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william
parker & the little huey creative music orchestra william
parker leader, bass, marimba, shakuhachi, bombard I Meditation
for Two Voices (09:49) recorded live 23 february, 2001, at the ica theater, boston, ma. vol I of the 2001 ica concert in boston. a 17 piece version of little huey perform parker's five section narrative suite based on the life of the late street musician marvin nunez (aka uncle marvin). featured soloists include parker (who solos four times on four different instruments), roy campbell jr, rob brown, & vocalist leena conquest. a considerable leap forward in recording quality from the band's highly estimable past productions. jazzreview
top 25 c/ds of 2002 "the fullest expression of mr. parker's aesthetic can be found in his work with the 15 piece little huey creative music orchestra, which he has led since 1981. with it, he draws directly from the legacies of ellington (by creating personalized roles for each player) & mingus (through vamps & bluesy refrains that build into colorful explosions of sound). the ensemble is as notable for its group dynamic as for the music it produces. the orchestra's new cd, "raincoat in the river," presents a long suite from a recent concert. the music blurs the line between free jazz, indigenous folk songs & contemporary classical, moving gracefully from gentle passages for one or two instruments to furious, fully orchestrated swells. melodies are carried by a cello in one section, a middle eastern double-reeded horn in another. on occasion, mr. parker lays down his bass to play a japanese flute, while mr. hofstra's tuba undergirds the sound." -- larry blumenfeld, new york times "parker's 17-piece little huey creative music orchestra recorded "raincoat in the river" (the first of three projected volumes) live at boston's ICA, and compared to the boisterous but somewhat ragged "mayor of punkville" (aum fidelity, 2000) it's a more poignant, introspective affair, based loosely on the life (and supposed death) of NY street musician "uncle" marvin nunez. The line-up is almost identical to the earlier album, with the addition of singer leena conquest and cellist shiau-shu yu, who helps relieve parker of bass duty, allowing him to contribute solos on other instruments. after an elegiac opening duet between yu's cello and parker's shakuhachi, "mountain/maintain" superimposes wailing trombones, the polyrhythmic intricacies of two drummers, parker (by now on marimba), and a grizzly baritone solo from dave sewelson in a vertical form worthy of george russell. "anast crossing the lake of light" builds steadily over a relentless eleven-beat tuba ostinato, conquest's plaintive wordless incantations and yu's cello decorated by occasional sonic scribbles from parker's bombard (sounding like a sopranino sax). "raincoat in the river" - the song appears in a slightly different form as the title track of parker's new thirsty ear release "raining on the moon" - at last finds him on bass, and features ebullient solos from rob brown and alex lodico. the closing "painters celebration" is dedicated to marion brown, but gil evans' monday night orchestra comes to mind on several occasions - though parker's horn arrangements are a little less subtly voiced, there's that same raw energy and willingness to take risks." -- dan warburton, the wire |
