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William Parker: Universal Tonality
by Mark Corroto
Let's Imagine the difficulty William Parker must face filling out his responses to the U.S. census every 10 years. What is his origin? His race? And how many people occupy his residence—or maybe a better question: how many races are contained within this one person? Joking aside, the musician William Parker has become an everyman. His music, art and poetry embody the concept heard here as Universal Tonality. His music is beyond genre, beyond nationality and beyond cultures. He is ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker: Universal Tonality
by Angelo Leonardi
A vent'anni dalla sua incisione ecco un inedito orchestrale di William Parker, in un cast ricco di nomi prestigiosi come il trombonista Grachan Moncur III, il violinista Billy Bang, il pianista Dave Burrell, il percussionista Jerome Cooper e il batterista Gerald Cleaver. Accanto a questi sono presenti partner di lunga data del contrabbassista, come il sassofonista Rob Brown, il trombonista Steve Swell, il chitarrista Joe Morris e la vocalist Leena Conquest. L'edizione della Centering Records è disponibile sia in digitale ...
Continue ReadingChristopher Parker: Soul Food
by John Sharpe
Pianist Christopher Parker convenes the Band Of Guardian Angels for five slices of rootsy free jazz on Soul Food. There is an organic down home feel to the often laid back interplay. But of course the creation of enduring music while being this relaxed occurs not by chance but stems from untold depth of experience. Joining Parker and his wife, vocalist Kelley Hurt, are three vets from the NYC scene in bassist William Parker (no relation), drummer Gerald Cleaver and ...
Continue ReadingWilliam Parker, Clemens Kuratle, Ernesto Jodos & Apophenia
by Maurice Hogue
There is plenty of new releases in this edition of One Man's Jazz, headed by a retrospective of earlier works of William Parker and a who's-who of guests (Universal Tonality). Also tracking back in time are releases from drummer Idris Muhammad and with his own retrospective of his ECM releases, guitarist Steve Tibbetts. From Europe come new albums by Swiss drummer Clemens Kuratle & Ydivide and Polish bassist Wojtek Mazolewski plus a debut from the Lisbon, Portugal quartet, Apophenia, and ...
Continue ReadingJoel Futterman, William Parker, Chad Fowler, Steve Hirsh: The Deep
by Karl Ackermann
The Deep brings together the quartet of pianist Joel Futterman, bassist William Parker, saxophonist Chad Fowler, and drummer Steve Hirsh. Individually—and collectively—they have been the catalysts for many who wander to the farther bounds of jazz. This leaderless group has recorded in distinct member formations, with Futterman and Parker dating back to Authenticity (Kali Records, 1998). Fowler, on his Mahakala label, has issued post-2020 releases with each of his bandmates. The Deep comprises a single title track drawing on many ...
Continue ReadingSteve Hirsh: Sparks
by Mark Corroto
Listeners are inclined to classify music into categories. There's trad jazz, bebop, hard bop, post bop, avant-garde, free jazz, third stream, free improvisation, fusion, and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, pigeonholes are for the birds. One might agree after listening to Sparks by Eri Yamamoto, Chad Fowler, William Parker, and Steve Hirsh. The quartet characterizes this two disc set of feel good (actually, extra feel good) music as “spontaneous folk music." This in not ...
Continue ReadingZoh Amba: O Life, O Light Vol. 1
by John Sharpe
Since relocating to NYC from Tennessee, twenty one year old tenor saxophonist and flautist Zoh Amba has been keeping fast company. On her debut O Sun (Tzadik, 2022), in a sign of affirmation label boss John Zorn guests on one track, while O Life, O Light continues in the same vein as she helms a heavyweight trio comprising celebrated bassist William Parker and storied drummer Francisco Mela. Amba studied with David Murray, but her sound owes more to the raw ...
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