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William Parker Organ Quartet: Uncle Joe's Spirit House
by Troy Collins
Renowned in avant-garde jazz circles for his steadfast leadership, bassist, composer and bandleader William Parker's all-encompassing artistry has long been influenced by a variety of sources, both abstract and concrete. Though mysticism and spirituality play a hand in his expansive aesthetic, so do earthly concerns like social justice and family. Uncle Joe's Spirit House, the debut of Parker's Organ Quartet, is a persuasive example of the later.The album is dedicated to his Aunt Carrie Lee Edwards and Uncle ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: I Plan To Stay A Believer
by Nic Jones
On the surface of it there might not seem to be much continuity between the music of William Parker's and Curtis Mayfield, but scratch away at it and the overlap is revealed. On a social level both men were/are activists, conscious of rights human as well as merely social and, on the basis of the evidence caught in this double live set, both men were/are capable of galvanizing bands to a level of spontaneous joy that's uplifting as well as ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: At Somewhere There
by Mark Corroto
Bassist William Parker's music reveals the ever presence of two things: energy and color. Sure, a band's timekeeper is also its dynamo, but Parker's music has always radiated more than pulse. His playing gives off a spiritual vibration that translates easily into color fields.
He is a human mood ring.
This live recording, from July 2008 in Toronto, comprises one long (48 minute) bass solo and two shortish pieces for dousn'gouni and double flute.
The bassist keeps a busy schedule ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker - Giorgio Dini: Temporary
by AAJ Italy Staff
Parrebbe un formato inusuale, quello che abbina due contrabbassi nella durata di un intero disco. Ma dopo la storica, eccezionale esperienza registrata da Barre Phillips e Dave Holland nel 1971 con Music from Two Basses, la pratica si è andata allargando attraverso una serie nutrita di incontri ad alto livello, che hanno visto dialogare Phillips con Barry Guy, Peter Kowald o Joëlle Léandre, oppure William Parker con gli stessi Kowald e Léandre, o ancora Kowald con Guy, Maarten Altena o ...
Continue ReadingWho Owns Music?
by Jakob Baekgaard
Who Owns Music? William Parker Soft cover; 140 pages ISBN: 978-3-00-020141-7 Buddy's Knife 2007
Spirituality runs deep in the music and thinking of bassist William Parker. Those who have looked at the sleeves of his albums will have noticed that he not only expresses his philosophy in sound, but also through words, often including writings that are closer to poetry than the descriptions of music usually contained in liner notes. ...
Continue ReadingJoëlle Léandre - William Parker: Live at Dunoìs
by AAJ Italy Staff
Lo sappiamo, William Parker e Joëlle Léandre sono oggi due fra i massimi interpreti del contrabbasso: più o meno coetanei ma di diversa formazione culturale, hanno messo a punto approcci allo strumento, e più in generale alla musica, personali e molto diversi fra loro. Lo statunitense è soprattutto un leader indiscusso, un guru della musica afroamericana degli ultimi vent'anni. Come contrabbassista appare fisicamente statico come una cariatide, ed anche il suo modo di suonare predilige una concreta fissità, fatta di ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: Live at the Sunset, In Transition, Live at Dunois, Double Sunrise over Neptune
by Clifford Allen
Other Dimensions in Music Live at the Sunset Marge Records 2008 Collective 4tet In Transition Leo Records 2009 Joelle Leandre & William Parker Live at Dunois Leo Records 2009 William Parker Double Sunrise over Neptune Aum Fidelity 2008
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