Jazz Articles about William Hooker

About William Hooker

Album Review

William Hooker: Light - The Early Years 1975-1989

Read "Light - The Early Years 1975-1989" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
October 3, 2016

L'etichetta lituana NoBusiness Records, orientata verso il free storico e la musica più recente che ne è derivata, si distingue anche per le raffinate riedizioni in tiratura limitata. Light, sottotitolato The Early Years, 1975- 1989, presenta in quattro CD l'attività del batterista e compositore William Hooker, catturata in quegli anni in locali, studi radiofonici, loft e luoghi di cultura di New York. Il materiale è in parte inedito, in parte pubblicato originariamente su vinile dall'etichetta dello stesso Hooker, la Reality ...

Album Review

William Hooker, Thomas Chapin: Crossing Points

Read "Crossing Points" reviewed by AAJ Staff

by AAJ Staff
April 11, 2016

L'aggiornato e appassionato blog Free Jazz dedica a questo disco una recensione di pochissime righe, quasi una lista di tags che forse meglio di ogni ragionamento riesce a dare le coordinate della musica del duo tra il batterista William Hooker e il sassofonista Thomas Chapin. Certo, a elencare qualità [a volte anche apparentemente ossimoriche come lirismo e cattiveria] e chiari riferimenti -da Coltrane/Rashied Alì a Ayler -è facile fare centro, ma sicuramente non servono troppe parole quando ...

Album Review

William Hooker: Light The Early Years 1975-1989

Read "Light The Early Years 1975-1989" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
February 23, 2016

The good news is that record executives are no longer the gatekeepers of taste and style in music today. Inexpensive recording equipment and the advent of digital music allow the artist, and the audience to cast a wide net these days. This wasn't the case forty years ago, especially for the improvised jazz scene. Studio time was expensive and the production of vinyl LPs, in the quantities free jazz sold, was cost prohibitive. Documents of the time, when improvised music ...

Album Review

William Hooker: Light

by John Sharpe
February 14, 2016

Light constitutes another welcome instalment from the back pages of NYC free jazz by the Lithuanian No Business imprint, following on from Jemeel Moondoc's Muntu Recordings (2009), Commitment's Complete Recordings 1980/1983 (2010) and William Parker's Centering: Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987 (2012) box set, among others. The label has released some of drummer William Hooker's most accomplished work in recent years, such as Bliss -Earth's Orbit (2010) and Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival (2014) as well as previous documents from the ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with William Hooker

by AAJ Staff
January 26, 2016

About William Hooker: I grew up in New Britain, Connecticut and basically was a good student, and came from a good home. I did all that I could possibly do to make my way through New Britain High School, Nathan Hale Junior High, and Central Conn. State College. I tried to get good grades to be an exceptional student as far as playing in the band and orchestra, in leading the chorus and student councils. I was brought up ...

Album Review

William Hooker & Liudas Mockūnas: Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival

Read "Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 17, 2015

Veteran drummer William Hooker continues to expand his varied discography on the No Business imprint, with the addition of Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival. Like Crossing Points (2011) with the late reedman Thomas Chapin, it's a meeting with a resourceful saxophonist -this time Liudas Mockūnas, a co-founder of the label. But unlike the former encounter, on this occasion Hooker avoids the all out aural assault which tested Chapin to the limits, settling instead for power exercised with restraint and precision. ...

Album Review

William Hooker & Liudas Mockūnas: Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival

Read "Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 17, 2014

Did somebody say “bring it?" Must have, because the combination of muscleman drummer William Hooker and Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas surely delivers the goods in this 53-minute duo improvisation performance at the Vilnius Jazz Festival in October 2013.The four lengthy tracks are part of a continuous set the two seared into their audience's ears. Certainly, the combination of Hooker's dynamo and Mockūnas' lung bursting breath are present here, so is a discriminating subtle sound. Hooker, a ...