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William Parker
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his peers and the youth. In 2013, Parker received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in recognition of his influence and impact on the creative jazz scene over the last 40 years.
William entered the music scene in 1971, playing at Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Hilly’s on The Bowery, and The Baby Grand. By the age of 20, Parker quickly became a highly sought after bassist, playing with established musicians such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, and Sunny Murray. Projects with dancer and choreographer Patricia Nicholson have created a huge repertoire of composed music for multiple ensembles ranging from solo works to big band projects. In 1980, he became a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit, in which he played a prominent role for over a decade.
Since the beginning of his career, William Parker has commanded a unique degree of respect from his fellow musicians and critics alike. In 1995, the Village Voice characterized William Parker as "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time." In addition to his work with artists in the United States, he has developed a strong relationship with musicians in the European Improvised Music scene such as Peter Kowald, Peter Brotzmann, Han Bennink, Tony Oxley, Derek Bailey, John Tchicai, Louis Sclavis, and Louis Moholo.
William Parker began recording in 1994 and founded the ensembles In Order To Survive and The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra. In 2001, he released O’Neal’s Porch, which marked a turn toward a more universal sound working with drummer Hamid Drake. The Raining on the Moon Quintet followed, adding vocalist Leena Conquest and the Quartet from O’Neal’s Porch. Most notable among many recent projects is the Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield.
As Steve Greenlee of the Boston Globe stated in July 2002, “William Parker has emerged as the most important leader of the current avant-garde scene in jazz.” Parker has consistently worked in many of the most important groups within this genre, including his own. He currently leads The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan’s Hat Flapping in the Wind, and The Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore.
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read moreJazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his ...
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William Parker Biography Celebration With Joe McPhee And Cisco Bradley
Source:
James Keepnews
Elysium Furnace Works is proud to present bassist, composer, bandleader and a signal figure in creative music worldwide, William Parker, as part of a celebration of the recent publication of his long-overdue biography, Universal Tonality—The Life and Music of William Parker. Written by Pratt Institute professor Cisco Bradley and published by Duke University Press, this biography has already been acclaimed as a major contribution to jazz scholarship and the sociocultural history of downtown jny: New York City. This event—co-sponsored by ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances, and helped shaped the jazz scene for both his ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
William Parker is a musician, improviser, composer, educator, and author. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni and gembri. Born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, he studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, Jimmy Garrison, and Paul West. During Parker’s prolific career, he has recorded over 150 albums, had countless celebrated stage appearances... Read more.
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Esperanza Spalding and William Parker Perform At Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala On November 3 At Lehman College
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala with Esperanza Spalding on November 3 at Lehman College Lehman Stages/Lovinger Theatre 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West Bronx, NY 10468 “Magic...pure imagination and also incredibly tactile." —NPR Music Mind-Builders 40th Anniversary Gala at Lehman College celebrate the 40th anniversary of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center at Lovinger Theater at our first ever Gala event. 5:30 PM: VIP Reception includes Meet The Artists 7:00 PM: Performances with Audience/Artist Q&A Performances by special celebrity guests/honorees ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: William Parker
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating William Parker's birthday today!
As Steve Greenlee of the Boston Globe stated in July 2002, “William Parker has emerged as the most important leader of the current avant-garde scene in jazz.” He is working in many of the more important groups in this genre, some of the most prestigious being his own, i.e. The Curtis Mayfield Project, Little Huey Creative Orchestra, In Order to Survive, William Parker’s Quartet and other groups. Mr... Read more.
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William Parker Quartet & In Order To Survive Double-Album To Be Released June 23 On AUM Fidelity
Source:
Steven Joerg
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. This is Parker & the groups’ followup release to 2013’s epic Wood Flute Songs box set. At the core of both groups is Parker’s foundational bass together with rhythm twin, the incomparable Hamid Drake. Their partnership–two decades deep ...
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Jazz At Atlas Debuts In Newburgh, NY With William Parker And Evidence Of Everlasting Beauty on May 20 At 8pm
Source:
James Keepnews
“William Parker is something of a father figure.” —Larry Blumenfeld, New York Times “One of the 50 Greatest New York Musicians of All Time” —Time Out New York Launching a new series of music and cultural discourse at the Atlas Industries building in Newburgh, NY, Jazz at Atlas is proud to present the legendary bassist, composer and bandleader William Parker and the ensemble Evidence Of Everlasting Beauty. The band features Cooper-Moore on piano, Daniel Carter on reeds, trumpet and flute, ...
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Art Davis
bass, acoustic
Richard Davis
bass, acoustic
Milt Hinton
bass, acoustic
Wilbur Ware
bass, acoustic
Paul West
piano
Photos
Music
Excerpt from Cosmic Canticles
From: For Those Who Cross The SeasBy William Parker
Titan vs. Sphinx
From: Destiny CallingBy William Parker
In The Garden
From: SparksBy William Parker
Blues for Cecil No. 2
From: 2 Blues for CecilBy William Parker
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William Parker
Location: New York City
Instrument: Bass
Born: January 10, 1952
Publicist: Fully Altered Media
