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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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2CD
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CENT 1030CD
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"William Parker's Universal Tonality is an epic archival recording which brings the titular concept to full, vibrant life. An exquisite example of this system in practice, it features a truly once-in-a-lifetime assembly of creative music luminaries and legends, including Billy Bang, Grachan Moncur III, Jerome Cooper, Dave Burrell, Jin Hi Kim, Joe Morris, Miya Masaoka, Daniel Carter, Rob Brown, Jason Kao Hwang, Gerald Cleaver. Clocking in at nearly two hours and featuring six extended pieces flowing across two discs, Universal Tonality documents a performance that took place at Roulette, NYC in December 2002. Parker invited 16 musicians of various ages, cultures and musical backgrounds to join him in an experiment of 'breathing together.' While he provided a score (wonderfully illustrated pages from same are included in the package), all were advised that there need not be adherence to it. Parker's hope with this approach is that each musician will trust their own instincts -- and those of the musicians around them -- enough to let the sound find its shape in real time. That constant current of inspiration, and open, receptive communication, was present at Roulette that night, and it's on full display on this magical recording. Whether embodying a roof-raising big band, or an intimate cross-cultural chamber ensemble, the collective heard here always displays an impressive coherence and sensitivity. When discussing or writing on his Universal Tonality concept as a whole (as on the enclosed, extensive liner notes), Parker can sound like he's outlining a life philosophy. It is both telling and fitting that author Cisco Bradley chose to title his 2021 biography of William Parker after this concept. The results of this one-night-only communion can now take their place among Parker's many landmark works spanning the past three decades, including previously released Universal Tonality-driven pieces like Double Sunrise Over Neptune, and Red Giraffe with Dreadlocks (released on the box set For Those Who Are, Still)."
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AUM 115CD
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"Following the release of the Migration of Silence Intoand Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand-new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Mayan Space Station is his first electric guitar trio album, and features Ava Mendoza -- electric guitar, William Parker -- bass, and Gerald Cleaver -- drums. Cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. All of the promise imagined by a trio recording of these musicians with compositions by Parker is delivered to the fullest. William Parker first worked with Ava Mendoza on a project entitled Thunder and Flowers for his July 2019 residency at The Stone in NYC. Her prodigious talents have illuminated many projects and recordings as both leader and collaborator over the past decade. As is abundantly clear here, she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music. Gerald Cleaver is an exceptionally gifted poet of drum sound who can play in the deepest of pockets and manifest all manner of sound to perfectly fit contours within the most open of forms. Cleaver & Parker have worked closely on numerous projects, notably within the nonpareil full-improvising trio, Farmers By Nature, together with Craig Taborn. William Parker is in vibrant grandmaster blossom here on double bass -- in both pizzicato & bow-as-prism modes. Regarding the album title, Parker offers: 'Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a reality that important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, 'travel the space ways.' Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments.'"
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AUM 115LP
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2022 repress; LP version. Includes download code. "Following the release of the Migration of Silence Intoand Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand-new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Mayan Space Station is his first electric guitar trio album, and features Ava Mendoza -- electric guitar, William Parker -- bass, and Gerald Cleaver -- drums. Cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. All of the promise imagined by a trio recording of these musicians with compositions by Parker is delivered to the fullest. William Parker first worked with Ava Mendoza on a project entitled Thunder and Flowers for his July 2019 residency at The Stone in NYC. Her prodigious talents have illuminated many projects and recordings as both leader and collaborator over the past decade. As is abundantly clear here, she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music. Gerald Cleaver is an exceptionally gifted poet of drum sound who can play in the deepest of pockets and manifest all manner of sound to perfectly fit contours within the most open of forms. Cleaver & Parker have worked closely on numerous projects, notably within the nonpareil full-improvising trio, Farmers By Nature, together with Craig Taborn. William Parker is in vibrant grandmaster blossom here on double bass -- in both pizzicato & bow-as-prism modes. Regarding the album title, Parker offers: 'Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a reality that important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, 'travel the space ways.' Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments.'"
