The Snake Decides
The Snake Decides is a studio album by British saxophonist Evan Parker. Recorded on January 30, 1986 at St Paul’s Church in Oxford, it was released in 1988 on Incus Records, a label run by Parker and Derek Bailey. The album features four unaccompanied soprano saxophone solos, recorded by sound engineer Michael Gerzon. The cover woodcut, titled The Snake Decides, is by George Murphy. It has been reissued several times: a 2003 release on Psi Records and a 2018 remastered edition on the Otoroku label with new liner notes by Brian Morton.
The Snake Decides is celebrated as a landmark in free improvisation. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a rare crown and placed it in the Core Collection, calling it a great record and an essential document of modern music, and praising Gerzon’s engineering for making you feel almost inside Parker’s instrument. Reviews describe the music as hypnotic and intensely energetic, driven by Parker’s rapid, intertwining multiphonics. AllMusic notes the piece’s relentless energy and focus on the serpentine qualities of his playing, while All About Jazz highlights Parker’s dizzying, knot-tying soprano lines. The Guardian’s Stewart Lee lists it among Parker’s top five albums, and JazzIz’s Matt Micucci called it one of Parker’s essential 1986 releases.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:07 (CET).