William Parker
William Parker, born in the Bronx in 1952, is an American double bassist, multi-instrumentalist, poet and composer, and for four decades a central figure of free jazz in New York. He came up in the loft scene of the 1970s, spent the 1980s in Cecil Taylor's groups, then anchored the David S. Ware Quartet and led his own Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra and In Order to Survive. His playing rests on a tradition of self-expression and experiment; his arco work, dense streaks of colour drawn from the harmonics of the instrument, is the most personal side of his idiom.
Vol. 1 Erie Live!
*2024 stock* Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Federico Ughi have been playing together since 2005, the year in which they recorded their first album The Dream. The band has performed regularly in the US and Europe ever since, gaining considerable success, with a 2010 European tour throughout Portugal, Spain, and Italy that resulted in the live album Navajo Sunrise (2012). In 2015 the trio started to rehearse with multi-instrumentalist Watson Jennison (Toronto, CA). As a quartet, the band toure…
Shine Hear Vol. 2
Building off of their debut album last year, legendary musicians and 577 mainstays reunite for a second volume. As in the first, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, pianist Leo Genovese, bassist William Parker (also playing Gralla and Shakuhachi on this album), and drummer and vocalist Francisco Mela, unite for another cosmic album. This project again draw from classic jazz arrangements, juxtaposed with a modern experimentalism and a huge range of instrumentation. Shine Hear, Vo…
Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 2
*2024 stock* Can music liberate us? Francisco Mela, who worked and partnered with the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner, believes so. On this album, the second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, Mela collaborates with pianist Cooper-Moore and bassist William Parker to build a 2-part extended track project of advanced dialogue between 3 of the genre's most important instruments. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, and perhaps best-known for playing in John Coltrane’s quartet, w…
Music Frees Our Souls Vol. 1
*2024 stock* Before any instrumentation, Francisco Mela addresses his fellow musicians, pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker, with a sense of anticipation and affirmation, “Okay guys, ready? Rolling!” The sense of camaraderie and his artist-focused approach is heard throughout the album’s majestic improvisation—as well as in its inspiration, dedicated to Mela’s longtime musical partner, the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, an…
Pulsar
William Parker - double bassHugo Costa - alto saxophone Philipp Ernsting - drums
Recorded at Codarts, Rotterdam, October 11th, 2023 by Philipp ErnstingMixed and mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudiosCover art by Martynas IvinskasPhoto of Hugo Costa by Rui SilvaPhoto of William Parker by Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.netPhoto of Philipp Ernsting by Florian CramerDesign by Danas Mikailionis
Uncle Joe's Spirit House
LP - Strictly limited first-time/one-time-only Centering Records edition, 500 on black vinyl // Beautiful pressing & printing. Includes full-res download card with 3 additional tracks. A gorgeous soul-jazz organ quartet album that hearkens to early-mid 60s sessions of similar form; fully revitalized by William Parker's indelible compositions and the generous musical gifts of Darryl Foster, Cooper-Moore and Gerald Cleaver. A straight-up joy. This very special project was produced by William Parke…
Haze - Almanacco Di CUltura Di Sonora N.2 (Magazine)
*Italian Language Edition* Un libro/almanacco con cadenza quadrimestrale che raccoglie saggi, interviste, approfondimenti sulla ricerca sonora contemporanea per un concetto allargato di musica. Nel secondo volume: Fred Frith, Paolo Conte, William Parker, Erik Satie, Roberto Masotti, Stefano Scodanibbio, Toshio Hosokawa e altro ancora...
