Matthew Shipp -Codebreaker (November 5, 2021 AUM Fidelity)

Matthew Shipp takes an introspective turn on his latest solo piano album, continuing to discover new territory for his singular cosmic pianism. Codebreaker encrypts rich harmonies, cloud-like clusters, and the unlikely confluence of Bill Evans and Bud Powell.

Within the voluminous catalogue that pianist Matthew Shipp has created over the last three and a half decades, his solo piano work has charted a unique and compelling pathway for the evolution of the instrument’s vocabulary. On his latest album, that path finds Shipp in an uncharacteristically meditative state of mind. Though the language is unmistakably his own, the usual attacks, dense clusters and insistent circularity are more often replaced by harmonic nebulae that luxuriate in the mysterious resonances which Shipp conjures from the keyboard.

“I was actually shocked at how introspective the album was when I listened back to it,” Shipp admits. “If I try to dissect my motivations, which are not always conscious and which just happen on their own, I see myself really basking in harmony. I'm interested in trying to wring all of the harmonics from the piano that I possibly can, and with that in mind, any set of harmonics has a set of melodic fragments that are implied.”

Given that investigative impulse, Shipp himself could be viewed as the Codebreaker of the album’s evocative title. There’s a wry humor to the name, as Shipp imagines a parallel between a World War II secret agent doggedly racing to crack an enemy cypher and himself sitting at the piano, puzzling over the music’s infinite enigmas. But the idea seems profoundly serious when considering the singular sonic vernacular he’s coined, making him one of the most distinctive pianists of his generation.

Shipp concedes that his recent landmark birthday may have something to do with the more introspective bent of the new album (“60’s not old, but it's definitely not young,” he jokes), but it also continues a career-long investigation into the ways that his subversive approach to the piano connects with the instrument’s storied lineage. While the likes of Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra have been constant touchstones in critical writings on his work, one name that emerges when listening to Codebreaker, perhaps for the first time in Shipp’s discography, is that of Bill Evans.

“It's very abstract and I don't know if listeners will hear it, but I hear a line in my playing that's trying to get into the trajectory that links Bud Powell's piano playing to Bill Evans,” Shipp says. “That's not a line you usually draw, but essentially Bill Evans is a Bud Powell-influenced pianist. All people who push notes down on the piano share a language, even though they’re all extremely different. I’m trying to dip into that collective mind, but at the same time it's filtered through me and is distinctly my thing. So it’s playing with the dichotomy between the universal and the personal in the context of this pyramid where Bud Powell, Bill Evans and, myself somehow, fit together in a modern way.”

by Glen Tollington

1. Codebreaker 04:40

2. Spiderweb 05:12

3. Disc 03:43

4. Code Swing 04:47

5. Letter From the Galaxy 04:56

6. Green Man 03:40

7. Raygun 04:02

8. Suspended 02:19

9. Mystic Motion 03:49

10. Stomp To the Galaxy 03:45

11. The Tunnel 03:27

Matthew Shipp: piano

PREORDER

William Parker - Mayan Space Station (2021 Aum Fidelity)

Following on the monumental Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World box set earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker will release an astonishing Pair of brand new trio albums which further expound on his profound and limitless vision: Mayan Space Station -&- Painters Winter. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, Parker continues to raise the bar higher. As ever, AUM Fidelity is deeply honored & incredibly stoked (!) to present this work to you.

= Noting Here Again that there are strictly limited one-time-press LP editions of both new albums that we have on hand now! Please go to the AUM Fidelity site direct to grip those =

Mayan Space Station is William's first electric guitar trio album. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. This is cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel.

William Parker first worked with Ms. 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 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 fictional reality that is important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver, 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.” 

1. Tabasco 05:39

2. Rocas Rojas 06:43

3. Domingo 07:09

4. Mayan Space Station 14:42

5. Canyons of Light 10:05

6. The Wall Tumbles Down 13:50

William Parker: bass, compositions

Ava Mendoza: electric guitar

Gerald Cleaver: drums

Pre-order

William Parker - Painters Winter (2021 Aum Fidelity)

Following on the monumental Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World box set earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker will release an astonishing Pair of brand new trio albums which further expound on his profound and limitless vision: Painters Winter -&- Mayan Space Station. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, Parker continues to raise the bar higher. As ever, AUM Fidelity is deeply honored & incredibly stoked (!) to present this work to you.

