William Hooker, Billy Bang

Silkheart Records is proud to announce the release of Joy (Within)!, a historic duo recording by drummer William Hooker and violinist Billy Bang. Two uncompromising innovators of the New York avant‑garde scene come together in a meeting of fire, vision, and raw spirit, captured at a moment of rare clarity and intensity.  

Forged in the legacy of free jazz but always reaching beyond it, Hooker and Bang find common ground in an unrelenting search for emotional truth. Hooker’s propulsive drumming drives not just rhythm but narrative, sculpting surges of texture and silence alike. Bang, with his fiercely lyrical and searing violin tone, answers in phrases that cut to the bone—sometimes tender, always fearless. Joy (Within)! is not a polite conversation; it is an invocation. The album radiates urgency, testimony, and deep communion between two artists who embody the energy of survival and freedom in sound. It is a spiritual exchange, grounded in lived experience yet aiming for transcendence.  

This session joins Silkheart’s tradition of documenting bold and searching voices in improvised music. With Joy (Within)!, listeners are offered a glimpse into the boundless creativity of two masters who never ceased taking risks, shaping the unruly beauty of sound into a vision of resilience and, ultimately, joy.