William Parker

Do you remember the film The Thomas Crowne Affair? The original—not the 1999 remake—starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and contained the 1968 Academy Award-winning song "Windmills of Your Mind" by Dusty Springfield. I bring that up because this live performance by Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Matthew Shipp brings to mind the lyrics: "Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel / Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel / As the images unwind, like the circles that you find / In the windmills of your mind."

The unfortunate impetus for the album To Roy, was the sudden, tragic and untimely death on Jan. 9th, 2014 of trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr. at age 61, leading to a recording session a mere five days later marking the first-ever studio collaboration between these two crucially important pioneers of ecstatic jazz, two great American musicians and two masters of composition and improvisation saxophonist Oliver Lake and double bassist William Parker.

Great Spirit again makes abundantly clear William Parker's multi-faceted talents as bassist, composer, poet, bandleader and songwriter. Raining On The Moon is the extraordinary group which seamlessly fuses all of these prodigious gifts: his long-standing Quartet with Hamid Drake, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes is here exquisitely augmented by singer Leena Conquest breathing further compassion & dignity into William's lyrics, and pianist Eri Yamamoto for expert chordal support.

Trencadís is a 10 track advance selection [1 track from each Album] from William Parker's forthcoming 10 CD/Album Box Set entitled, Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World. This collection and the whole box set are comprised of all new William Parker productions/compositions created with a beautifully wide range of well-tuned collaborators. The albums were all made at Park West Studios in Brooklyn, NY throughout the last year+ ; the final session took place in February 2020 a few weeks before the lockdown began. Centering Music, Universal Tonality & access to The Tone World are in abundance.

How do you welcome adventure? Longtime comrades, legendary Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver investigated this in their first album, Welcome Adventure, Vol. 1, resulting in 577 Records’ best-selling release in the 20 years we’ve been operating. Now, the group is trying the question again with their second astonishing volume, taken from the same historical recording session.

Boasting a rich, full-bodied sound, this release finds tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman with drummer Rashid Ali and bassist William Parker on a set of ten originals. Perelman is a powerfully free spirit whose focused performances energize, propel, and invigorate. He is best when he hooks onto a melody and thrashes it, making it his own, or when he exults in the richness of his sound. Ali and Parker are good partners for Perelman, each knowing well the music of ecstasy. Ali, of course, backed John Coltrane in his later period, and Parker is at the forefront of the new avant-garde. Sad Life is dedicated to Perelman's father, though the music displayed on this disc is rarely sad. It expresses a range of emotions, but rarely lessens its intensity. Perelman may squawk through his mouthpiece on "Sad Life," or sport advanced techniques on "Life Forms," or even add a march-like gait on "Alagoana." Whatever Perelman blows is done with passion, and there is plenty of that throughout this CD.

Currently in the midst of an unprecedented mid-career renaissance, wildly prolific tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman has been recording for Leo Records at a frantic pace, typically issuing several new albums at a time. Released concurrently with The Edge and The Art of the Duet, Volume One is Serendipity, a title that bears out its namesake. Taped in the winter of 2011 during what was originally intended to be the session for The Foreign Legion, a bass-less trio date with Perelman's regular collaborators pianist Matthew Shipp and drummer Gerald Cleaver, this unplanned quartet effort with legendary bassist William Parker is a truly serendipitous affair.

Are you ready for magic? The master musicians Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver will provide access with this album, the first they have released after playing together for decades. Daniel Carter has been collaborating with William Parker since the early 70s and with Matthew Shipp starting in the mid 80s. This trio has played together on many recordings but by adding legendary drummer Gerald Cleaver to the mix they have created a masterpiece combination; a supergroup of sorts. This all-star project is presented in two parts/LPs. This is the first volume - with volume two scheduled to be published in the near future. Listen to Welcome Adventure! and experience the mystical journey of these masterful artists as they guide you through the realm of magic.

Gerald Cleaver, William Parker, and Craig Taborn – *Farmers by Nature* (2009) is a fully improvised avant-garde jazz trio album released on the AUM Fidelity label. The group—drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist William Parker, and pianist Craig Taborn—explores deep, spontaneous interplay across extended compositions that blur the lines between structure and freedom.
The music is atmospheric, textural, and often intense, showcasing each musician’s sensitivity, listening skills, and command of dynamic range. *Farmers by Nature* is a highly regarded recording in modern creative jazz, offering a rich and unpredictable journey through collective improvisation.