= Noting Here Again that there are strictly limited one-time-press LP editions of both new albums that we have on hand now! Please go to the AUM Fidelity site direct to grip those =

Painters Winter features the reconvened trio communion of Daniel Carter, William Parker , and Hamid Drake. 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 recently 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 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 as well.

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.." 

1. Groove 77 12:21

2. Painters Winter 08:25

3. Happiness 12:36

4. Painted Scarf 10:49

5. A Curley Russell 15:33

William Parker: bass, trombonium, shakuhachi, compositions

Daniel Carter: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute

Hamid Drake: drums

Pre-order

James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (May 7, 2021 Tao Forms / Aum Fidelity)

TAO Forms is =very= excited to [soon!] present the entirety of this astonishing new work from the fertile creative mind of tenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis. Performed by the Red Lily Quintet, an exceptional & singular inter-generational ensemble, this album speaks to the forever-evolving continuum of the jazz tradition.

Voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist in the 2020 DownBeat Magazine International Critic’s Poll, James Brandon Lewis supercharges his remarkable evolution with Jesup Wagon, a brilliant and evocative appreciation of the life and legacy of turn-of-the-19th century African-American renaissance man George Washington Carver. The album – to be released on May 7, 2021 – consists of seven pieces that create a portrait of stunning clarity and depth.

There is so much special about this recording, James’ 9th, starting with [on the way in] the lavish artwork, including a reproduction on the cover of Carver’s own tantalizing drawing of the Jesup Agricultural Wagon, which is shown in a photograph on the back cover, rendering a dialogue of representation and abstraction that Lewis models in the music. And while liner notes are generally more relied upon than celebrated, Jesup Wagon’s are delivered by the great UCLA American historian Robin D.G. Kelley, who in 2009 released the definitive Thelonious Monk biography 'Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original'. His notes, printed lovingly on an ochre background, contain much historical detail about Carver, particularly as they relate to the tunes. The fact that Kelley was willing to write them tells you something about the power of the music on the album, which Kelley calls “a revelation.”

If “revelation” is a word commonly used to describe master saxophonists like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Dewey Redman, then it fits easily in the horn of James Brandon Lewis, who is a keen student of those and many other elders. But while boundless energy characterizes his playing, it is also grounded by a deep sense of narrative, which is why he is attracted to histories, like Carver’s, or to theories like his own Molecular Systematic Music, used on his superb previous 2020 Intakt album, 'Molecular', or to artistic genres such as surrealism, modeled by Lewis on the stunning 'An UnRuly Manifesto' from 2019.

Helping James get it all out on Jesup Wagon is the Red Lily Quintet, anchored by the tectonic rhythm section of bassist William Parker and drummer Chad Taylor, and rounded out by cornetist Kirk Knuffke and cellist Chris Hoffman. Parker, who James says “has looked out for me ever since I arrived in New York City,” is a genius of the stand-up bass who performed with grand-master Cecil Taylor for 11 years straight. He is also a renaissance man in his own right. Chad Taylor, “one of the most melodic drummers I’ve ever played with,” James says, is a Chicagoan who has gifted to New York some of the energy and drama the windy city is known for. Kirk Knuffke is one of New York’s rare cornet players, using that instrument’s impish tone to explosive effect on dozens of records by New York jazz heavies. Chris Hoffman made his bones playing Henry Threadgill’s demanding music in a few of the great alto saxophonist’s bands, and has worked with artists as diverse as Yoko Ono, Marc Ribot and Marianne Faithful.

James grew up in Buffalo, which he calls a “groove town” of “hard workers” like Grover Washington Jr., Charles Gayle, Rick James, and Ani DiFranco, among them. Starting out on clarinet when he was 9, James moved to alto sax at 12 then tenor at 15. He attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he studied jazz fundamentals, then enrolled at Cal Arts in Southern California, working with greats like Wadada Leo Smith, Charlie Haden, and Joe LaBarbara. Notching his MFA there, he did a residency at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music where he worked with trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Angelica Sanchez and saxophonist Tony Malaby, among others. It was in Banff where he dove into the world of free jazz, continuing in that vein at an Atlantic Center for the Arts residency led by iconic New York City pianist Matthew Shipp.

