Few saxophonists have the stamina of Evan Parker. Live Shows are his forte, where he can show off his prowess as an artist drawing from a seemingly inexhaustible well of ideas supported by the endurance to pull it off. This particular display, on soprano exclusively, has a younger Parker in two 1975 solo engagements, one in London (17 June) and the other in Berlin (9 September). Through the baker's dozen pieces (titled Aerobatics 1-13), the saxophonist's astonishing physical skill is as impressive as the musical material he states and develops.

Most pieces run from 2-6 minutes. Two of them, however, are soloist marathons, at around the 15-minutes mark each. The opener has Parker commanding the altissimo register for longer than seems humanly possible in a kind of ecstatic whistle, only to bounce to lower registers and back again, in a frenetic yet poised manner. Throw in the ease with circular breathing and you have a thoroughly engaging tour-de-force.

Most of the other pieces seem like haiku, by comparison, but the territory they cover in terms of sound exploration is immense. Stop-tonguing, flutter tonguing, double, triple tonguing, growling, singing into the tone, multiphonics and other effects there may not yet be names for are found here in what may very well be a kind of thesaurus or style-guide for the free-jazz saxophone. One thing is certain: Parker has made a genuine contribution following in the footsteps of people like John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, John Tchicai, Steve Lacy and Anthony Braxton, to list a few names the liner notes also cite.

While an experimental poetic is definitely at work here, this is music that also functions on a sublime spiritual plane and close listening results in a mesmerizing experience where one is transported through unimagined portals of the creative mind in physical interaction with flesh, wood, metal and air. The quotes from Samuel Beckett that serve as subtitles to some of the pieces remind us of this, but the music itself conveys the ideas already.

This second reissue of the recording will be appreciated by those who didn't get to hear this event the first or second time around. The fact that this music is still challenging and fresh after nearly 35 years is evidence of its timeless quality.

Evan Parker: Saxophone Solos Is On Sale at Squidco!