Tom Challenger & Evan Parker — May Spring Last a Lifetime

What a treat to find one of the most prolific and important figures in European free jazz - saxophonist Evan Parker - joining forces with one of this country’s most exciting talents, improviser and saxophonist, Tom Challenger. In the egalitarian world of avant-garde jazz paths tend to cross time and time again, musicians often sharing a stage while cultivating enduring alliances. And rather unsurprisingly, the union between Challenger and Parker started in much the same way, the pair first playing live together before heading into the studio to record their improvisational opus, May Spring Last a Lifetime.

It would be relatively easy to gloss over the work of octogenarian Evan Parker, his role as a pioneering figure in the European free jazz scene being so well-established. But it is worth remembering that Parker was there at the point of its inception. Hugely influenced by Dolphy, Coltrane and most significantly, Cecil Taylor, he began to dabble in improvisation in mid 60s London joining first the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and then the Music Improvisation Company before starting to work with some equally pioneering European counterparts - Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof, Pierre Favre and Han Bennink. A formidable collaborator, Parker became a principal member of Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra, eventually forming his own trio in 1980. It is this extraordinary experience combined with an unmatched vision that makes the extent of Parker’s influence near impossible to measure, but through his countless collaborations and inexhaustible output, he remains to this day at the very centre of the free jazz world.

Challenger may not hold the same weight, not many do, but he proves to be an impressive foil. Going by many an alias including Tomas ‘Cake’, Challenger is an academic at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance based in the very current Southeast London, where he lectures on jazz composition and improvisation. Naturally that is only part of his story, and as an artist much of his time is spent working on his own improvisation and composition as part of a close-knit community that includes Kit Downes, pianist Alexander Hawkins, trumpeter Byron Wallen alongside some of the elder statesmen of experimentation including This Heat’s Charles Hayward and of course, Evan Parker.

Borne of a few rehearsal sessions and live performances, May Spring Last a Lifetime was recorded at Ramsgate’s Arco Barco studio earlier this year and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that after so many years in the spotlight Parker might struggle to find inspiration and enthusiasm for a new project. And yet after one listen, it’s clear that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Parker is given free rein to take the music where he wants it to go, coaxed by the equally enthralling playing of Challenger. Relatively low-key in tempo and intensity, the music here is both unpredictable and absorbing with the two musicians full of composure throughout the entirety of its 53-minutes. With such deep-seated creativity, May Spring Last a Lifetime is nothing less than a masterclass in innovation and improvisation.