Shipp and a few others lured him to New York City in 2012, where he quickly fell in with the cutting-edge artists, including drummer Gerald Cleaver and William Parker, that populate the jazz scene there. His second album, 'Divine Travels', released in 2014, featured the latter two musicians. Two albums he made in duets with Chad Taylor – 'Radiant Imprints' (2018) and 'Live in Willisau' (2020) – demonstrated that James had no hesitation dancing on the same wild turf that John Coltrane entered with his latter-day records featuring Rashied Ali on drums, although James says the inspiration was more Dewey Redman and Ed Blackwell’s duet, 'Red and Black in Willisau', recorded live in 1980. “Chad and I bonded over that one,” James says. Either way, it’s heady company.

Lewis also has an affinity for the spoken word, demonstrated on Jesup Wagon by a few timely placed short recitations. “Music is enough. But the older I get it’s important for me to have the listener hear my speaking voice,” he says. “Makes it more organic. I like to tell a story with an album.”

Poetry is just one of Lewis’ many obsessions, which also include painting, hip-hop and philosophy. “All of the people I admire have that kind of depth,” Lewis says. “William Parker, Oliver Lake, Yusef Lateef, all these amazing artists. George Washington Carver was a musician, a painter, a prolific writer, in addition to what most people know about him. Having a broad range just makes the cast iron skillet more seasoned.”

And now, in our pandemic era, James soon delivers Jesup Wagon, essentially a collection of tone poems – or, as Duke Ellington might have called them, “tone parallels” – Duke being the instigator of this type of programmatic jazz.

Poetry in music is what we get in this new masterpiece from James Brandon Lewis, who may well be crowned a master himself in the not-too-far future.

1. Jesup Wagon

2. Lowlands of Sorrow

3. Arachis

4. Fallen Flowers

5. Experiment Station

6. Seer

7. Chemurgy 09:52

James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone, composition

Kirk Knuffke: cornet

William Parker: bass, gimbri (on tracks 2 & 7)

Chris Hoffman: cello

Chad Taylor: drums, mbira (on track 6)

Pre-order

Ivo Perelman Trio - Garden Of Jewels (Tao Forms / Aum Fidelity 2021)

A rather exquisite new communion between these three master improvisers.

One of the most exhilarating qualities shared by great improvising musicians is the ability to bring one’s immediate situation – the joys, sorrows, fears and desires of the day – into each unique performance. What made this most recent convening of the Ivo Perelman Trio so singular was the fact that not only were all three musicians – prolific saxophonist Ivo Perelman, pianist Matthew Shipp, and drummer Whit Dickey – immersed in the same present-day miasma, so was every potential listener, wherever they might be.

Garden of Jewels was recorded in June 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the globe. On the day that these three longtime collaborators warily (and safely) entered the studio for the first time since the virus forced us indoors, the un-precedented circumstances provided the trio a profoundly urgent source of inspiration. At the same time, the country was in the midst of a series of turbulent protests that added an additional layer of vitality to the proceedings.

“There was so much creative tension in the air,” Perelman recalls. “It was the first time that I came out of hibernation in my Brooklyn apartment, where I’d been focused on playing the saxophone for many, many hours every day while listening to sirens outside and wondering what life was about. Matt, Whit and I came together and cathartically created music out of all this mess.”

While Garden of Jewels is only the second time that Perelman, Shipp and Dickey have recorded as a trio – the first, Butterfly Whispers, was released in 2015 – all three share a long and rich history. Shipp and Dickey, of course, worked together as integral members of the David S. Ware Quartet & in Shipp’s own Trio, while the pianist and Perelman have spent the last decade creating one of the most well-documented partnerships in improvised music history.

The trio entered the studio without having discussed what might transpire at the session – the eight tracks that resulted provide vivid evidence of the band’s deft spontaneity, kaleidoscopic versatility and deeply felt camaraderie. It’s also the latest glimpse of the ongoing evolution of their collective identity. “We’re like scientists dealing with sound,” Perelman says with a chuckle. “Each recording is a means to check our development.”

Also of note here is Perelman's revived interest in jewelry-making, which Perelman initially took up 20 years ago and resumed shortly before the pandemic. One example of his recent work graces the cover of Garden of Jewels. In addition to suggesting its title, the graceful, elegant piece seems to materialize the fluid swoops and whorls of Perelman’s tenor sax lines into golden arabesques.

These pursuits not only provide an outlet for Perelman’s indefatigable creativity, but a source of light amidst the darkness of the present era. That balance is one that Perelman says the trio felt that June day in New York, and one whose energy pervaded beyond the studio walls.

“There was a dark energy surrounding all of us, counterbalanced by the sheer power of creation. We had to become an antenna to capture the angst and anxiety of the times and transform it into art and catharsis. There was a social function to that music, not just for us but for anyone who might hear it one day. I left the studio with a new soul.”