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AUM 116CD
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"Following the release of the Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Painters Winter features the trio of Daniel Carter -- reeds, trumpet, flute; William Parker -- bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Hamid Drake -- drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. Drake & Parker launched their devoted 'two-man big band' partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Drake has made mention of his awe that William could pick up any new instrument and make beautiful music with it from jump. The title track of Painters Winter features Parker on trombonium, one of those many instruments that he plays beautifully on. The track 'Painted Scarf' features Parker on shakuhachi, upon which he has clearly become a master. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, 'It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered.' And from his liner notes, 'The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us.'"
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AUM 116LP
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Limited repress; LP version. Includes download card. "Following the release of the Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Painters Winter features the trio of Daniel Carter -- reeds, trumpet, flute; William Parker -- bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Hamid Drake -- drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. Drake & Parker launched their devoted 'two-man big band' partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Drake has made mention of his awe that William could pick up any new instrument and make beautiful music with it from jump. The title track of Painters Winter features Parker on trombonium, one of those many instruments that he plays beautifully on. The track 'Painted Scarf' features Parker on shakuhachi, upon which he has clearly become a master. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, 'It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered.' And from his liner notes, 'The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us.'"
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10CD BOX
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CENT 1020CD
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Repressed! "That William Parker is a bassist, composer and bandleader of extraordinary spirit and imaginative drive is common knowledge among any with an interest in the progressive jazz / any music scene of the past 25 years and more. What's become increasingly apparent, though, is Parker's stature as a visionary of sound and song -- an artist of melody and poetry who works beyond category, to use the Ellingtonian phrase. The latest multi-disc boxed set from Centering Records/AUM Fidelity devoted to Parker's expansive creativity underscores his virtually peerless achievement in recent years. Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Volumes 1?10) is a 10-album collection of vocal and instrumental suites all recorded expressly for this set between late 2018 and early 2020, with women's voices at its core (both on voice & other instruments). This is music as empathetic as it is intrepid, as philosophical as it is visceral, as resolutely modernist as it is attuned to tradition. Parker's art not only draws from the deepest well of African-American culture; it breathes in inspiration from across the globe, with sounds drawn from Africa, Asia and Indonesia as well as Europe and the Americas; there is free improvisation and re-imagined sonic collage; there are album-length explorations of solo piano and solo voice, along with string ensembles and ancient wind instruments. There are dedications to jazz heroes, Native Americans and Mexican migrants, plus tributes to the great African-American culture of Harlem and the mix of passion and compassion Parker found in vintage Italian cinema. Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World conjures a vast world of music and feeling, and its creation is a feat that ranks with that of the most ambitious talents in any genre."
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Book
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ROG 092BK
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"William Parker - Conversations III - William Parker (author, interviews), Jeff Schlanger (art), Jacques Bisceglia (photographs), edited by Ed Hazell, Book, 654pages, 33 interviews by William Parker. Philosophy, history, life, love, inspirations, story-tellin' from some of the most creative minds. Powerful interviews." Featuring: Joshua Abrams, Pheeroan Aklaff, Hamiet Bluiett, Karen Borca, Connie Crothers, Steve Dalachinsky, Joe McPhee, Oliver Lake, Klaas Hekmann, Matthew Shipp and others.
