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William Hooker: Heart of the Sun
by John Sharpe
Suddenly Heart Of The Sun from veteran drummer William Hooker's The Gift looks a whole lot more poignant. With the passing of trumpeter Roy Campbell in January 2014, Hooker has been deprived of one of his longest collaborators. Campbell first appeared alongside the drummer on Colour Circle (CJR, 1989) as part of the self styled three member William Hooker Orchestra, and then later as one third of The Gift on Live at Sangha (Bmadish Records, 2005). As ever here Campbell ...
read moreWilliam Hooker: Channels of Consciousness
by John Sharpe
On the face of it the title couldn't be more apt, as drummer William Hooker leads his four accomplices through an organically unfurling invention fashioned from their collective streams of consciousness. But a closer listen betrays signs of premeditation, not least in trumpeter Chris DiMeglio's wistful reiterated motif which reappears at regular junctures during the continuous 68-minute performance. Other evidence comes from the presence of an overarching form, as intricate drum and percussion grooves bookend the piece captured live at ...
read moreWilliam Hooker Quintet: Channels of Consciousness
by Glenn Astarita
Drummer William Hooker was a mainstay at New York City's downtown jazz haven The Knitting Factory, amid several cross-functional albums for its record label. He's a freethinker, possessing a broad musicality, largely immersed in improvisation, and communicates a comfort zone whether tackling or expanding numerous world music stylizations nestled within free-jazz, avant-rock and other genres. Recorded at Roulette in New York City, Channels of Consciousness is a passionate endeavor, where the quintet aggregates garrulous free-jazz, blues, and fluctuating asymmetrical structures ...
read moreWilliam Hooker: Crossing Points
by John Sharpe
After his well-received Earth's Orbit (No Business Records, 2010), drummer/composer William Hooker raids the archives for Crossing Points, drawn from a 1992 New York City date with saxophonist Thomas Chapin. The drummer has straddled the free jazz and noise camps, but here almost merges the two in a 76-minute program where the energy levels barely move out of the red. Chapin, whose early death from leukemia in 1998, at the age of 40, thwarted a career that sought to gloriously ...
read moreWilliam Hooker - Thomas Chapin: Crossing Points
by AAJ Italy Staff
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 la ...
read moreWilliam Hooker: Earth's Orbit
by AAJ Italy Staff
Batterista, compositore, poeta e artista di ampi interessi, William Hooker è certamente musicista che ha saputo sempre sintetizzare in un contesto improvvisativo tante tensioni espressive, incorporando elementi rock e post-punk su una base free, incrociando la creatività newyorkese a partire dagli anni Ottanta e collaborando con artisti che vanno da Lee Ranaldo dei Sonic Youth a William Parker. In questo doppio vinile, abbina due concerti, uno tenuto al Tonic di New York nel 2007 e un altro alla Hemlock Tavern ...
read moreWilliam Hooker Trio: Yearn for Certainty
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Drummer William Hooker can tell stories in many more ways than one. On Yearn for Certainty, he works his majestic tenor vocal chords as he recites a poem that accompanies the initial track, “Ingratiated Beam--Leroy." One track later, on the superbly crafted, rhapsodic melody of “Century's Soles," Hooker manipulates his ensemble of drums to tell a wholly different story, reaching deep into the African-ness of the origin of all civilization, as he follows footprints in the proverbial sands of time. ...
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