1. Garden of Jewels 06:09

2. Tourmaline 04:51

3. Amethyst 06:51

4. Onyx 07:12

5. Turquoise 07:20

6. Emerald 06:48

7. Sapphire 06:20

8. Diamond 05:25

Ivo Perelman: tenor saxophone

Matthew Shipp: piano

Whit Dickey: drums

Pre-order

William Parker: Flower In a Stained​-​Glass Window & The Blinking of The Ear (AUM Fidelity November 9, 2018)

This special edition release is comprised of two =brand new= full-length albums, distinct in personnel & approach, yet complementary in ethos. William Parker is / 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 triple-album 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 Curtis Mayfield projects. This is her first work together with Parker since 2012, and it is a 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.." 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 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! 

CDs packaged in a very limited edition deluxe 8-panel digipak, with liner notes by William Parker. 

CD 1

1. Fallen Flower

2. Gone

3. Emmett Till

4. Broken Earth

5. I Had a Dream Last Night

6. Flag

7. Give Me Back My Drum

8. Living Hope

9. Children

10. What Is That About?

11. Music Song

12. Samba

CD 2

13. Meditation on Freedom

14. Without Love Everything Will Fail

15. Dark Remembrance

16. Heavenly Home Meditation on Peace (Part One)

17. Heavenly Home Meditation on Peace (Part Two)

[CENTERING 1018/1019]

"Flower In a Stained-Glass Window" [1–12]

Leena Conquest: vocals

William Parker: bass, drum set (on 12)

Steve Swell: trombone

Abraham Mennen: tenor sax

Isaiah Parker: piano

Kesivan Naidoo: drums

Dave Sewelson: alto sax (on 3, 7, 9)

Nick Lyons: alto sax (on 3, 7, 9)

"The Blinking of The Ear" [13–17]

Daniel Carter: trumpet, tenor, alto & soprano sax

Steve Swell: trombone

Eri Yamamoto: piano

William Parker: bass

Leonid Galaganov: drums

AnnMarie Sandy: mezzo soprano

William Parker - Voices Fall From The Sky (AUM Fidelity 2018)

[CENTERING 1015/1016/1017] 

A treasure box abounding with gems, Voices Fall From The Sky is an expansive 3 Album / 3CD Box Set comprising three distinct and complementary albums whose focus is on the voice: ~the singers~ & the songs, all composed (music & lyrics) by William Parker. 17 singular & potent voices are featured herein; accompaniment ranges throughout, from duo to large ensemble. 

tracks 1–11 = Voices Fall From The Sky (Album/CD 1) 
tracks 12–25 = Songs (Album/CD 2) 
tracks 26–34 = Essence (Album/CD 3) 

First release for each of the albums are within this compendium. 
Over half of this work are brand new recordings made during December 2017–January 2018; the balance is drawn from various sources, some long (20 years!) unavailable and others presented in new form; all personally selected & sequenced by William Parker, and released on his own Centering Records imprint (dist. by AUM Fidelity).

A multitude of approaches are in evidence: art song to operatic, pop to gospel, 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 here makes them that much more salient. 

Parker has been working with singers since first embarking on his distinguished path in the early 1970s. His creations featuring voice & song which have found greatest renown to date have been with the groups/projects, Raining On The Moon [ “In suggesting an alternate past, where Nina Simone jammed with John Coltrane, Parker finds another future.” –The Sunday Times } and The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield [ “A superb example of how a pop songbook can be transformed .. a fierce and awesome display of musical prowess .. among the broadest, deepest and richest listens of this year (or any).” –JazzTimes ] And, from a full-page featured review in The Wire of Parker’s most recent release in this form, Stan’s Hat Flapping in the Wind: “Through these songs, love rains down.” 

Here Now, June 2018 >>> 

Album 1, also entitled Voices Fall From The Sky, features all-new work (except the opening invocation) recorded & mixed during Winter 2017/2018. It features the widest range of voices & accompaniment. [Singers]: Timna Comedi • Morley Shanti Kamen • Amirtha Kidambi • Kyoko Kitamura • Bernardo Palombo • Omar Payano • Jean Carla Rodea • Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez • Fay Victor • Andrea Wolper [With 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 2 – Songs, is wholly comprised of duets (except the first track ;-), 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 almost 20 years :: are here re-contextualized with more recent work featuring Leena Conquest (and one each feat. Ernie Odoom & Mola Sylla) [Accompanists]: Yuko Fujiyama • Cooper-Moore • William Parker • Eri Yamamoto 

Album 3 – Essence, presents voices within large ensemble & 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, with accompaniment by four very different versions of the William Parker Orchestra, and his Double Quartet. The new suite features Eri Yamamoto: piano and Leonid Galaganov: drums, although how they and AnnMarie Sandy fill the silence is practically orchestral. 

