The Advent of an Artist-Composer Movement Exemplified by the Works of Saxophonists Colin Stetson, Evan Parker, and Contemporaries

Abstract

Arising out of the avant-garde jazz tradition, a particular genre of solo saxophone music has emerged that combines stylistic attributes of avant-garde jazz and improvisation with minimalism, and is dependent on circular breathing, harmonic manipulation, and other techniques. To distinguish the music and the saxophonists and composers associated with it I have referred to this genre as "post avant-garde." With its roots ultimately in avant-garde jazz of the 1960s, this genre arose through the solo improvisation work of Evan Parker from the 1970s to present, and the music has since been an influence on the work of Colin Stetson and other artists, as well as composers including Gordon Fitzell and Alex Mincek. This document examines a previously unacknowledged but distinct genre of solo saxophone music, as well as the music of associated artists and composers.