Rabble Without A Cause, April 30: New releases from legendary bassist William Parker
William Parker played with Cecil Taylor in the 1980s and is still recording today - we will hear selections from two new releases
William Parker is a double bassist and is still actively recording at the age of 73. On this show, we will sample two of his recent releases.
Last Fall he released “Pulsar” with Hugo Costa (alto sax) and Philipp Ernsting (drums). We will hear two tracks from that release.
In January of this year, he released an album under the band name “The Ancients”. The music was performed for an exhibit featuring the work of Milford Graves, an avant garde jazz drummer and illustrator.
The trio is:
Isaiah Collier: tenor saxophone, Aztec death whistle, siren, little instruments
William Hooker: drums, vocals
William Parker: bass, hojǒk, singing
The Aztec death whistle (or ehecachichtli) is a type of whistle formerly used by the Mexica people. Though the original whistles likely made a wind-like sound, modern replicas usually produce a high-pitched shrieking sound and are most commonly used to scare off people or animals.
The hojok (also known as a taepyeongso) is a double-reed instrument with a conical wood body and cup-shaped metal bell, knows for its piercing sound. Here’s a short demo.
We will hear one lengthy track from that release, recorded in Los Angeles.
You can tune in live in the National Capital Region on Wednesday at 11 p.m. at 93.1 on the FM dial or through live streaming at CKCUFM.com. The show is also available on demand.