"We’re here for Parker and this ground-breaking masterpiece. Monoceros’ title refers to a one-horned legendary animal. The back cover of the album seen Parker playfully placing his soprano saxophone being his head, so it pokes out on top. The opening track, ‘Monoceros 1’, is a twenty-two-minute hypnotic thing of beauty. The playing has a fierce intensity to it. The way Parker intertwines his saxophone is just mesmerising. It’s as if the instrument has come alive and all Parker can do is hold on and remember to blow. However, there are times when Parker is very much in control and it feels like he is playing for all he’s worth. His triple-tongued technique sounds as unconventional now, but in 1979 it must have sounded other worldly. In your mind you can almost see the veins sticking out on Parker’s lips as he applies more pressure to the reed and just blows. His overtone control is also on full display throughout Monoceros. This technique was picked up from exposure to folk music in Africa and the Middle East. If this is all that Parker had recorded, Monoceros would still have been a seminal release. But it wasn’t. There are another three songs on the album’s second side. ‘Monoceros 2, 3 and 4’ are music shorter. The longest being nine minutes, but they possess the same levels of intensity and inventiveness that made ‘Monoceros 1’ such a joy.
One of the pleasures of Monoceros is how it still sounds challenging. Even after over forty years. This might be down to how it was recorded. Direct-to-disc. This means that everything Parker played, warts and all, would be included on the final album. At the time of releases this was the closest Parker could get to playing live in a club in a studio. The directness comes across in the recordings. ‘Monoceros 4’ is the shortest track on the album, but throughout its 4:08 duration it feels like Parker is playing live just for you. He soars, glides and plummets as hard as ‘Monoceros 1’ but you feel he has his eyes on you all the time. As you squirm, his playing is harsher; as you grin, he drops in a few playful motifs before continuing his overtone control – not just of his saxophone but of you, too."
Nick Roseblade , October 21st, 2020 (The Qietus)
Treader, 2020