F2K Ep. 24 Bassist William Parker

Fun 2 Know Podcast

F2K Ep. 24 William Parker Among the most prominent New Yorkers in the world of contemporary jazz and creative music, Parker first gained notice playing with the groundbreaking pianist Cecil Taylor in the 1980s and has gone of to release dozens of his own recordings on numerous labels internationally as well as on his on Centering label. Parker has worked extensively with many of the most-uncompromised talents of his time including David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp, Billy Bang, Charles Gayle and Jeanne Lee. For me, he is a favorite artist among musicians worker today with an endlessly searching quality that makes each of his many diverse releases a discovery. Much like his music, I was delighted to find the man to be of big ideas and goods humor and our time together seemed to go by much too soon. We discuss Parker's beginnings on the bass, his love of foreign films, The NYC "Loft Scene" of the 70s and 80s, "The Hallelujah Stage," his late collaborators Billy Bang & David S. Ware, his poetry and other writing, The Vision Festival and future projects. This conversation took place in May of 2014