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2CD
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CENT 1018-19CD
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Sold out, repress in 2023 or later... "This special edition release is comprised of two brand new full-length albums, distinct in personnel & approach, yet complementary in ethos. William Parker is (and has been) on a profound and voluminous creative flow. Both of these albums were made in Summer 2018; they follow up and extend on his June 2018 release, the exemplary 3CD box set Voices Fall From the Sky. Flower in a Stained-Glass Window fully features vocalist Leena Conquest, a tremendous interpreter of Parker's work in song. She can be heard to deep affect in his Raining On The Moon and Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield projects. This is her first work together with Parker since 2012, and it is a most potent return to this creative orbit. She sings and speaks atop of and within a fresh ensemble featuring Parker's bass together with long-time compatriots trombonist Steve Swell & saxophonist Dave Sewelson, South African drummer Kesivan Naidoo (in his first work with Parker), Parker's son Isaiah on piano, as well as younger saxophonic talents Abraham Mennen and Nick Lyons. This work is dedicated to the inspiration of Martin Luther King, and the lyrical content pulls no punches delivering the truth as Parker sees it. The message is: social and political justice and equality for all human beings. Flower in a Stained-Glass Window was slated for release on its own, and then William Parker had a summer residency at The Stone / New School in New York in which The Blinking of The Ear was presented in wholly extended form by an ensemble featuring Daniel Carter (witness the recently released Seraphic Light), Steve Swell, Eri Yamamoto on piano, William Parker and young Leonid Galaganov on drums, with mezzo soprano AnnMarie Sandy. This composition first appeared on the Voices Fall From The Sky box set in a voice/piano/drums reading. Here, as Parker writes in the liner notes: 'The dream was to combine written music with improvised music; slowly and seamlessly folding them together as one. This sextet live version wholly realized that dream; it was an extraordinary event in music called universal tonality.' After hearing the recording, it was forthwith decided to include this and make it a true double-album event! Astonishing work, all of this. Packaged in a limited edition deluxe 8-panel digipak, with liner notes by William Parker."
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NOMORE 006CD
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Warehouse find of the last copies of this long unavailable 1998 release. William Parker's Lifting The Sanctions is a tour-de-force of solo bass. Words can't express the master musicianship that radiates from Parker's music. There is a strong focus throughout this release on Parker's bowing and composition. Parker's insightful liner notes on bass theory and technique are invaluable for anyone who is familiar with his music.
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3CD BOX
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CENT 1015-17CD
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"Currently deep into his 5th exceptionally active decade as an essential jazz artist, William Parker needs no introduction. However, one of the intrinsic aspects of his oeuvre that bears repeated mention is the vast range thereof. From era-defining statements of free music to soul-jazz organ quartet; from his seamless incorporation of indigenous folk forms to his exhilarating work for jazz orchestra; from the joyous accessibility of his Quartet to his nuanced scoring for dance and film. And this new work! A treasure box abounding with gems, Voices Fall From The Sky is an expansive 3CD Box Set comprising three distinct and complementary albums whose focus is on the voice: the singers, 17 of whom are featured herein -&- the songs, all composed (and produced) by William Parker. Half of the material are brand new recordings and half are Parker-curated selections of previously released material either long unavailable or presented in new form. Accompaniment on these 34 pieces ranges as widely as the voices, from duet to large ensemble. A multitude of approaches are employed: art song to operatic, pop sensibilities to gospel, heart-stopping ballads to dance numbers, silence to exuberance. The lyrical content expresses love of nature and its vital importance to a whole life, compassion, anti-oppression, anti-violence of any kind, praise of the creative spirit, and, Love. These themes are foundational in all of Parker's work; the forefront spotlight through a multitude of expressive voices makes them that much more salient. Album/CD1 features all-new work predominately recorded & mixed during December 2017 and January 2018. Featured singers: Timna Comedi - Morley Shanti Kamen - Amirtha Kidambi - Kyoko Kitamura - Bernardo Palombo - Omar Payano - Jean Carla Rodea - Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez - Fay Victor - Andrea Wolper. Accompanists: Karen Borca - Angelo Branford - Rob Brown - Gerald Cleaver - Jean Cook - Jason Kao Hwang - Masahiko Kono - William Parker - Dave Sewelson - Heru Shabaka-Ra - Steve Swell - Dario Acosta Teich - Eri Yamamoto. Album/CD2 is comprised of duets and focuses on three singers with whom Parker has had decades-long creative relationships with. Vintage recordings with Ellen Christi and Lisa Sokolov from the early 1990s which have been unavailable for far too long are here re-contextualized together with more recent work with Leena Conquest. Accompanists: Yuko Fujiyama - Cooper-Moore - William Parker - Eri Yamamoto. Album/CD3 presents the voice within large ensemble and features new iterations of previously released work together with a brand-new suite/recording entitled 'The Blinking of the Ear', performed by mezzo-soprano opera singer AnnMarie Sandy. The previously released work features the singers Ernie Odoom, Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay and Leena Conquest. Accompaniment is by four very different versions of the William Parker Orchestra, and his Double Quartet. The one exception is the brand-new suite, which features Eri Yamamoto: piano and Leonid Galaganov: drums, although how they and AnnMarie Sandy fill the silence is practically orchestral."
