34 December 2012 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Bassist William Parker’s Centering (Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987) portrays an alternate universe to the New York City Loft Scene as documented by the Wildflowers boxed released on CD about a decade ago. The musicians featured on that set - Sam Rivers, Henry Threadgill, Julius Hemphill, Anthony Braxton, et al - were relative stars in the free jazz firmament, however marginal the category. The players featured on these recordings, however, had been marginalized even further, yet somehow managed to keep body and soul together without means of support - visible or otherwise. From Parker’s inability to pay his bandmates to his lack of carfare to the Bronx for his father’s funeral to the photo of his duct-taped bass, the specter of poverty hangs over Centering. In spite of this, Parker and his crew managed to stay remarkably creative. Musicians worked on mastering their instruments. They wrote poetry. They penned philosophical manifestos. They painted

B O X E D S E T cover art for albums that never found financing. Singers sang and dancers choreographed and performed, all of which is covered in the wonderfully informative booklet containing Ed Hazell’s liner notes, Parker’s personal reflections, recording information and old photographs of the musicians and other ephemera. The music, more than seven hours spread over six CDs, provides something of an alternate history of Parker’s career, too. Always a busy sideman, playing live and appearing in (small label) album credits, the sheer scope of this work suggests Parker has always been a tornadic creative force on the Downtown scene. The box begins with almost an hour’s worth of serene duets from 1980 with alto saxist/trumpeter Daniel Carter, a die-hard of the scene to this day and an exemplar of the fierce asceticism and street aesthetic coursing through this circle of kindred spirits. Later in the set, Parker duets with tenor saxist Charles Gayle in 1987, typically fiery, unbridled and very nearly unhinged. Finding middle ground between the two reed players is a set by the Centering Dance Music Ensemble, featuring drummer Denis Charles (a veteran of Cecil Taylor’s early years) and tenor saxist David S. Ware (who took Parker with him to Columbia Records). The trio could play as reflective as the music from Carter or as out as Gayle, but it’s the interaction that pulls you in, the rhythms prompted by their silent fourth partner, dancer (and Parker’s wife) Patricia Nicholson. Ware would go on to patent his signature style and tone, but here his playing draws explicitly on hardbop and the dialogue between music and dance is articulated in sound, meter and tempo. Deeper into the box the focus turns to larger

groups, as well as Parker’s work with vocalists in varying configurations. The Big Moon Ensemble (a double quartet inspired by Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz) included Carter, altoist Jemeel Moondoc, trumpeter Roy Campbell, a second bassist in Jay Oliver and Charles and Rashid Bakr double drumming. They stir the stew relentlessly, ratcheting and releasing tension, propelling the music forward with mind-blowing power until the band settles down to let Parker have his solo say. The Centering Big Band adds baritone saxist Charles Tyler along with Alex LoDico and Masahiko Kono on trombones, among others. This expanded group and these extended written/improvised pieces presage the assembly of Parker’s Little Huey Creative Orchestra in the ‘90s and the integration of voice ultimately that found its fruition in the Double Sunrise Over Neptune orchestra from 2007. There’s more. It’s a remarkable, inspirational archive, as if the listener were to discover a new cave where Cézanne painted his early work on the walls. Parker seemed to turn a corner financially when he got the call from Cecil Taylor and his own opportunities expanded after awareness began to surround the David S. Ware Quartet. “Art is the process of living” stands as the booklet’s epigram and almost every piece overflows with spiritualism, uncompromising commitment and a love of language, often wordless. Parker demonstrates that staying true to your art is as serious as life itself.

For more information, visit nobusinessrecords.com. Parker is at Angel Orensanz Center Dec. 4th as part of Under_Line Benefit Launch, I-Beam Dec. 14th and The Stone Dec. 15th. See Calendar.

Centering (Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987)

William Parker (NoBusiness)by Jeff Stockton

R E S E R V A T I O N S 2 1 2 - 2 5 8 - 9 5 9 5 / 9 7 9 5 j a l c . o r g / d i z z y s

D E c 1 –2

M a r y S t a l l i n g S & E r i c r E E d t r i owith Joshua Crumbly and Kevin Kanner

D E c 3 | M o n d ay n i g h t s w i t h w B g o

n y U J a z z o r c h E S t r a w i t h S t E f o n h a r r i S

D E c 4 – 9

B U c k y P i z z a r E l l i / k E n P E P l o w S k i Q U i n t E t : american classicswith Derek Smith, Greg Cohen, and Chuck Redd

D E c 1 0

n y y o U t h S y M P h o n y J a z z c l a S S i c with Wycliffe Gordon

D E c 1 1 – 1 6

k E n n y g a r r E t t Q U i n t E twith Benito Gonzalez, Corcoran Holt, McClenty Hunter,

and Rudy Bird

D E c 1 7

d o U g w a M B l E t r i o : holiday Swingwith Morgan James, Roy Dunlap, and Jeff Hanley

D E c 1 8 –2 3

d U d U k a d a f o n S E c a & h E l i o a lv E S : Jazz Samba christmaswith Maucha Adnet, Anat Cohen, Romero Lubambo,

and Hans Glawischnig

D E c 2 4 –2 5

c l o S E d f o r c h r i S t M a S

D E c 2 6 – 3 1

w y n t o n M a r S a l i Sthe louis armstrong continuum: Music of the hot five’s and Seven’s

l I V E j A z z N I g h T l y