What/If/They Both Could Fly

What/If/They Both Could Fly is a live album by Evan Parker and Joe McPhee recorded Norway in 2012 and released on the Norwegian Rune Grammofon label.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Guardian
DownBeat

AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek stated "For fans of improvised music, What/If/They Both Could Fly has much to offer. For seasoned listeners, it will not likely reveal many hidden new doors, but it is enjoyable and engaging for its lively interplay, presented in a relaxed, open, and inquisitive fashion".

In The Guardian, John Fordham wrote "It's a must for free-jazz disciples of Parker and McPhee, but the uninitiated may also find much to enjoy in this gracefully rational and divertingly varied exhibition of improv".

DownBeat reviewer Bill Meyer commented: "Nothing about this 2012 performance, recorded... when saxophonist Evan Parker was 68 and saxophonist-trumpeter Joe McPhee was 73, sounds like the work of musicians who are anywhere short of the top of their game... they sound quite in tune with each other, whether adding to one another's ideas or holding back to give the other space."

Track listing

All compositions by Evan Parker and Joe McPhee

"What" - 18:52
"If" - 13:54
"They Both Could Fly" - 6:25

Personnel

References

Joe McPhee discography accessed April 29, 2015
Rune Grammofon album entry accessed April 29, 2015
^ Jurek, Thom. What/If/They Both Could Fly – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
^ Fordham, J., The Guardian Review, December 20, 2013
^ Meyer, Bill (February 2014). "What / If / They Both Could Fly". DownBeat. p. 83.

v t e Joe McPhee
Studio albums	Pieces of Light (1974) Old Eyes (1980) Topology (1981) Oleo (1982) Visitation (1985) Linear B (1990) Impressions of Jimmy Giuffre (1992) Sweet Freedom - Now What? (1995) A Meeting in Chicago (1996) As Serious As Your Life (1996) Legend Street One (1996) Legend Street Two (1996) Inside Out (1996) Finger Wrigglers (1996) The Brass City (1997) Chicago Tenor Duets (1998) Zebulon (1998) In the Spirit (1999) No Greater Love (1999) Grand Marquis (1999) Tales Out of Time (2002)
Live albums	Underground Railroad (1969) Nation Time (1971) Black Magic Man (1971) At WBAI's Free Music Store, 1971 (1971) Trinity (1972) Rotation (1976) The Willisau Concert (1976) Tenor (1977) Graphics (1977) Variations on a Blue Line (1977) Glasses (1977) MFG in Minnesota (1978) Élan • Impulse (1991) McPhee/Parker/Lazro (1995) Common Threads (1995) Specific Gravity (1997) The Dream Book (1998) Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom (1999) Manhattan Tango (2000) Port of Saints (2000) Voices & Dreams (2000) Mister Peabody Goes to Baltimore (2000) Remembrance (2001) In Finland (2004) Guts (2007) What/If/They Both Could Fly (2012)
Trio X	Rapture (1999) The Watermelon Suite (1999) On Tour (2001) In Black and White (2002) Journey (2003) The Sugar Hill Suite (2004) Moods: Playing with the Elements (2005) Roulette at Location One (2005) Air: Above and Beyond (2006)

v t e Evan Parker
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums	The Music Improvisation Company 1968–1971 (1969 & 1970) The Topography of the Lungs (1970) The Music Improvisation Company (1970) Collective Calls (Urban) (Two Microphones) (1972) Monoceros (1978) The Snake Decides (1986) Conic Sections (1989) The Redwood Session (1995) Tempranillo (1995) Chicago Solo (1995) Toward the Margins (1996) Natives and Aliens (1996) Drawn Inward (1998) Chicago Tenor Duets (1998) Foxes Fox (1999) Birds and Blades (2002) Naan Tso (2004) Rex, Wrecks & XXX (2011) Either Or And (2013)
Live albums	At the Unity Theatre (1975) Saxophone Solos (1975) The London Concert (1975) From Saxophone & Trombone (1980) Six of One (1980) The Ayes Have It (1983 & 1991) Atlanta (1986) Three Blokes (1992) 50th Birthday Concert (1994) McPhee/Parker/Lazro (1995) At the Vortex (1996) Unity Variations (1998) After Appleby (1999) Lines Burnt in Light (2001) Memory/Vision (2002) The Bishop's Move (2003) America 2003 (2003) The Eleventh Hour (2004) Boustrophedon (2004) The Moment's Energy (2007) Hasselt (2010) Dortmund Variations (2010) The Bleeding Edge (2010) Live at Maya Recordings Festival (2011) Rocket Science (2012) What/If/They Both Could Fly (2012) As the Wind (2012) Music for David Mossman (2016)
Related articles	Spontaneous Music Ensemble

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