Heart Trio features three lifelong-devoted fellow travelers on the path of healing through sound. World-renowned & revered bassist-composer-leader William Parker has performed and recorded extensively with both Cooper-Moore & Hamid Drake over the past 30+ years. And, the three of them are the core since 2012 in Parker's reborn In Order To Survive quartet. Heart Trio is, remarkably then, their debut as a trio on record.
William here plays doson ngoni, dudek, and flutes of bamboo, cedar & walnut. Cooper-Moore on his hand-crafted ashimba and harp; Hamid Drake on frame drum and drum kit. All of this music was collectively composed at the time of it's creation. This is music for sunrise and sunset. Daily music. Healing, centering, mantra, heart music. From William's notes included with the release: "The theory behind this music is the music itself. Empty and fill the heart and soul with sound, letting it dance. Without pretense. We are trying to get to a flow-Earth, sky, and flowing water sounds that jump out of the painting." William Parker received Lifetime of Achievement Honors at Vision 2024.
CD digipak features liner notes by William Parker. Painters Winter features the trio of William Parker - bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Daniel Carter - reeds, trumpet, flute; and Hamid Drake - drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. Drake & Parker launched their devoted "two-man big band" partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, "It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered." And from his liner notes, "The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us. Sounds we both listened to while breezes and big green kites we called leaves sailed above the trees."
Following the release of Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 (Centering Records) and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker (Duke University Press) earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker will present a pair of brand new trio albums which further expound on his vision. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Mayan Space Station is his first electric guitar trio album, and features Ava Mendoza - electric guitar, Gerald Cleaver - drums, and Parker on bass. Cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. All of the promise imagined by a trio recording of these musicians with compositions by Parker is delivered to the fullest. Regarding the album title, Parker offers: "Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a fictional reality that is important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver, belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, 'travel the space ways.' Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments."
Cereal Music is bassist-composer-leader-poet William Parker's first spoken word album -observations from a profound life devoted to the path of finding truth in beauty & speaking truth to power. Parker's words are further illuminated by deeply sensitive sound design created by likewise devoted artist on the same path, producer and singer Ellen Christi. William Parker's music - in it's vast scope & range of form - has been an elemental nutrient of countless listeners lives for nigh on five decades. William's words - whether published on page or spoken from the stage- are part of that music. They speak on the beauty of life itself, amplifying the light of life ever-present, even in exceptionally difficult circumstance.
As his first artistic expression, Parker began writing as a young person growing up in the South Bronx projects, presenting an alternate perception of often bleak surroundings and living conditions in the neighborhood. This early awareness that there was another way of being in the world, has suffused his development into a singularly generous artist and human being. Ellen Christi's singing brings that same affirmation in the beauty of life. She & Parker's previous work together, The Majesty of Jah, is a tremendous feature for her voice. That album also includes the track, "Baldwin", w/ his ever-powerful words and voice resonating even more profoundly within the sonic architecture created around them by Christi. Here, she does the same for the words & voice of William Parker.
Alice Coltrane - "The Carnegie Hall Concert" / Alice Coltrane's "The Carnegie Hall Concert" is a previously unreleased recording of a historic 1971 concert. The original multi-track recording was commissioned by Impulse but wasn't released at the time. Features an all-star group including Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, Ed Blackwell and others. This was a triple bill placing her in the company of Laura Nyro and The Rascals. Concert produced by Sid Bernstein, who promoted the first Beatles concert in the US. 2 LP.
2021 archive release. Alice Coltrane is the undeniable godmother of spiritual jazz and an acknowledged influence on everyone from Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington to Solange and Radiohead. Kirtan: Turiya Sings features Alice Coltrane at peak spirituality and is presented in this arrangement for the first time. Turyia Sings was originally released in 1982 on cassette as a collection of devotional songs including vocals, organ, strings, and synthesizers available only at Alice's Sai Anantam Ashram.
Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 release. For more than 6 decades, saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd has been a free spirit, master musician, and visionary. At 84, he remains as prolific as ever. Early on, Lloyd saw how placing the improvised solo in interesting contexts could provoke greater freedom and creativity. That vision is evident on his Trio of Trios project, which encompasses 3 albums in different trio settings. The first, Trios: Chapel, features guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan.
Vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. The Layers is a stunning companion piece to guitarist Julian Lage's acclaimed 2022 album View With A Room. The collection features six original pieces featuring the trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell. Intimate and gorgeous, The Layers is a welcome additional offering from this meeting of two of modern jazz's most distinctive voices with one of the music's most skilled and inventive rhythm sections.
Pianist and composer Aaron Parks returns to Blue Note Records - where he released his influential 2008 album, Invisible Cinema - with Little Big III, the third studio album from his acclaimed band Little Big, featuring guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard Jr., and drummer Jongkuk Kim. Co-produced by Parks and Don Was, the collective's concise, accessible writing and vibrant, empathetic playing elevate the band's powerfully modern, post-genre concept for improvised music in the 21st century. Throughout, the bandmembers' kinship is palpable. There's a vitality at play on the record that is extraordinary; somehow, it's beautiful and raw in equal measure. "While this record feels the most supple and alive," Parks says, "it also feels like the most focused album Little Big has recorded - the most distilled down to the essence."
Pianist and composer Aaron Parks returns to Blue Note Records - where he released his influential 2008 album, Invisible Cinema - with Little Big III, the third studio album from his acclaimed band Little Big, featuring guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard Jr., and drummer Jongkuk Kim. Co-produced by Parks and Don Was, the collective's concise, accessible writing and vibrant, empathetic playing elevate the band's powerfully modern, post-genre concept for improvised music in the 21st century. Throughout, the bandmembers' kinship is palpable. There's a vitality at play on the record that is extraordinary; somehow, it's beautiful and raw in equal measure. "While this record feels the most supple and alive," Parks says, "it also feels like the most focused album Little Big has recorded - the most distilled down to the essence."
Charles Lloyd's new studio album features a newly assembled quartet of four distinctive voices with the legendary saxophonist joined by pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. Recorded around Lloyd's 85th birthday concert, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is a majestic body of work that presents Lloyd originals new and reimagined. The double-album finds one of the most significant musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries still at the peak of his powers. 2 CD: Softpak, 8-page booklet
Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. CD Softpak. Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz
Recorded in Oslo in September 1970, Afric Pepperbird was released on New Year's Day in 1971. Half a century later, it still conveys the freshness and excitement of discoveries being made. The album signaled the arrival of four Norwegian improvisers - Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen - at the fledgling ECM label. It was the start of a lifelong association with each of the musicians, whose influence was soon to reach far beyond the borders of their homeland.
2014 album of previously unreleased performances capturing the always-extraordinary saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd in 1965, leading a remarkable and previously unreleased quartet featuring three jazz giants: guitarist Gabor Szabo, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Pete La Roca. They were recorded at the now-defunct venues Judson Hall and Slugs', the Judson Hall recording comes from the archives of Resonance founder George Klabin, then a 19-year-old student at Columbia University recorded the Judson Hall show with up-close microphone placement techniques and state-of-the-art engineering - well ahead of 1965 standards. The Slugs' performances were recorded by Bjorn von Schlebrugge, who accompanied Lloyd to his Manhattan gigs. Slugs' has been called "one of the most important jazz shrines there ever was"
Modern Lore finds Julian Lage playfully flipping the script he followed on his acclaimed 2016 Mack Avenue debut, Arclight. That album - produced, like Modern Lore, by Lage's friend and collaborator, the singer-songwriter Jesse Harris - was his first trio set on electric guitar and found Lage inspired by the sounds and the attitude of the freewheeling, pre-bebop jazz era, when, as he puts it, "country music and jazz and swing were in this weird wild-west period." This time he incorporates the sensibility, if not the outright sound, of early rock and roll, a similarly hybrid form driven by rhythm, personality and a passion for the electric guitar.
After emerging from Terence Blanchard's band, pianist Aaron Parks made his own Blue Note debut in 2008 with Invisible Cinema, a striking album that has only grown in it's influence of the modern jazz landscape since it's release. Featuring a quartet with guitarist Mike Moreno, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland, the music drew inspiration from Wayne Shorter, Radiohead, and more. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
One of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Alice Coltrane's 4th Impulse! Album finds her on piano and harp in the company of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. "Almost 50 years after [it] was released, the album remains a vision of universal healing, spiritual self-preservation in times of trouble and the god that appears when you seek her out." (NPR). Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
Vinyl LP pressing. Saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd has been a free spirit, master musician, and visionary. At 84, he remains at the height of his powers and as prolific as ever. As a sound seeker, Lloyd has perhaps found no greater manifestation than on his Trio of Trios project, which encompasses 3 albums in different trio settings. The third, Trios: Sacred Thread, features guitarist Julian Lage and percussionist Zakir Hussain.
