969 - Peter Kowald / William Parker "The Victoriaville Tape"

Peter Kowald : double bass
William Parker : double bass

Arrival (15:57)
Conversation (41:23)
Departure (5:31)
Farewell (6:51)

"There is no doubt that Kowald and Parker generate an expansive sound together....The two men create a slowly shifting field of pure sound, sometimes out of which emerge small moments of furious walking bass or fragments of melody." - Jazz Times

Jouer comme si c'était la dernière fois. Parce que, fatalement, un jour, ce sera la dernière. S'engouffrer dans l'intense, ne plus le lâcher. Laisser la prudence aux caniches. Le calcul aux calculateurs. En bref, vivre. Faire don de soi et de sa musique. Voilà ce que firent Peter Kowald et William Parker un soir de mai 2002 dans le cadre du dix-neuvième festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville au Québec.

A quoi bon détailler ce qui de toute façon ne peut l'être. Dire (écrire) quoi ? l'urgence ? l'appétit d'ogre de ces deux frères de cœur ? les débordements ? l'implication ? l'écorchure ? l'inouï ? l'intense ? l'unité ? Ce soir-là, deux musiciens nous donnaient à entendre le sensible, l'abandon. Ce soir-là, des torrents d'amours (Love Streams) inondaient nos oreilles.
Le 21 septembre 2002, soit quatre mois à peine après ce concert, Peter Kowald décédait d'une crise cardiaque dans l'appartement de William Parker.
Luc Bouquet - Jazzbreak

On May 19, 2002, Peter Kowald and William Parker played a duo set at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. Both bassists had made regular appearances in Victo over the past two decades, but no one in the audience could have guessed that it would be Kowald's last. The German improviser died in New York City four months later. The French-Canadian radio was not recording this concert, but the mixing desk engineer kept a tape rolling, just in case, and negotiations toward the release of this performance were already in progress when fate struck. Now, as the listener, you can decide whether or not to "hear" this album as a normal performance or as a farewell, but it's suggested you choose the latter. Why? Because, all in all, The Victoriaville Tape is a rather ordinary offering from extraordinary musicians. There are moments in "Arrival" and "Conversation" when the sound of the two basses becomes overwhelmingly claustrophobic, each player trapped in his own world without stepping into the other guy's sphere. When Kowald starts singing 24 minutes into the 41-minute "Conversation," it sounds unnecessary. That said, there is magic on this record, especially in the last minutes. The two shorter tracks ending the set are nothing less than fabulous. "Departure" drones in a rapturing way, soothingly beautiful after the monolithically hyperactive monster that came before it. This refreshing dip opened new doors of communication between the bassists for the encore "Farewell." One wishes the concert had started just then, but as it is, The Victoriaville Tape makes a decent album and, circumstances considered, a worthy document.
François Couture, All Music Guide