful construction of sound in real-time and post-production makes for an ambitiously considered experience of great power and unsettling subtlety."[3]

The Guardian's John Fordam observed "Different combinations of players come to the fore in each piece, which imparts variety to these abstract soundscapes."[4]

The Penguin Jazz Guide called it "a composed piece for improvising ensemble that delivered a work of unparalleled sophistication and presence" noting "the sound-world of the piece is determined to a broad extent by the individual performers, but it is Parker's imagination - capricious responsive but in no way totalizing - that makes the piece so successful ... Though some may cite the ensemble's transatlantic collaboration with Roscoe Mitchell as a greater achievement, this remarkable collaborative work is its masterpiece."[6]

Writing for DownBeat, John Ephland stated: "The earnest, sincere and able execution of this material by seasoned and well-trained artists suggest 'a new chamber orchestra'... There is cohesion and a kind of forward movement here. And their edginess spills over into a kind of frolicking playfulness light years from the energy of so-called free-jazz."[5]

Track listing edit

All compositions by Evan Parker

  1. "The Moment's Energy I" - 9:29
  2. "The Moment's Energy II" - 9:45
  3. "The Moment's Energy III" - 9:34
  4. "The Moment's Energy IV" - 4:19
  5. "The Moment's Energy V" - 9:23
  6. "The Moment's Energy VI" - 8:11
  7. "The Moment's Energy VII" - 11:14
  8. "Incandescent Clouds" - 5:05

Personnel edit

References edit

  1. ^ ECM discography accessed November 18, 2011
  2. ^ a b Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed November 18, 2011
  3. ^ a b Kelman, J. All About Jazz Review, accessed November 28, 2019
  4. ^ a b Fordham, J. The Guardian Review, accessed November 28, 2019
  5. ^ a b Ephland, John (December 2009). "The Moment's Energy". DownBeat. p. 69.
  6. ^ Morton, Brian; Richard Cook (2010) [1992]. The Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the Music in the 1001 Best Albums. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (10th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 728. ISBN 978-0-14-104831-4.