Double vinyl LP pressing with 28-page 12 x 12" book. On March 15, 2018, legendary saxophonist, composer and jazz mystic Charles Lloyd celebrated his 80th birthday at The Lobero - his hometown venue in Santa Barbara, CA. He was joined by an unprecedented group of musicians including guitarist Julian Lage, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.
Though the musical universe of guitarist Ben Monder is vast, the paths to his aural galaxies are rather solitary and arduous. It takes considerable time for Monder to create his unique, mind-bending recordings, as the practice, sculpting, and arranging can take years. His latest recording, Planetarium, is a prodigious piece of art that showcases the widest breadth of his vision as a composer and craftsman. Monder is well known for his tremendous guitar contributions to a wide range of artists, including David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Guillermo Klein, and, most recently, as a member of The Bad Plus. Though he may be most celebrated for these contributions, his own projects deserve equal attention, as they are personal, large-scale works utilizing a select coterie of trusted associates. Planetarium's inception began in 2014 when Monder was awarded a grant from The Shifting Foundation to write and record an album. While that project ultimately took a different direction, work on this one would continue for the next ten years. The effort was thrust into high gear when the pandemic hit, as there were few distractions to composing and practicing. During this time, Monder also received a commission to compose what would become the ambitious piece, "Ataraxia." A most helpful association for Monder has been with engineer and producer Joseph Branciforte, whose Greyfade Studio in Mount Vernon, New York became a sort of second home for him during the recording process. Beginning in December of 2020, the two began to meet frequently at the studio, setting down ideas and inviting collaborators to add their unique contributions. These integral guests included drummers Ted Poor and Satoshi Takeishi, bassist Chris Tordini, and vocalists Theo Bleckmann, Charlotte Mundy, and Emily Hurst. After three years of recording, Monder produced his grandest statement yet as a composer and conceptualist. This three-disc set features vast, highly wrought sound poems as well as spontaneous moments of improvisational brilliance.
The past few decades have seen legendary pianist and composer Denny Zeitlin focus on a few vehicles for his adventurous journeys in music making. Playing solo, with his trio, or in the acoustic-electronic duo with George Marsh have provided ample avenues for exploration, which Zeitlin hopes to provide a wide scope of on his new, varied collection, Panoply.
For nearly 15 years, Zeitlin has released new recordings yearly on Sunnyside Records. These documents highlight the different methods he has centered upon as a leader. Zeitlin's trio that features bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson is a seasoned and adventurous ensemble that continues to generate fire in performance. Zeitlin's nearly six-decade long collaboration with drummer/percussionist George Marsh continues to yield extraordinary results, especially as they have continually broadened their color and textural palettes with electronic sounds. Finally, Zeitlin continues to perform solo piano recitals, maintaining his status as one of the foremost solo improvisers and musical interpreters.
For Panoply, Zeitlin has collected unreleased performances from the past decade that highlight his and his musical partners' fantastic command in improvisation regardless of genre or medium. Zeitlin carefully curated this program to provide a sequence that blends acoustic and electronic music which transitions well and let's the music unfold.
The solo piano pieces come from a recording made on December 1, 2012 at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, while the trio recordings were captured live at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City from May 3 to 4, 2019. The duo pieces with Marsh were collected over a decade of home recordings at Zeitlin's Double Helix Studio from 2013 to 2023.
