Unity Variations Explained

Unity Variations
Type:live
Artist:Evan Parker and Georg Gräwe
Cover:Unity_variations_cover.jpeg
Released:1999
Recorded:May 9, 1998
Venue:Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois
Genre:Jazz
Length:54:46
Label:Okka Disk
Producer:John Corbett
Chronology:Evan Parker
Prev Title:Monkey Puzzle
Prev Year:1997
Next Title:Chicago Tenor Duets
Next Year: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

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."

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

A reviewer for The Free Jazz Collective called the album "a glorious pan-tonal spray of notes, covering the entire range of their instruments."[2]

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

Notes and References

  1. http://www.okkadisk.com/releases/od12028.html Unity Variations
  2. Web site: Evan Parker / Georg Gräwe . January 16, 2013 . The Free Jazz Collective . May 29, 2022.