actuellecd

At Somewhere There

William Parker

Classy. And a simple yet efficient recording. Monsieur Délire, Québec

An almost hour-long solo recital may seem daunting, but New York bassist William Parker easily impresses as this bravura invention recorded at a local performance space attests. The WholeNote, Canada

Somewhere There is a place for informal music. This may suggest the music isn’t serious but that’s not what I mean at all. For example, William Parker made this music for forty rapt listeners on a hot July night in Toronto. It’s a music where the form unfolded in the playing, literally a new music. His signature synaesthetic philosophy invites colour-drenched metaphors: Prismic refraction, gardens blooming, a harvest feast being prepared. This music is playful, as seriously playful as your life.

Likewise, the musicWitness®, Jeff Schlanger, the playful co-conspirator in this sightsound music, swirled a serious dance of paint, making the sounds tangible in colour. As a place for informal music, Somewhere There invited its forty guests to get inside the mysterious space where these men played. The experience was so enveloping for me that I could see the sounds William played, first in a billowing cloud and then shooting out like light-tendrils that circled my head. As this magic unfolded, though I was sitting in the back with only a wall behind me, I swear that from over my shoulder I could hear children laughing. Seriously. — Scott Thomson, July 2009

CD (BR 0313)

  • Label: Barnyard Records
  • BR 0313
  • 2009
  • UCC 777320156327
  • Total duration: 57:31
  • Digipak
  • 126 mm × 141 mm × 6 mm
  • 55 g

On the web

In the press

Listening Diary

François Couture, Monsieur Délire, July 13, 2010

A solo concert recorded in July 2008 in Toronto (at Somewhere There, incidentally). A very fine performance consisting of a luminous 48-minute free improvisation — typical top-shape William Parker. Then, a short jazzier piece, with melody, dedicated to Don Cherry. And finally a short piece on flute. Classy. And a simple yet efficient recording.

Classy. And a simple yet efficient recording.

Review

Ken Waxman, The WholeNote, no. 15:8, May 1, 2010
An almost hour-long solo recital may seem daunting, but New York bassist William Parker easily impresses as this bravura invention recorded at a local performance space attests.