Let's Talk About William Parker

I sent this too soon, and I don't even know what I want to add. I guess: What do you think of him?

Saw him + quartet last spring. He is awesome.

I don't really know that much about him. I've got one record with his playing, and it's fantastic - Never Too Early But Always Too Late w/ Peter Brotzmann + Hamid Drake, a 2-disc set from 2003. Brotzmann's playing is fat and burly, wonderfully loud, and Drake + Parker's exchanges are pretty awesome. A very cool record.

i'm not very familiar with his solo albums...i got O'Neal's Porch back when it got amazing reviews and didn't really get into it. i like his playing with hamid & fred andersen, and some drake/parker duets that i heard, and he has some heavy basslines on those matthew shipp thirsty ear records.

The records where Parker and Drake are playing with Daniel Carter (under WP's name), Billy Bang (also under WP's name), and Kidd Jordan (under Jordan's name) are fantastic. The other records with Brotz are all good, especially "Little Birds Have Fast Hearts."

Live, his group Other Dimensions In Music is just NUTS. Soooooo good.

He did a great project, playing Curtis Mayfield material, 5 or 6 years ago. It was his quartet plus Leena Conquest and Amiri Baraka on vocals, and a choir. I figured a record would surface, but nothing yet.

I saw something he did with an 'orchestra' of local (Buffalo) musicians a couple years ago. They'd basically assembled the piece through all-day rehearsal sessions for a week or 2 before the concert. It was life-affirmingly great, in an AACM kind of way. This is OTM: unafraid of both convention and experimentation.

(I might have actually enjoyed it more than when I saw AACM, which says something.)

Sundar, I'll now ask you what I've been too timid to ask in the past: what does "OTM" stand for? Please?

I do understand why you'd bring up the dumb phrase I used. I should have better explained. WP seems unafraid of the many charges of "sellout" due to his more accessable projects. At the same time, he continues to try new things that won't exactly guarantee that he'll keep the audience he has.

...Sorry--not so eloquent right now...

OTM = "on the money." I was actually agreeing with you!

Oh! Thanks. (heh)

Trying to help a friend get the word out about this show so apologies for spamming multiple threads:

For the second year in a row, “Home Field Advantage - Experimental Jazz in Jersey City" will present Jersey City-based musicians performing cutting-edge improvised music in their hometown every Friday in May. The festival -- organized by Jersey City resident and musician James Keepnews -- will take place at Toy Eaters Studio (one flight downstairs from the festival's venue last year, Lex Leonard Gallery), located at 143 Christopher Columbus Drive in Jersey City, one block west of the Grove St. PATH station. The concerts will begin each night at 8 PM. Tickets will be $12 general admission and $10 students and seniors, available the door each performance evening.

The festival's concert schedule this year will be:

5/2 - Tony Malaby's Tamarindo -- with William Parker and Nasheet Waits
5/9 - People's Revolutionary Party -- debut of an avant-garde big band organized by James Keepnews, with Daniel Carter, Ras Moshe, Matt Lavelle and many others
5/16 - Bryan Beninghove -- featuring Eyal Maoz and special guests
5/23 - Damian Catera -- with Michael Lopez and G. E. Schwartz
5/30 - Nate Wooley -- with Chris Speed, Reuben Radding and Harris Eisenstadt

More details about each group and performance follow below. For further information regarding “Home Field Advantage," please contact James Keepnews at 212.353.6971, or at jameskeepn✧✧✧@ya✧✧✧.c✧✧. For more information about Toy Eaters Studio, go to http://www.myspace.com/toyeaters.

_________________________________________

5/2 - JC Resident and saxophonist Tony Malaby's Tamarindo -- with William Parker on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums

“Within the last decade the tenor and soprano saxophonist Tony Malaby has earned a reputation as one of New York's stalwart improvisers, through an array of sideman appointments and some rigorously rewarding albums. As a leader he favors trios, working often with bass and drums. On “Tamarindo" (Clean Feed) the bassist is William Parker, and the drummer is Nasheet Waits, and both musicians bring a driving purpose to the task. Meanwhile Mr. Malaby, simmering as often as he squalls, coherently pushes the music forward. Clearly this band, which has occasionally billed itself as Tony Malaby's Exploding Heart, should continue working..."

