Peter Evans - Lifeblood (2016) [Hi-Res]

Lifeblood is Peter Evans' return to the solo album after a 5 year break. In the interim, there have been countless tours and concerts, as well as Evans' artist residencies at both Issue Project Room (2014) and Roulette Intermedium (2015/16), to both of which solo music was a central component. There have been extreme developments in terms of large scale form, manipulation of texture(s), use of the microphone, and the narrative (if at times inscrutable and non-linear) quality of the work. The goal has moved far beyond any exploration of "extended technique" instrumental innovation which is so often the focus of solo improvised performance, although variety of sound is paramount.

Lifeblood is comprised mainly of two very different live performances. The title piece is from a small club in Cleveland (April 2016), and chronologically sits nearly last in the collection. "Prophets" is another full length piece, recorded as the opening concert of Evans' time at Roulette in fall 2015, after one week of practicing in the space with the PA. The short pieces, which also exist on film, are vignettes meant to tell a brief story with a more limited range of textures. "Pathways (for Rajna Swaminathan)" was recorded at the last minute and focuses entirely on one rhythmic texture that can be found for brief moments in the longer pieces. In general, there are many such cross-connections of material spread out over all the pieces, which were performed over a 6 month period.