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CENT 1012CD
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"Stan's Hat Flapping In The Wind features work from one of the jazz avant-garde's most heralded figures, presented in one of the most traditional of forms. 19 new songs composed by William Parker, and performed by singer Lisa Sokolov & pianist Cooper-Moore. Parker is -- among his many great talents -- a master of evocative song-craft, as readily evidenced on Corn Meal Dance (AUM043, 2007), and the very recently released Great Spirit (AUM098, 2015), by his Raining On The Moon ensemble. The compositions and performances here are, as ever, illuminated with Parker's devotion to compassion for all life. They touch on the possibility of peace and truth prevailing in the present. Stan's Hat Flapping In The Wind is also the name of a musical that William Parker has been writing since 1994. To date he has composed over sixty songs for the production. In this musical, the principal characters -- through tribulations and exposure to the magic of all life around them -- begin to learn the art of living and the systems of sacred music. On this new studio recording, 19 of these songs are presented. All of them are connected in that they all reflect on the mysteries of death and life. Many of Parker's touchstone subject matters abound: compassion for all living things, the magic of sound, the revolutionary nature of flowers, and deeply affecting dedications and invocations to enlightened spirits who have departed."
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AUM 098CD
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"Great Spirit again makes abundantly clear William Parker's multi-faceted talents as bassist, composer, poet, bandleader and =songwriter=. Raining On The Moon is the extraordinary group which seamlessly fuses all of these prodigious gifts: his long-standing Quartet with Hamid Drake, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes is here exquisitely augmented by singer Leena Conquest breathing further compassion & dignity into William's lyrics, and pianist Eri Yamamoto for expert chordal support. Going back a few years, Corn Meal Dance (AUM043) is one of the most beautiful, potent, luminous, and true albums of all-original song ever made. The indelible melodies and rhythms; the words, unyielding and uplifting in equal measure; the performances by all six musicians; the recording quality itself. All are strictly top shelf. The January 2007 studio session which yielded that album was extraordinarily productive, and Great Spirit finally presents the entire balance of material recorded on that wonderful day."
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3CD BOX
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AUM 092-94CD
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"An astonishing 3CD box set of new and previously unissued long-form works from world-renowned composer-bassist William Parker. This box set is comprised of four distinctly compelling long-form works -- Parker's first composition written for symphony orchestra performance; a commissioned piece for a standing new music ensemble; a 'chamber-jazz' song series for voice / soprano sax / piano / bass; a composition created specifically for a particularly diverse Parker assemblage in Universal Tonality mode. The four works are linked by a focus on and greater adherence to William Parker's written compositions; the depth and breadth of the resultant performances is astonishing. Musicians featured herein include William Parker (bass, doson'ngoni); Hamid Drake (drums); Cooper-Moore (piano); Rob Brown (alto sax); Charles Gayle (tenor & soprano sax); Mike Reed (drums); Leena Conquest (voice); Mola Sylla (voice); Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay (voice); Klaas Hekman (bass sax); NFM Symphony Orchestra + Choir (Wroclaw, Poland); Kitchen House Blend band. Deluxe box set is published in a limited first edition of 1500 copies. Each of the CD sleeves (and the box cover) feature commissioned paintings by gifted young artist Douglas Arnold. The accompanying 24pg. booklet contains extensive notes by Philip Clark (The Wire, et al.), William Parker's lyrics, and further key visual artwork."
