William Parker

Featuring: William Parker Quartet

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 Parker for his own Centering Records imprint, and dedicated to his Aunt Carrie Lee & Uncle Joe (pictured on album cover). It was created to celebrate the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary on August 6th, 2010. William really wanted to get this album finished in time to gift to them for that auspicious date, and he did! He wrote seven of the songs in Dec 2009 toward the Jan 2010 recording session; "Ennio's Tag" and "Oasis" were previously written and they fit in perfectly.

The CD was officially released on Centering Records in October 2010.  Two pressings were made, and have long sold out. The special one-time only LP pressing was made in time for the family celebration / Organ Quartet performance which took place May 19, 2024 at An Die Musik in Baltimore.

"A family thing. And a lot more than that: one of the great bassist’s most joyful, sunshine-filled records. An album of very accessible creative jazz with irresistible grooves. A federating record. A gem."
–Monsieur Délire blog, François Couture

"Though mysticism and spirituality play a hand in his expansive aesthetic, so do earthly concerns like social justice and family. Uncle Joe's Spirit House is a deeply personal offering from a musician whose role as a scene leader and social activist is as significant as his instrumental prowess." –All About Jazz, Troy Collins

"The music flows like a deep and powerful river."
–Music and More, Tim Niland

"For a guy who’s rightly regarded as a load-bearing column holding up much of the New York avant-jazz scene, bassist William Parker records some remarkably mainstream-friendly albums. Don’t let this disc pass you by. It’s emotional, hard-grooving, occasionally abstract but often raw and bluesy music that shakes hands with the past before striding confidently into the future."
–Burning Ambulance, Phil Freeman