Bright Moments: William Parker
To work on an installment of Bright Moments featuring the bassist and composer William Parker can feel like an exercise in futility. But not because he’s uncooperative or vague. In his cozy East Village apartment in January, Parker, 67, proved an exceedingly kind and gentle presence and a strikingly thoughtful interview. Storytelling is yet another of his gifts, and his recall borders on the encyclopedic; circumstances and chronology come easy, as do the Manhattan cross streets for apartments and venues that haven’t existed in decades.
“It was my father’s dream to have me play in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. I could practice all day long and he never said, ‘Go get a job.’”
Rather, the Bright Moments concept bows under the weight of Parker’s tremendous oeuvre. This is an artist who seems to offer up multi-disc box sets more frequently than others put out albums, and whose Sessionography, helmed by Rick Lopez and released in 2014, runs nearly 500 pages. Within these leader recordings and collaborations is a staggering range of creative situations—from solo recitals to duos to small-group free improvisation, era-defining working bands and sprawling thematic projects for large ensemble and voices.
Space constraints dictated that this edited conversation (more of which you can read on JazzTimes.com) would shortchange vital comrades like pianist Matthew Shipp, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, and Parker’s wife Patricia Nicholson, a dancer, poet, and founder of the New York-based Vision Festival, whose 2019 edition will celebrate drummer Andrew Cyrille in June. Certain sessions couldn’t be shoehorned in either. A volume two of this piece might, for instance, begin with 2008’s Beyond Quantum, a revelatory communion between Parker, saxophonist Anthony Braxton, and drummer Milford Graves; continue with an album from Farmers by Nature, with pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver; and move into 2015’s Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still, a document of the first full symphony orchestra performance of Parker’s original music.
What’s here, however, inarguably testifies to the passion and versatility that