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2CD
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AUM 062/63CD
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The Inside Songs Of Curtis Mayfield. "Bassist/composer William Parker is among the most active and highly regarded musicians performing today. The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield is the first project in his 35-year career devoted to the music of another composer; here Parker interpolates the mighty Mayfield songbook with an equally mighty 8-piece band. Curtis Mayfield was a prophet, a preacher, a revolutionary, a humanist, and a griot. Words that all apply to William Parker himself. I Plan To Stay A Believer is the definitive document of this project, with fully exuberant performances of each piece drawn from concert recordings spanning the past decade. Included are two pieces from the group's very first 2001 performance in Paris with a chorus of 90 children, and another pair from New York in 2008 which feature a full gospel choir. As Parker writes in the liner notes, 'Every song written or improvised has an inside song which lives in the shadows, in-between the sounds and silences and behind the words, pulsating, waiting to be reborn as a new song.' I Plan To Stay A Believer brings Curtis Mayfield's positive messages of hope and fortitude in the face of potentially overwhelming odds back into the present moment where these energies remain in great need. The group features all long-standing compatriots of Parker's: the peerless rhythm section of Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, along with elder masters Dave Burrell on piano and poet/activist Amiri Baraka. The horn section features saxophonists Sabir Mateen & Darryl Foster, and trumpeter Lewis Barnes. Deeply soulful singer Leena Conquest is equally/exquisitely featured in/on Parker's Raining on the Moon group/Corn Meal Dance album."
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AUM 047CD
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"The third and final installment of AUM Fidelity's collaborative releases with Arts For Art, Inc. presenting specially commissioned works which made their debut at Vision Festival XII in June 2007. And it is William Parker's this time me a tell you IAIAH. An orchestral work featuring immensely gifted individual and collective voices from around the world, meshing as one to manifest a pair of deep bass groove-driven mantras. Featuring both Hamid Drake and Gerald Cleaver on drums (each tremendous masters of rhythm and sound), a full string section, full keyed-in young Shayna Dulberger on bass, and renowned Indian classical vocal master Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay (flown in from India for this auspicious occasion) singing William Parker's lyrics on one piece, and then the mantra 'Surya Pranam' and a Persian tarana on the other. This is serious (other) world teleportation music that achieves psychedelic proportions of sonic interplay. The world premiere of Double Sunrise Over Neptune took place on June 19, 2007, the opening night of Vision Festival XII. As there were technical difficulties in the live mix that affected the recording, the musicians reconvened the following afternoon to perform and record the piece a second time. The entirety of that afternoon performance is presented here, followed by the second half (equally wicked and technical-difficulties-free) of the premiere performance."
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AUM 036CD
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"Explores and expands on the ancient DNA/cultural codex that connects Africa to The Americas -- reflecting William Parker's long abiding interest in and study of the continental connection between the Manding people of West Africa and the Olmec of ancient Mexico (root culture of the Maya forward). A listening meditation exercise toward your enduring pertinence in the present world? A ten-track introductory manual on how to comport yourself in the reigning parallel? Yes to both questions. 2012 is on its way, after all. The album opens with an arrestingly spacious solo bass performance of the traditional hymn 'There Is A Balm In Gilead,' one of William's favorites. It continues episodically with music from three different sessions. The title track is a series of solo pieces on the 8-string doson ngoni (traditional hunter's guitar from West Africa). William was introduced to the instrument in 1975 by Don Cherry. And finally, launching off the grid, are four tracks by The Olmec Group. These four tracks are at the crux of Long Hidden -- mysterious and entrancing sound poetry embracing the Caribbean and Middle America via inspiration drawn from the Great Stone Head of the Olmec. Further to William on percussion and 6-string doson ngoni, the O.G. is composed of Dave Sewelson: the veteran saxophone player who has been active on the creative music scene for the last thirty years, Todd Nicholson: a formidable presence on the bass who when not leading his own bands can be heard with the violinist Billy Bang, and -- Omar Payano, Isaiah Parker, Gabriel Nunez and Luis Ramierez -- all under 23 years old, who play Merengue music."
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