William Parker

The fine folks at 50 Miles of Elbow Room have a great William Parker interview up (it reads more like an essay, with only one question prompt given).

Some of the content is particularly interesting given recent discussions about the do-it-yourself ethic, surrounding the recent publishing of Marc Ribot's essay. From the WP interview:

When I was in high school, there was always a community center that was there for us - "us" meaning the kids who lived in the projects - to play basketball and have some activities[....]There was that and then later on, on Boston Road, up the hill from where I lived, there was the Black Panther office. They were organizing things. There were the Black Muslims in the Bronx who used to sell Muhammad Speaks, a newspaper that my father used to buy every week. In this paper Elijah Muhammad would talk frequently about black economic power and self-determination, having your own land, your own houses, your own base of operations. Those ideas were around in that time, to be self-motivated and to do for yourself, because if you didn't do for yourself, who would provide for you? You really couldn't depend on the government or what they call the system to provide the things for one's survival.
[....]
That crossed over to the ideas laid out by John Carter and Bobby Bradford. They recorded a record called Self-Determination Music. Charles Mingus had this track called "Fables of Faubus". Archie Shepp put out a record called Fire Music. All of these things were on the perimeter of doing for one's self, self-promotion, and self-development, and to mirror self worth, which was very important at the time.
[....]
Bold gestures are always inspirational. I read about Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in California, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, the Liberation Music Orchestra. So politics were in the air but also politics of human beings were in there too, spirituality and all that. But the motivation was to do, to get up and move and make things move when you got up.

There's more at the interview, which is definitely worth reading.

Finishing up....

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)

This is one of the records on my list that I expected might be popular amongst the D:O poll. It's most likely Gayle's most 'accessible' recording, but that's not why I necessarily put it on my list. I just haven't heard a record from Gayle that captured his sound the way this record does, even if its in a more conventional setting than he often plays. The only other record I have with him on sax is Kingdom Come, which I really don't care for.

Touchin' on Trane is the kind of 'tribute' record that I can get into, one that doesn't include interpretations of the tributee's tunes, instead giving tribute to the spirit of the music. It's definitely the best Coltrane tribute album I've heard, but thankfully I haven't heard many.

Gayle is in good company here, with William Parker on bass and Rashied Ali on drums. I find their interactions to be meaningful, and Ali frames the proceedings rhythmically in a way that I find pleasing to listen to.

I've only had the pleasure of seeing Charles Gayle twice live, and both were absolutely phenomenal. My only frustration with this recording is that it doesn't come close to capturing what I experienced in a live setting with Mr. Gayle, which was an unbridled intensity and passion that I'm not certain can be translated to the recorded medium. Based on recommendations I'd like to pick up Repent next.

William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)

In Order To Survive is the first William Parker Quartet, and this the lineup's finest recording in my opinion. The group features William Parker on bass, Cooper-Moore on piano, Rob Brown on alto sax and Susie Ibarra on drums and I find their musical repoire nothing short of enthralling.

Have I mentioned that I love Cooper-Moore's piano playing? Because I do. Sometimes I secretly wish he'd leave the diddley bo and other funky instruments behind and go back to just playing the piano, but I know his story and history well enough that I don't expect it to come true. The Triptych Myth record on Aum Fidelity that he made is still in regular rotation in my collection.

The drum and bass team of Parker and Ibarra is one of my favorites, both in this group and in the David S. Ware Quartet. Along with Cooper-Moore, it's a first class rhythm section that has an incredibly fluid, elastic sense of time that can go from a very loose feel to a very tight swing in seconds.

I'm an unabashed fan of William Parker's musical sense, both as an instrumentalist and composer. I like his balance of improvisation and composition, and I feel that at this mature stage of his career he was making excellent recordings as a leader after spending many years paying his dues as a sideman.

This record would have made my list even if it only contained one track, the haunting Posium Pendasem #3 that opens the second disc. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I've ever heard.

Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)

Greg Osby! I must admit being a bit uninformed in regards to his greater catalog. He might have made even better recordings in the 1990s than this one, but I own this record, mysteriously might I add because I'm still not quite sure where it came from.

I do know that I always enjoy this record when I put it on, and that I love the sound of it. I'm told that it was recorded with a mini-disc at Sweet Basil, and you can definitely hear the room and the sometimes odd mix that you get when you sit in one spot in a club. featuring a great band made up of Mr. Osby, Jason Moran, Atsushi Osada, and Rodney Green.

