William Parker

The pre-eminent bassist in modern vanguard jazz, William Parker's formidable technique functions as a lead instrument in trios (Painter's Spring), duos (Piercing the Veil), and recordings with David S. Ware (including Flight of I and Shakti), and Matthew Shipp (The Flow of X and Our Lady of the Flowers). He's paid tribute to major artists from the Great Black Music tradition, including Curtis Mayfield and Duke Ellington, and has explored soul-jazz, spoken word, vocal music, and conceptual jazz works including Alphaville Suite. Parker is a poet, painter, and cultural critic. In 2022, he released the tribute recording 2 Blues for Cecil with a trio whose members had worked with Cecil Taylor; he also issued a 2002 archival large-ensemble session titled Universal Tonality. In 2024, he released two albums on Aum Fidelity: Cereal Music, a duo offering with vocalist Ellen Christi, and Heart Trio, with Cooper-Moore and Hamid Drake.