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William Parker / Hamid Drake / Cooper-Moore: Heart Trio
by John Sharpe
By largely leaving behind their main instruments, three stalwarts of the New York avant jazz scene tap into something timeless and elemental on Heart Trio. Instead of his customary bass, William Parker wields an array of flutes, double reeds, and the doson ngoni, a six-stringed hunter's harp from West Africa allegedly the ancestor of the banjo. His long-time partner Chicago drummer Hamid Drake remains at his kit, which he supplements with a frame drum, while erstwhile pianist Cooper-Moore, another habitué ...
Continue ReadingKaren Borca: Good News Blues
by John Sharpe
Pioneering jazz bassoonist Karen Borca has had to wait a long time for her leadership debut. It arrives courtesy of the adventurous Lithuanian NoBusiness imprint, compiled from archival recordings of two appearances at New York City's fabled Vision Festival. But that is not to say that she does not have a weighty resume. An acolyte of Cecil Taylor, she played in his college ensembles at both Antioch and Wisconsin in the early 1970s. Through the pianist she also met alto ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker, Ellen Christi: Cereal Music
by Alberto Bazzurro
William Parker ci ha regalato nel corso degli anni (in particolare da quando la sua stella, ormai intorno ai cinquanta, ha iniziato a brillare di luce particolarmente marcata) opere importantissime, a suo solo nome o in collaborazione con altri. Ciò precisato per chiarire subito che questo suo nuovo lavoro non appartiene a tale schiera. Vi trova posto una narrazione spesso farraginosa che ripercorre la vita del bassista, con intromissioni--per lo più salvifiche--da parte di Ellen Christi, cofirmataria dell'opera, e altri ...
Continue ReadingHirsh / Swell / Clouse / Parker: Out On A Limb
by Mark Corroto
Can déjà vu be contagious? Or at least a particular quality or disposition that is communicable? This might be the question to ask after sitting down with Out On A Limb by the improvising quartet of Steve Hirsh, Steve Swell, Jim Clouse, and William Parker. The music this unit created spontaneously in April 2024 does not appear from thin air, it is a product of a half-century of innovation and modernism in music. Much of that history has ...
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William Parker, Kimura/Guy/Hemingway & Frank London
by Maurice Hogue
There are some shiny new trio albums highlighting this edition of One Man's Jazz that are well worth checking out. Bassist William Parker, keyboardist & instrument inventor Cooper-Moore and drummer Hamid Drake have played together in all manner of situations but they've never recorded as a trio; the new Heart Trio rectifies that, although don't expect to hear Parker play bass or Cooper-Moore play piano--they've brought the “other" stuff. It's a terrific album. In the traditional piano trio mode comes ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia With Love (Expanded Edition)
by Stefano Merighi
La musica di James Brandon Lewis è potente, assertiva, trascinante. Ma rivela talvolta, sotto lo strato di forza, una sottile e affascinante vulnerabilità emotiva, che rende ancora più ricco il suo discorso compositivo e solistico. Come nel caso di questo scintillante omaggio al mondo espressivo di Mahalia Jackson, che si realizza attraverso memorie familiari, quelle della nonna che ha trasmesso a James questa passione tuttora bruciante. Lewis è una delle voci più convincenti del jazz contemporaneo che non ...
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