William Parker (musician)

Biography

Parker was born in the Bronx, New York City. He was not formally trained as a classical player, though he did study with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware and learned the tradition. Parker is one of few jazz bassists who frequently plays arco. He also plays several other instruments from around the world, including the West African kora.

While Parker has been active since the early 1970s; he has had a higher public profile since the early 1990s. He is a prominent and influential musician in the New York City experimental jazz scene, and has regularly appeared at music festivals around the world, including the Guelph Jazz Festival, in southern Ontario.

Parker first came to public attention with pianist Cecil Taylor. He has long been a member of saxophonist David S. Ware's quartet and in Peter Brötzmann's groups. Parker also played with various other groups that included Paul Murphy (who would fill in for Philly Joe Jones) whenever he was in town shopping for new drum sticks.

He is a member of the cooperative Other Dimensions In Music. Together with his wife, Patricia Nicholson Parker, he organizes the annual Vision Festival in New York City.

The album Sound Unity by the William Parker Quartet was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. His August 2008 CD Double Sunrise over Neptune was listed as one of the top 10 2008 (through end of August) Jazz CDs at Amazon. Also released in 2008, Petit Oiseau was chosen as one of the best jazz disks of 2008 by The Wall Street Journal, the BBC's Radio Three, The Village Voice, and PopMatters.

In 2006, Parker was awarded the Resounding Vision Award from Nameless Sound. In March 2007, William Parker's book, Who Owns Music?, was published by buddy's knife jazzedition in Cologne, Germany. Who Owns Music? assembles his political thoughts, poems, and musicological essays. In June 2011, Parker's second book, Conversations, a collection of interviews with notable free jazz musicians and forward thinkers, mainly from the African-American community, was published by Rogue Art.

As leader

Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace (Centering, 1981)

Flowers Grow in My Room (Centering, 1994)

In Order to Survive (Black Saint, 1995) - with In Order to Survive

Testimony (Zero In, 1995) - solo

Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy (Homestead, 1996) - with In Order to Survive

Sunrise in the Tone World (AUM Fidelity, 1997) - with Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Lifting the Sanctions (No More, 1997)

Mass for the Healing of the World (Black Saint, 1998 [2004]) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Zen Mountains/Zen Streets: A Duet For Poet & Improvised Bass (Boxholder, 1998)

The Peach Orchard (AUM Fidelity, 1998) - with In Order to Survive

Posium Pendasem (FMP, 1999) - In Order to Survive

Fractured Dimensions (FMP, 1999 [2003])

Mayor of Punkville (AUM Fidelity, 2000) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Painter's Spring (Thirsty Ear, 2000) - with Hamid Drake & Daniel Carter

Piercing the Veil (AUM Fidelity, 2000) - with Hamid Drake

O'Neal's Porch (AUM Fidelity, 2000)

Song Cycle (Boxholder, 2001)

Bob's Pink Cadillac (Eremite, 2002) - Clarinet Trio

The Last Dances (Ayler Records, 2002 [2007]) - with Hamid Drake & Anders Gahnold

Raincoat in the River (Eremite, 2002) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

... and William Danced (Ayler Records, 2002)

Raining on the Moon (Thirsty Ear, 2002)

Eloping with the Sun (Riti, 2003) - with Joe Morris & Hamid Drake

Scrapbook (Thirsty Ear, 2003) - Violin Trio

Spontaneous (Splasc(H), 2003) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Luc's Lantern (Thirsty Ear, 2004 [2005])

Requiem (Splasc(H), 2004 [2006]) - Bass Quartet with Charles Gayle

Sound Unity (AUM Fidelity, 2005)

Long Hidden: The Olmec Series (AUM Fidelity, 2006)

For Percy Heath (Victo, 2006) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Alphaville Suite (RogueArt, 2007)

The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (Rai Trade, 2007) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Summer Snow (AUM Fidelity, 2007) - with Hamid Drake

Corn Meal Dance (AUM Fidelity, 2007) - with Raining on the Moon

Great Spirit (AUM Fidelity, 2007 [2015]) - with Raining on the Moon

Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM Fidelity, 2007)

Petit Oiseau (AUM Fidelity, 2008)