3CD Box Set is in a strictly limited Edition of 1000 – a truly gorgeous item with heft to match the musical content. 

Full art & liner notes / song annotation / lyrics are included as a PDF with Digital Album purchase.

1. Espirito (feat. Omar Payano) 01:14

2. Airlift (feat. Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez) 02:05

3. Bouquet for Borah (feat. Andrea Wolper) 12:26

4. City of Flowers (feat. Andrea Wolper) 06:02

5. Despues de la Guerra (feat. Bernardo Palombo & Jean Carla Rodea) 06:14

6. Small Lobby (feat. Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez) 03:26

7. So, Important (feat. Kyoko Kitamura) 06:20

8. We Often Danced (feat. Fay Victor) 14:28

9. Voices Fall from the Sky (feat. Amirtha Kidambi) 06:43

10. Revolution (feat. Timna Comedi) 05:39

11. A Tree Called Poem (feat. Morley Shanti Kamen) 08:27

12. All I Want (feat. Ernie Odoom) 02:18

13. Baldwin's Interlude (feat. Ellen Christi) 02:51

14. For Julius Eastman (feat. Lisa Sokolov) 03:05

15. Aborigine Song (feat. Lisa Sokolov) 02:05

16. Life Song (feat. Ellen Christi) 04:16

17. Band in the Sky (feat. Lisa Sokolov) 06:03

18. Sweet Breeze (feat. Leena Conquest) 05:06

19. Morning Moon (feat. Lisa Sokolov) 06:08

20. A Thought for Silence (feat. Ellen Christi) 03:12

21. Poem for June Jordan (feat. Leena Conquest) 03:02

22. Autumn Song (feat. Lisa Sokolov) 02:01

23. Falling Shadows (feat. Ellen Christi) 08:24

24. Tour of the Flying Poem (feat. Mola Sylla) 05:52

25. Prayer (feat. Leena Conquest) 03:54

26. The Essence of Ellington (feat. Ernie Odoom) 07:11

27. Lights of Lake George (feat. Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay) 04:37

28. For Fannie Lou Hamer (feat. Leena Conquest) 11:56

29. Deep Flower (feat. Ernie Odoom) 08:23

30. The Blinking of the Ear part 1: Meditation on Freedom (feat. AnnMarie Sandy) 04:57

31. The Blinking of the Ear part 2: Without Love Everything Will Fail (feat. AnnMarie Sandy) 03:42

32. The Blinking of the Ear part 3: Dark Remembrance (feat. AnnMarie Sandy) 07:01

33. The Blinking of the Ear part 4: Heavenly Home Meditation on Peace (feat. AnnMarie Sandy) 14:12

34. Natasha's Theme (feat. Leena Conquest) 02:04

All compositions by William Parker, © Centering Music

Produced by William Parker

New material recorded & mixed by

total material mastered by Jim Clouse

at Park West Studios, Brooklyn

Daniel Carter / William Parker / Matthew Shipp - Seraphic Light (AUM Fidelity 2018)

Seraphic Light is an exemplary long-form work of collective creative improvisation, performed by three masters of this high art. It was recorded live in the performance hall of Tufts University (Boston) in April 2017. These three men each possess a complete & total devotion to the music. On this very rare trio meeting they manifest a meditative resonance, replete with lyrical & poetic exploration, throughout a sublime set. 

This concert was the culmination of an event entitled “Art, Race, and Politics in America.” First was a screening of the 1959 documentary film, The Cry of Jazz. The film asserts “jazz is the Negro’s cry of joy and suffering” and “the Negro is [white America’s] conscience...if they have a conscience.” These bold and timely ideas pushed forward the second portion of the program, a discussion / Q&A with Carter, Parker, and Shipp. For 45 free-flowing minutes, these three men spoke truths, told stories, floated ideas, countered assertions, listened to questions, gave advice, told jokes, and laughed together. Having already established an honest and direct bond with the audience, they then seamlessly shifted their discussion to the musical dialogue presented here. 