A Note From Denny Zeitlin // George Marsh and I began our Sunnyside duo electro-acoustic recordings with "Riding The Moment" in 2015. "Expedition" followed in 2017, chronicling an exciting and enriching evolution. And now "Telepathy," consisting primarily of pieces recorded since then, finds us exploring broader and deeper dimensions of spontaneous composition as our attunement and musical vision continue to expand. // For listeners having a first contact with our duo, I'll repeat my remarks from our previous albums, since the set and setting remain the same. // This album, like "Riding the Moment," and "Expedition," has roots going back to the late sixties, when I began a decade of exploring the electro-acoustic integration of jazz, classical, funk, rock, and free-form music. My trio included Mel Graves or Ratzo Harris on bass, and throughout, the incredible drummer/percussionist George Marsh. We recorded and toured the West Coast, concluding this period with my electro-acoustic-symphonic score for the 1978 remake of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers." // I then returned to a focus on acoustic solo, duo, and trio music for a couple decades, and George went on to numerous other projects. With the passage of the millennium, synthesizer and recording technological advances lured me back into a major and ongoing studio upgrade. "Both/And" (Sunnyside 2013) was devoted to the electro-acoustic domain as a soloist. And since 2013, George and I have musically re-united, and have been exploring the potential of duo electro-acoustic free improvisations-the co-creation of what we often refer to as "sound paintings." // Our goal has been to approach the music without a score or any preconception; to be as fully present as possible, "riding the moment," and allowing the music to go where it wants-without any constraint of genre, or fixed harmonic, rhythmic, or melodic structure. We hope our "telepathy" allows the emergence of spontaneous compositions that have freshness, beauty, excitement, internal logic, new sounds, and a sense of journey-an "expedition." Over 95% of this music was recorded in "real time" with one pass. On those occasions where I didn't have enough hands to play what I was hearing, I over-dubbed some orchestration or a solo voice. And in those instances, I typically went with the first take, to preserve the spontaneity of the project. // I believe you will hear in our interaction that George is a full partner in the co-creation of this album. To preserve acoustic separation during recording we were unable to see each other; we were carried by our shared musical vision, trust, and an extraordinary rapport. We often feel like we are some kind of galactic orchestra.
Guitarist Ben Monder set out with the intent of recording a studio album with longtime collaborators, saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey, but circumstances led to a more informal situation, providing a visceral glimpse of these stellar musicians' rapport. // The performance world was on the brink of shutting down in early March 2020 due to the appearance of COVID-19. Monder decided to take the opportunity provided by his monthly Tuesday residency at New York City's stalwart jazz club, The 55 Bar, to present a recurring project with Malaby, a bass-less trio with drums. Rainey commanded the revolving drum chair on March 3rd and the two sets were recorded as a remarkable live document of fully improvised music making from three masters, released now as Live at The 55 Bar. // Three long improvisations were recorded that night, each piece unfolding organically. The ebb and flow and the building of tension to release demonstrate just how confident these musicians are in their craft of composing on the fly, in full control of their musical choices. The recording was made by the brilliant producer Joseph Branciforte, who was able to provide gorgeous studio quality sound and help with the narrative arc for the completed recording.
Over the years I've had the opportunity to perform in a wide range of venues-from jazz festival stages for thousands of outdoor fans to jazz clubs with fewer than a hundred listeners. And while there is a special excitement in sharing music with a huge crowd, I find myself drawn more to the intimate settings, like Mezzrow. Spike Wilner and his staff have created a unique place for music in a long basement room in NYC's Greenwich Village. He keeps his Steinway Grand in perfect shape; the acoustics are miraculously superb; and people are really listening. During this trio gig with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson, it felt like we were all in it together-players and listeners deeply involved in the emerging music. // This CD marks our 18th year as a trio, and though we don't perform that often, due to the complexities of schedules and the demands of my psychiatric practice and teaching, the music has continued to evolve. Our two nights at Mezzrow were inspiring, and I hope you will enjoy this CD, our 5th album together.-Denny Zeitlin
2018 release by the jazz pianist. "By 2009, Buster Williams, Matt Wilson, and I had been performing as a trio for eight years, and this recording of a night at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola captures some of our best music-full of surprise, exploration, confidence, excitement, nuance, and empathy. The program has some of my favorite originals and standards. I had recorded all of them previously; they have always provided a special springboard into improvisation." - Denny Zeitlin.
2017 release from the jazz pianist. Note from Denny Zeitlin: "In the two years since Sunnyside's 2015 release of Riding The Moment, George and I have continued our expedition into new territories of free improvisation, and have found the journey to be very enriching and exciting. For listeners having a first contact with our duo, I'll repeat my remarks from our first album, since the set and setting remain the same. This album, like Riding the Moment, has roots going back to the late sixties, when I began a decade of exploring the electro-acoustic integration of jazz, classical, funk, rock, and free-form music. My trio included Mel Graves or Ratso Harris on bass, and throughout, the incredible drummer/percussionist George Marsh. We recorded and toured the West Coast, concluding this period with my electro-acoustic-symphonic score for the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers."