Beyond Quantum (Tzadik, 2008) - with Anthony Braxton and Milford Graves

Winter Sun Crying (NEOS Jazz, 2009 [2011]) - with the ICI Ensemble

Tender Exploration (Jazzwerkstatt, 2010 [2013]) - with Hamid Drake & Conny Bauer

Prism (Ultramarine, 2010) - with Ninni Morgia

I Plan to Stay a Believer (AUM Fidelity, 2010) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Uncle Joe's Spirit House (Centering, 2010) - William Parker Organ Quartet

Essence of Ellington (Centering, 2012) - with the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra

Centering. Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987 (No Business, 2012)

Live In Wroclove (ForTune, 2013)

Wood Flute Songs (AUM Fidelity, 2013)

For Those Who Are, Still (AUM Fidelity, 2015)

To Roy (Intakt, 2015) - with Oliver Lake

Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind (Centering, 2016) - with Cooper-Moore & Lisa Sokolov

As sideman

With Fred Anderson

2 Days in April (Eremite, 2000)

Blue Winter (Eremite, 2005)

With Derek Bailey and John Zorn

Harras (Avant, 1993)

With Billy Bang

The Fire from Within (Soul Note, 1981)

Live at Carlos 1 (Soul Note, 1984)

Medicine Buddha (No Business, 2009 [2014])

With Albert Beger

Evolving Silence, Vol. 1 (2005)

Evolving Silence, Vol. 2 (2006)

With Peter Brötzmann

Sacred Scrape, Secret Response (Rastascan, 1994)

Nothung (In Tone Music, 2002)

Never Too Late But Always Too Early (Eremite, 2003)

The Bishop's Move (Les Disques Victo, 2004)

With Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet

Stone/Water (Okka Disk, 2002)

Short Visit To Nowhere (Okka Disk, 2002)

Broken English (Okka Disk, 2002)

With Rob Brown

Breath Rhyme (Silkheart Records, 1990)

High Wire (Soul Note, 1996)

Round the Bend (Bleu Regard, 2002)

The Big Picture (Marge, 2004)

Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity, 2008)

With Roy Campbell, Joe McPhee & Warren Smith

Tribute to Albert Ayler Live at the Dynamo (Marge, 2009)

With Daniel Carter

The Dream (577 Records, 2006)

With Gerald Cleaver and Craig Taborn

Farmers by Nature (AUM Fidelity, 2009)

Out of This World's Distortions (AUM Fidelity, 2011)

Love and Ghosts (AUM Fidelity, 2014)

With 'Die Like A Dog' Quartet

Die Like a Dog: Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler (FMP, 1994)

Close Up (FMP, 1994 [2011])

Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 1 (FMP, 1998)

Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 2 (FMP, 1999)

From Valley to Valley (Eremite, 1999)

Aoyama Crows (FMP, 2002)

With Bill Dixon

Thoughts (Soul Note, 1985 [1987])

Vade Mecum (Soul Note, 1994)

Vade Mecum II (Soul Note, 1994)

With Marco Eneidi

Cherry Box (Eremite, 2000)

With Charles Gayle

Touchin' on Trane (FMP, 1991 [1993])

Translations (Silkheart, 1993)

Raining Fire (Silkheart, 1993)

Blue Shadows (Silkheart, 1993 [2008])

More Live at the Knitting Factory (Knitting Factory, 1993)

Consecration (Black Saint, 1993)

Daily Bread (Black Saint, 1995)

With Frode Gjerstad

Seeing New York From The Ear (Cadence Jazz Records, 1996)

Remember To Forget (Circulasione Totale, 1998)

Ultima (Cadence Jazz Records, 1999)

The Other Side (Ayler Records, 2006)

On Reade Street (FMR Records, 2008)

With Alan Glover

Kings Of Infinite Space (Omolade Music 2006)

The Juice Quartet Archives (Omolade Music 2010)

With Wayne Horvitz

Some Order, Long Understood (Black Saint, 1982)

With Kidd Jordan

Palm Of Soul (AUM Fidelity, 2006)

With Gianni Lenoci

Secret Garden (Silta)

With Jimmy Lyons

Wee Sneezawee (Black Saint, 1983)

With Raphe Malik

Last Set: Live at the 1369 Jazz Club (Boxholder, 2004)

ConSequences (Eremite, 1999)

Companions (Eremite, 2002)

With Michael Marcus

Under The Wire (Enja, 1990)

