'Airborn' by Eddie Parker

Few musicians can lay claim to quite as many chapters of distinction as Eddie Parker.  Across an expansive career, the flautist and composer has continued to embrace new projects and collaborations and his latest full-length album, 'Airborn', proves a marquis moment within his glittering musical journey to date - a journey that can be traced back to his formative years alongside the pioneering jazz ensemble Loose Tubes. 

What ultimately began as an intrepid experiment would actually go on to birth a super group of UK collaborators with Parker as a founding member working alongside Django Bates, Ashley Slater, Iain Ballamy and Mark Lockheart.  A group famed for their dynamic and versatile style just as much as for their expansive numbers, Loose Tubes' prominence amidst London's 1980s jazz landscape could never be overstated having staggeringly amassed three studio albums within a four-year period.

A collective whose members mostly remained intrinsically intertwined for years to follow, Loose Tubes remained a dynasty and breeding ground of pre-eminent London-based talent with its prominent members continuing to fly the flag for the group's monumental achievements in the years that followed.

But for flautist and composer Eddie Parker, Loose Tubes was ultimately just the beginning...

Aside from his contributions to Freebop, The Adenoid Quartet, Mister Vertigo and The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, Parker would go on to accrue collaborations with a revered line-up of talent over the years including Bheki Mseleku, Marvin Smith and John Parricelli.  As an innovator, band leader, educator and composer, Parker has long displayed a progressive and forward-thinking perspective on contemporary jazz that serves as much as a joyous celebration of the genre more than anything else.

There's perhaps little the flautist has not achieved across his remarkably broad recording career that has seen him perform around the world, immerse himself in a litany of musical projects even beyond the realms of strictly jazz and comfortably venturing into classical-based aesthetics.  The release of Parker's latest project in 'Airborn' finds the venerably prolific artist as enthusiastic about his music as he was when he first came on the scene some forty-plus years ago.

Finding a suitable home on saxophonist Kevin Figes' Pig Records, 'Airborn' snugly fits alongside a selection of the label's releases that, not only serve as a veritable playground to Figes' own extensive projects (like his 'Wallpaper Music' trilogy), but also with projects such as the Latin jazz aesthetic of Balanca, the improv-heavy spiritual jazz offering of 4 Sided Triangle or the tribute to the great Jimi Hendrix via the Electric Lady Big Band project.

With Parker tackling flutes and keyboards throughout 'Airborn', there's exceptional support provided from drummer Jay Davis (Yazz Ahmed, Alex Hitchcock) and double-bassist Dave Manington (Loop Collective, Gwyneth Herbert) as well as guitarist Rob Luft.  As an incredibly decorated and prominent name within London's scene, Luft makes for a notably thrilling inclusion amidst an already illustrious quartet.

Delivering a scintillating fourteen-track full-length, the music throughout 'Airborn' presents many varying facets of Parker's expansive musical arsenal but it's the album's dalliances towards spiritual jazz that make for some particularly thrilling contributions.  Displaying a broad and somewhat open or spacious style of composition, the album's 'Airborn' title finds itself a natural summation of the freedom afforded to the music - and its players - as a whole.

For all the history that surrounds Eddie Parker, it's remarkable to find the flautist still looking forwards with the same kind of unfettered musical imagination that has characterised his work from the very beginning.