Cereal Music
LP – strictly limited one-time edition / 500. Jacket printed on reverse board, includes insert with full credits & liner notes by William, Ellen, and Steven. A beauty. Includes full-res download card/code of the total work (w/ 3 bonus tracks). Cereal Music is indeed William Parker’s first spoken word album – poetry and observations from a profound life devoted to the path of finding truth in beauty and speaking truth to power. Hard to believe this hasn't happened before! Parker’s words are furth…
Heart Trio
CD Edition. 6-panel digipak, printed on heavyweight stock reverse board. Per AUM standard, a beauty. Notes/poem by WP & photos on inners. Heart Trio features three lifelong-devoted fellow travelers on the path of healing through sound. World-renowned & revered bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, improvisor, community leader William Parker has performed and recorded extensively with both master pianist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, inveterate performer Cooper-Moore & master …
The Dream
2024 stock. That’s right, Carter plays piano on this date! It’s the first thing heard as this disc kicks immediately into definite but mature overdrive. It’s a blast to hear William Parker, bassist for Cecil Taylor’s much-lauded Feel Trio, free-walking under Carter’s percussive attacks, certainly indebted to Taylor but even more pointalistic. The case is made on “Zero Softly”, a spare minimalist musing where notes hang in the air like galaxies only to fade beneath Federico Ughi’s carpet of brush…
Die Like a Dog (Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler)
Comes in a heavy gatedold sleeve and with printed innersleeves. Peter Brotzmann reflected: "The idea of expressing my love of and admiration for Albert Ayler - both man and music - in a musical statement is not new. We both tried to do similar or almost identical things at the same point in time, each independently and without knowing anything about each other - each of us within his own culture." This album was recorded in August 1993 during the Free Concerts series at Townhall Charlottenburg i…
Karen Borca, Rob Brown, William Parker, Reggie Workman, Todd Nicholson, Susie Ibarra, Newman Taylor-Baker
Good News Blues Karen Borca - bassoonRob Brown - alto saxophoneWilliam Parker - bassReggie Workman - bassTodd Nicholson - bassPaul Murphy - drumsSusie Ibarra - drumsNewman Taylor-Baker - drums
Track 1-3 recorded May 25, 1998 at the 3rd annual Vision Festival, Angel Orensanz Centre, NYCTrack 4 recorded June 19, 2005 at Vision Festival X, Angel Orensanz Centre, NYCTracks 1-3 recorded and mixed by Alen Hadži-StefanovTrack 4 remastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios, Vilnius, LithuaniaPhotos by Peter Gannushkin / D…
Webo
** Deluxe 3LP set, housed in heavy tip-on box with pigment ink foil stamping, mounted film laminated cover painting by Jeff Schlanger, three printed inner sleeves with original notes by William Parker and Alan Licht, original concert flyer re-print and a five photograph portfolio in black envelope ** A legendary concert by one of the great unrecorded bands in free jazz history is here at last. WEBO, the third installment in the Black Editions Archive series of previously unreleased recordings fr…
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3
Leo Genovese - Piano, saxWilliam Parker - BassFrancisco Mela - Drums
Recorded November 13, 2020 by Jeremy Loucas at Douglass Recording, Brooklyn, New YorkAssistant engineer: Juanma TrujilloMixed and mastered by Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound, New York City
Black Man's Blues
Violinist Billy Bang made his recording debut as a leader with the Survival Ensemble, the first working band he ever led, on New York Collage in 1979. Bang, saxophonists Bilal Abdur Rahman and Henry Warner, bassist William Parker, and percussionists Rashid Bakr and Khuwana John Fuller played incendiary free jazz more clearly indebted to the New York avant-garde of the preceding decade than any album Bang would record again. The music’s urgency and passion arose from the exhilaration of artistic …
Visitation Of Spirits
Live performance of The Pyramid Trio, Roy Campbell on trumpet and flute, William Parker on bass and Zen Matsuura on drums. Recorded 21 February 1985 at The Joint, Usdan Student Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.
Special thanks to Roy’s sister Valerie Morris, who told us, “Roy spoke to me in a dream years ago and said, “It's all about the music.”
O Life, O Light Vol. 2
New York-based Zoh Amba first cultivated her musical passion in the lush forests of the Appalachian mountains, playing to the woods around her home, before she studied at classical conservatories. Her music honors her roots, full of folk melodies, mesmerizing refrains, repeated incantations and powerfully-executed Free Jazz. Her sound is courageous and bold, soaring from muted hums to squeaky trebles, producing a confident sound imbued with an innate spirituality. On this project, Zoh Amba is jo…
Shine Hear (Vol. 1)
Collaborations are unique to their combinations, producing totally original and innovative ideas with the addition of a single factor. In this case, legendary musicians and 577 mainstays join together in this unique arrangement for the first time, allowing for yet another reinvention. Saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, pianist Leo Genovese, bassist William Parker (also playing Gralla and Shakuhachi on this album), and drummer and vocalist Francisco Mela, unite for another impro…
Meditation / Resurrection
*2023 repress* "Meditation / Resurrection is a double-album presenting a bounty of beautiful new William Parker compositions performed by two of his flagship ensembles, the Quartet -&- In Order To Survive. 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 epic Wood Flute Songs box (2013). At the core of both groups is Parker's foundational bass toget…
No Joke!
ESP is proud to present a new William Parker album in collaboration with his wife Patricia Nicholson. No Joke! is unapologetically political, facing down injustice and inequality and other “in”s with artistic integrity and “outside” music.