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William Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune
by Troy Collins
Following Roy Campbell's Akhenaten Suite and Bill Dixon's 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur, bassist William Parker's Double Sunrise Over Neptune is the third release from AUM Fidelity this year to document premiere performances from the 2007 Vision Festival. Heavily influenced by West African, Middle Eastern, and East Asian traditions, this two-part suite is a prime example of Parker's concept of universal tonality--a kaleidoscopic tour-de-force that encapsulates the festival's multicultural aesthetic.
Parker plays a supportive role ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune
by John Sharpe
William Parker's Double Sunrise Over Neptune is the third and final commission by Arts For Arts from the 2007 Vision Festival to appear on AUM Fidelity following releases by Roy Campbell and Bill Dixon. Although recorded live, the premiere suffered from technical difficulties in the sound mix, which meant that the musicians reconvened the following afternoon to record the piece a second time. Happily the technical frustrations don't impinge on the enjoyment of a piece that blends Asian and African ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune
by Nic Jones
This is so much more than an expansion of multi-instrumentalist William Parker's freewheeling and indeed freer work with his quartet, although a couple of members of that band are present in the ranks of this large ensemble charged with the task of bringing the music off the page. They do this with extraordinary clarity of thought and deed and the results are as compelling as anything released so far this year.
Maximizing in his use of minimal material and a ...
Continue ReadingWiliam Parker Triple: Corn Meal Dance; The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield: Live in Rome & Alphaville Suite
by Kurt Gottschalk
William Parker / Raining on the Moon Corn Meal Dance Aum Fidelity 2007 William Parker The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield: Live in Rome Rai Trade 2007 William Parker Double Quartet Alphaville Suite Music Inspired by the Jean Luc Godard Film RogueArt 2007
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William Parker: Blue Shadows & The Last Dances
by Kurt Gottschalk
Charles Gayle Blue Shadows Silkheart 2007 Hamid Drake/Anders Gahnold/William Parker The Last Dances Ayler 2007
Over the last decade (this year marks the 10th anniversary of his brilliant Peach Orchard), William Parker has come to be one of the most exciting bandleaders around. The great gains have come with a small loss: Parker ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker's Quartet: Continuing the Story in Vermont
by Lyn Horton
William Parker Quartet Vermont Jazz Center Brattleboro, Vermont January 12, 2008
Devotion to a steadfast belief manifests itself through persistence of doing, the doing coming down to the choices made by the believer. Bassist William Parker embodies the ultimate believer: he not only believes in the evolution of the culture of his personal heritage but, through his efforts, he endeavors to make the best of that culture a vital part of ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker Raining on the Moon: Corn Meal Dance
by AAJ Italy Staff
Giganteggia la figura di William Parker nel panorama della musica improvvisata di oggi: predicatore, musicista immenso, teorico, storico coscienzioso, giustiziere a volte, catalizzatore di talenti ed energie, animatore straordinario e responsabile, almeno in gran parte, della rinascita di certo black free gravitante intorno all’area newyorchese. E, d’altro canto, il contrabbassista ha le spalle larghe e non ha mai rifuggito le proprie responsabilità, dimostrando di essere pienamente cosciente del ruolo di guida spirituale, coscienza critica e ultimo erede della cultura, non ...
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