Two Day residency for Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III featuring drummer Michael Zerang and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. This trio opened the incredible three day residency we held in April 2011 for the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet with a set of nuanced group interplay, lyrical improvisation and textural adventure. It's a pleasure to have them back at Cafe OTO for a residency of their own, two sets a night with special guests Evan Parker (Friday) and John Edwards (Saturday).
"... [Joe Mcphee's] magical take on avant-garde sax remains one of the wonders of the scene. He still has one of the most beautiful tones on the planet, even when he’s reaching for jazz’s outer limits." - Time Out New York
"They are firmly of the American post-Impulse! free jazz continuum, and they make no concession to anything much outside it, except of course that the tradition has often incorporated sympathetic innovations from the broader culture, and the same holds true for Survival Unit. The titles of two compositions on their recent “Synchronicity” CD, for instance, make reference to Jimi Hendrix and sound artist Maryanne Amacher, and that gives us pretty accurate co-ordinates for the Survival Units’ musical range and stance. So their playing is an update and a progression of the tradition, and a seriously powerful and affecting one at that." - The Jazzmann
"McPhee and his band mates execute a spiritual cleansing process, teeming with vivid dialogues and multilayered textures. An eventful and undeniably persuasive listening experience it is." - All About Jazz
One of the towering figures of improvised music, saxophonist Evan Parker has been shattering conceptions of what constitutes music since his early experiments with John Stevens, Derek Bailey, Paul Lytton and Peter Brötzmann. A restlessly inventive presence, he's refused to let his music stand still and continues to break new ground, whether in solo performances, small groups with players such as John Edwards, Tony Marsh, Okkyung Lee and Peter Evans, or large groups, such as his own Electro-Acoustic Ensemble.
JOHN EDWARDS
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, John Wall, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, and many others.