With Thollem McDonas & Nels Cline

The Gowanus Session (Porter, 2012)

With Roscoe Mitchell

This Dance Is for Steve McCall (Black Saint, 1993)

Nine to Get Ready (ECM, 1997)

With Jemeel Moondoc

First Feeding (Muntu, 1977)

The Evening of the Blue Men (Muntu, 1979)

Konstanze's Delight (Soul Note, 1983)

Nostalgia in Times Square (Soul Note, 1986)

New World Pygmies (Eremite, 1999)

New World Pygmies vol. 2 (Eremite, 2002)

Live at Glenn Miller Café Vol 1 (Ayler, 2002)

Live in Paris (Cadence, 2003)

With Joe Morris

Illuminate (Leo, 1995)

Elsewhere (Homestead, 1996)

Invisible Weave (No More, 1997)

Altitude (AUM Fidelity, 2012)

With Other Dimensions In Music

Other Dimensions In Music (Silkheart, 1990)

Now! (Aum Fidelity, 1998)

Time Is of the Essence Is Beyond Time (Aum Fidelity, 2000)

Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2007)

Kaiso Stories (Silkheart, 2011)

With Ivo Perelman

Cama de Terra (Homestead, 1996)

En Adir (Music & Arts, 1997)

Sound Hierarchy (Music & Arts, 1997)

Serendipity (Leo, 2013)

Book of Sound (Leo, 2014)

With Matthew Shipp

Points (Silkheart, 1992)

Circular Temple (Quinton, 1992)

Zo (Rise, 1994)

Critical Mass (2.13.61, 1995)

Prism (Brinkman, 1996)

The Flow of X (2.13.61, 1997)

By the Law of Music (HatART, 1997)

The Multiplication Table (hatOLOGY, 1998)

Strata (hatOLOGY, 1998)

DNA (Thirsty Ear, 1999)

Magnetism (Bleu Regard, 1999)

Pastoral Composure (Thirsty Ear, 2000)

Expansion, Power, Release (hatOLOGY, 2001)

New Orbit (Thirsty Ear, 2001)

Equilibrium (Thirsty Ear, 2003)

Our Lady of the Flowers (RogueArt, 2015)

With Steve Swell

Swimming in a Galaxy of Goodwill and Sorrow (RogueArt, 2007)

With Cecil Taylor

The Eighth (HatHut, 1986)

Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants) (Soul Note, 1987)

Olu Iwa (Soul Note, 1987)

Live in Bologna (Leo, 1987)

Live in Vienna (Leo, 1987)

Tzotzil/Mummers/Tzotzil (Leo, 1988)

Alms/Tiergarten (Spree) (FMP, 1988)

In Florescence (A&M, 1989)

Looking (Berlin Version) Corona (FMP, 1989)

Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio (FMP, 1989)

Celebrated Blazons (FMP, 1990)

2 Ts for a Lovely T, (Codanza Records, 1990 [2002])

With David S Ware

Passage to Music (Silkheart 1988)

Great Bliss, Vol. 1 (Silkheart 1991)

Great Bliss, Vol. 2 (Silkheart 1991)

Flight of I (DIW 1992)

Third Ear Recitation (DIW 1992)

Earthquation (DIW 1994)

Cryptology (Homestead 1995)

Oblations and Blessings (Silkheart, 1996)

DAO (Homestead 1996)

Godspelized (DIW, 1996)

Wisdom of Uncertainty (AUM Fidelity, 1997)

Go See the World (Columbia, 1998)

Surrendered (Columbia, 2000)

Corridors & Parallels (AUM Fidelity, 2001)

Freedom Suite (AUM Fidelity, 2002)

Threads (Thirsty Ear, 2003)

Live in the World (Thirsty Ear, 2004)

BalladWare (Thirsty Ear, 1999 [2006])

Renunciation (AUM Fidelity, 2007)

Live in Vilnius (NoBusiness Records 2007)

Shakti (AUM Fidelity, 2009)

Onecept (AUM Fidelity, 2009)

Planetary Unknown (AUM 2010)

Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2011 (AUM 2011)

Books

Who Owns Music? (buddy's knife jazzedition, 2007)

Conversations (RogueArt, 2010)

Films

2001 - Inside Out in the Open (2001). Directed by Alan Roth. Asymmetric Pictures. Distributed by Third World Newsreel.