While William Parker and Matthew Shipp are each deservedly world-renowned as players–improvisers–composers due to their extensive recording and performance work as leaders, the exceptionally gifted Daniel Carter remains an underground figure on the world stage; even relatively so within New York City where he has been ceaselessly active since the mid 70s. He is a masterful player of deep lyricism and passion; in possession of gorgeous tone across a full range of wind instruments: each of the three principal saxophones, trumpet, flute and clarinet. Seraphic Light showcases him on all of these. 

Carter has long subsumed his voluminous gifts to the service of the project or performance at hand; tellingly, every group of which he has been a member has been a collective. He first came to AUM Fidelity label head Steven Joerg’s attention as a part of the seminal group Other Dimensions In Music (w/ Parker, Rashid Bakr, and the late Roy Campbell, deeply missed). Among the greatest fully-improvising bands in jazz history, ODIM were a most welcome & heralded presence on NYC stages throughout the 90s and into the 2000s. One of AUM’s first signings, their album, Now! aumfidelity.bandcamp.com/album/now , was made in 1997, the label’s heady year of birth. 

As Daniel Carter has recently entered his 7th decade, having spent well over 50 years being fully devoted to the music, it is hoped that this brand new recording – in the company of well-esteemed peers – will go some measure to increase recognition of the gifts he has long offered.

More info...

1. Seraphic Light part I 21:27

2. Seraphic Light part II 20:53

3. Seraphic Light part III 13:06

Daniel Carter: flute, trumpet, tenor, alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet 

William Parker: bass 

Matthew Shipp: piano

William Parker Quartets - Meditation / Resurrection (AUM FIDELITY 2017) 2CD

Meditation / Resurrection is a double-album presenting a bounty of beautiful new William Parker compositions performed by two of his flagship ensembles, the Quartet [tracks 1–7] -&- In Order To Survive [tracks 8–12]. It was recorded & mixed live during a one-day studio session in late 2016. With the tone of the pieces & performances reflecting our current moment, this is Parker & the groups’ follow-up to 2013’s monumental Wood Flute Songs box set (coming to bandcamp later in 2017!). 

At the core of both groups is Parker’s foundational bass together with rhythm twin, the incomparable Hamid Drake. Their partnership–two decades deep now–is one of the great rhythm sections in recorded history. Alto saxophonist Rob Brown is likewise featured throughout. Brown is one of the all-time great improvisers on the alto, and the springboard of Parker’s bands in which he has been perennially featured always brings out his best. 

Pianist Cooper-Moore features on album 2. He has been a very significant catalyst in the world of creative music for over 40 years. As William writes in the album notes, “Cooper-Moore is one of the special people who speaks and plays from the heart all the time with power and grace.” Cooper-Moore was the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 2017 edition of the Vision Festival, NYC. 

Trumpeter Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson appears on album 1. Hailing from Oklahoma City, and a resident of Switzerland since 1994, he is a major figure in his own right as a composer of modern classical and world music, and is well-versed in the language of blues, jazz and improvisation. From the liner notes, “Jalalu is always able to transform any music situation into a magical experience.” 

William Parker’s exceptional gift as a composer of beautiful melodies and infectious rhythms have long been intrinsic to his art, and it has always been on full display in the work of the quartets featured here. Being that these groups are among the highest caliber jazz bands of our time, Parker’s luminous compositions are brought to vibrant, ever-giving blossom. 

2CD set is packaged in deluxe 8-panel digipak with extensive notes & new poetry by William Parker, and features artwork by Lois Eby. 

* Full art & notes included as PDF booklet with Digital Album.

Album One – William Parker Quartet

1 .Criminals in the White House .(5:28) 

2 .Leaves/Rain.(7:01)

3 .Horace Silver part 2 .(7:15)

4 .Handsome Lake. (10:03)

5 .Rodney's Resurrection. (10:06)

6 .Horace Silver part 1 .(4:44)

7 .Give Me Back My Drum .(11:29)

Album Two – In Order To Survive

1 .Sunrise In East Harlem. (11:26) 

2 .Some Lake Oliver .(11:48)

3 .Things Falling Apart .(18:02)

4 .Urban Disruption. (12:05)

5 .Orange Winter Flower .(12:50)

All compositions by William Parker;

published by Centering Music (BMI)

William Parker: bass

Hamid Drake: drums

Rob Brown: alto saxophone

Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson: trumpet (Album One/CD1)

Cooper-Moore: piano (Album Two/CD2) 

Produced by William Parker

Associate producer: Steven Joerg