CD review: William Parker – Painters Winter 2021: Video, CD cover

Following on the monumental Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World box set earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker will release an astonishing Pair of brand new trio albums which further expound on his profound and limitless vision: Painters Winter -&- Mayan Space Station. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, Parker continues to raise the bar higher. As ever, AUM Fidelity is deeply honored & incredibly stoked (!) to present this work to you.

= Noting Here Again that there are strictly limited one-time-press LP editions of both new albums that we’ll have in hand in a few weeks. And they’ll include Bandcamp-hosted dowload codes. Please go to the AUM Fidelity site direct to grip those =

Painters Winter features the reconvened trio communion of Daniel Carter, William Parker , and Hamid Drake. 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 recently 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. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. 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.

Drake has made mention of his awe that William could pick up any new instrument and make beautiful music with it from jump. The title track features Parker on trombonium, one of those many instruments that he plays beautifully on. The track “Painted Scarf” features Parker on shakuhachi, upon which he has clearly become a master as well.

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.”

1 Groove 77 12:21
2 Painters Winter 8:25
3 Happiness 12:36
4 Painted Scarf 10:49
5 A Curley Russell 15:33

William Parker: bass, trombonium, shakuhachi, compositions
Daniel Carter: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute
Hamid Drake: drums