William Parker: Long Hidden: The Olmec Series

Such an ambitious vision might be dismissed right away if offered by any other artist, but with Parker's compassionate and unassuming approach, it sounds so relevant and sensible that you begin to contemplate about other long-hidden threads that Parker may explore in future releases. An optimistic and humane musical vision like this deserves our deepest respect.

Long Hidden begins with Parker's spacious and resonant pizzicato playing of the gospel "A Balm in Gilead," which he recorded—playing arco—on Painter's Spring (Thirsty Ear, 2000) and describes in his liner notes as a meditation "on why we are here and what we have made of the world."

Parker relates that Don Cherry introduced him to the doson ngoni, which "made my heart sing," but the three tracks that feature this delicate instrument sound as if he's plucking a guitar or banjo in a much more gentle style than Cherry's hurried strumming. Parker describes these soothing tracks as "connected to the people sitting on the porch after supper... a suspending time of tuning and detuning dreams."

The Olmec Group features veteran saxophonist Dave Sewelson, associated with the Microscopic Sextet and his own Swelsonics, and bassist Todd Nicholson, a musical associate of violinist Billy Bang. This group's percussion-based tracks leave a lot of room for Sewelson and the young saxophonist Isaiah Parker to embark on stratospheric voyages. The longest track, "Pok-a-Pok," inspired by an Olmec ball game, anchors this release with its slow, percolating rhythms. The short call-and-response "Espirito" links all the musicians to magic and spirituality in its Latin-based gospel sensibility.

Two solo bass tracks were recorded live in 1997 in Berkeley, California. "Cathedral of Light" and "Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy," a reprise of Parker's composition for his In Order to Survive quartet (Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy, Homestead, 1995), are fantastic demonstrations of his soulful and measured arco playing. The bonus track, "In Case of Accident," contrasts the otherwise leisurely spirit of Long Hidden with a muscular fourteen-minute tour-de-force onslaught on the bass that leaves you breathless.