-- Nate Chinen, New York Times

Leading off this year's “Home Field Advantage" festival will be the celebrated saxophonist and composer Tony Malaby and his trio Tamarindo, featuring avant jazz legend William Parker on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums.

Saxophonist Tony Malaby, originally from Tucson, has quickly developed a reputation as one of the most prolific and versatile players in New York. When he's not playing in bands led by Fred Hersch, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian and other greats, he's leading a growing number of his own groups. Able to tackle anything, from the edgeiest avant-garde to the most melodious standard, Malaby comes to the table with an enormous tone, focused and compelling improvisations and a deep commitment to listening.

Some of Tony's best work is with trios. Consider Open Loose with Mark Helias and Tom Rainey; or Tone Collector with Eivind Opsvik and Jeff Davis; or Malaby/Sanchez/Rainey,featuring Tony's wife, the marvelous pianist Angelica Sanchez. At the festival, he'll present yet another, with bassist William Parker and drummer Nasheet Waits. Together the three have released a gripping new album on the Clean Feed label called TAMARINDO.

William Parker is an major icon of the free jazz movement who unveils one fascinating project after another, the latest being CORN MEAL DANCE and THE INSIDE SONGS OF CURTIS MAYFIELD. Nasheet Waits, of Jason Moran's Bandwagon, can play with streamlined purity behind Fred Hersch one night, then unleash torrents of sound with Peter Brotzmann the next. Put Malaby, Parker and Waits together and anything can happen.

Turnout was disappointing but show was phenomenal. I think he might be the greatest living upright bassist.

i only know raining on the moon, which i like a lot. i guess i should hear more.

His stuff with Hamid Drake is probably the most exciting. I have a trio record with Drake called And William Danced that's good and some tracks from Raining on the Moon and Piercing the Veil. I also have The Peach Orchard which has Susie Ibarra on drums, which is good but probably more the kind of thing I'd want to see live and listen to intently than just throw on the stereo. Last night was like that too, but Gerald Cleaver is phenomenal on drums. Tony Malaby took me more time to get used to but he had some transcendent moments.

Oh also worth hearing is Eloping with the Sun - it's Parker, Drake and Joe Morris on sintir, frame drum, and banjo/banjouke, respectively.

The main thing is to see Parker live.

I have a good quality recording of the set now. E-mail me if you are interested.

I've seen him with Shipp a few times and they're always amazing together.

http://www.emusic.com/music/images/album/291/112/990/11299071/300x300.jpg

This sounds promising. Standard Parker/Drake fare to be sure but more of that is always good.

Residency at The Stone coming up later this month!
Gonna try to hit the Parker/Matthew Shipp/Rob Brown evening at least.

Been on a big WP kick the last few months, or really most of the last year. The members of the "classic" David S Ware Quartet and the members of Other Dimensions In Music have become an obsession - so, Parker, Shipp, Daniel Carter, David S. Ware, Roy Campbell -- leading into an appreciation of Cooper-Moore, Hamid Drake, and Rob Brown (the Parker quartet as well as In Order To Survive get a lot of love) as well as Steve Swell (recofings with Parker/Drake/Jemeel Moondoc as "Fire Into Music" are superb) and others in that scene/in that community. There's a ton to dig into and I'm having a ball with it.

I think the Daniel Carter/William Parker/Leo Genovese/Francisco Mela records, Shine Hear Vol. 1 & 2, are also both excellent - I may slightly favor the first volume.

Also getting a lot of play in the car is the 2nd New World Pygmies release with Parker in a duo w/ Jemeel Moondoc on one disc and then a second disc adding Hamid Drake.

The two Parker/Daniel Carter/Hamid Drake albums, Painter's Spring and Painter's Winter, are some of my favorite of his records. And yeah, those New World Pygmies albums (both volumes) are great.

I like those trio records too; I listen to painters spring a lot in the car.