I guess I'm a bit surprised that Osby didn't get a few more nods over at the D:O poll. There has been some discussion as to why this might be the case. The reason I was surprised was that I always thought of him as someone lots of other folks really dug, but for some reason I just didn't get into.

The band sounds so relaxed and comfortable on this record. The music sounds easy without lacking drive or immediacy. Mostly, I enjoy the music and the mood it evokes. If I had to pick a time of day for this album it would be twilight, and if I had to pick a season, Banned in New York would certainly be autumnal, the vernal equinox, if you will.

Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)

Horace, Horace, how did you slip through the cracks? You snuck through the back alley, you stayed at home when everyone else left, you fostered a local scene instead of fostering your career, and your music shines with an intense glow that you carefully cultivated. His story reminds me of Chicagoans like Fred Anderson and Von Freeman, musicians who decided to stay instead of go.

As D:O mentioned in their wrap up post, Horace Tapscott is a gem who will continue to shine for years to come. In sticking to the rules, I omitted perhaps his finest recording, the Dark Tree, Vol 1 and 2, which are really incredible. However, I didn't want to leave him off my list entirely, and this record certainly stands up as one of the best of the '90s in my opinion.

Accompanied by the killer rhythm section of Ray Drummond and Billy Hart, the album opens with his composition As A Child, which also opens his album Dissent or Descent. I really dig this song and I think it sets an interesting mood for the rest of the album, and it makes me think about why Tapscott would choose to open not one but two albums with it.

Tapscott comes across as such a complete musician, with such a strong rhythmic and dynamic sense. I have no problem putting him in my pantheon of piano players that ring true with a sense of individualism and singularity that mimics none. Comparisons to Randy Weston, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols and others are all apt in their own way, but all fall short of capturing the reasons why Mr. Tapscott is such an incredible pianist.

Maybe it's because there are no early recordings of Horace Tapscott that he seems so amazing (not really the case - see comments. Thx, Jason). He arrived in my collection fully formed and developed, utterly mature and sure of himself in his musical conviction. I can pay his music and musicianship my highest compliment when I say that it speaks to me in a very clear and inspired voice.

That's all folks, nothing left to see here....

I had the pleasure of seeing the William Parker Quartet last night at the Empty Bottle here in Chicago. I've seen Mr. Parker on several occasions, but never with his Quartet, which is by far my favorite group of his, having released two excellent recordings, 2000's fantastic O'Neal's Porch and the followup, 2004's Sound Unity.

The band consists of: Lewis 'Flip' Barnes on trumpet, Rob Brown on alto sax, William Parker on bass and shehnai (thx Jason), and Hamid Drake on drums.

Parker and Drake have become an indispensable rhythm team in recent years after their first encounter in one of Peter Brotzmann's groups, and with good reason. Their dynamic and empathetic interplay is second to few, if any.

I've always enjoyed the Quartet's music because of the impeccable balance Mr. Parker has struck between composition, improvisation, inside and outside playing. Last night showcased all of these elements in a set that had seamless segues between most of the songs - if I recall correctly there was only two breaks in the set, one in the middle, and one at the end before the encore, and there were several songs played during each of those stretches.

There's also an interesting mix of timbres from the players - Flip Barnes has a very clear trumpet tone, with nothing in the realm of extended technique - at times, Rob Brown has a very reedy, brash tone on the alto, but he also slips into some very smooth and fluid bebop lines - and Parker and Drake utilize all of their respective instruments, dynamically and harmonically. I've heard Parker state that one aspect of his study of the bass has been to view it as a drum set, with each string representing a different aspect of the set. It comes across in his strong rhythmic playing that lays a foundation for Drake's explorations in swing and polyrythms.

Fred Anderson was in the crowd enjoying the show, as William Parker alluded to when he mentioned there were musical luminaries in the audience. The band tipped their hat to the Chicago scene by playing a tribute to John Gilmore called "Gilmore's Hat" and a tribute to Malachi Favors Maghostut called "Malachi's Mode."

Unfortunately they only played one short set and an encore, it was an early show at the Empty Bottle to make way for the real money makers, a rock set with an audience that likes to drink. After the show I picked up the new William Parker/Hamid Drake duo disc from Aum Fidelity, Summer Snow, and I look forward to the new William Parker Quartet and Sextet recordings due out this spring on the same label.

Also, Rob Brown mentioned to me that hopefully he'll be back in town with his trio, with William Parker and Gerald Cleaver, at the Velvet Lounge, but that he was still working out the details.

Pictures later....