William Parker - Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Volumes 1-10)

CENTERING

£76.30

Cat. no: CENT1020
Format: CD10
Barcode: 642623102022
Release Date: 12th February 2021
Genre: Jazz

Strictly Limited Deluxe First Edition.
Packaged in custom clamshell box & sleeves, with a pair of extensive booklets (36 page full-colour; 24 page lyrics, black on uncoated stock). 10 CDs, 91 total tracks, total duration 594 minutes (10 hours).

That William Parker is a bassist, composer and bandleader of extraordinary spirit and imaginative drive is common knowledge among any with an interest in the progressive jazz scene of the past 25 years or more. What’s become increasingly apparent, though, is Parker’s stature as a visionary of sound and song - an artist of melody and poetry who works beyond category, to use the Ellingtonian phrase.

The latest multi-disc boxed set from Centering Records/AUM Fidelity devoted to Parker’s expansive creativity underscores his virtually peerless achievement in recent years. ‘Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Volumes 1-10)’ is a 10-album collection of vocal and instrumental suites all recorded expressly for this set between late 2018 and early 2020, with women’s voices at its core.

This is music as empathetic as it is intrepid, as philosophical as it is visceral, as resolutely modernist as it is attuned to tradition. Parker’s art not only draws from the deepest well of African-American culture; it breathes in inspiration from across the globe, with sounds drawn from Africa, Asia and Indonesia as well as Europe and the Americas; there is free improvisation and re-imagined sonic collage; there are album-length explorations of solo piano and solo voice, along with string ensembles and ancient wind instruments. There are dedications to jazz heroes, Native Americans and Mexican migrants, plus tributes to the great African-American culture of Harlem and the mix of passion and compassion Parker found in vintage Italian cinema.

It conjures a vast world of music and feeling, and its creation is a feat that ranks with that of the most ambitious talents in any genre.

CD 1: Listen / Cosmic Funk / I’d Rather Be / A Great Day to be Dead / Jenny’s Interlude / Blue Limelight / Bennie’s Tune / Recall / Kachina Song / All I Ever Want / Where the Angels Live / Old Tears

CD 2: Malachi’s Mode / Malcolm’s Smile / This Sweet Land / The Golden Light (Hymn) / Mexico / Broken Promises / Child of Sound / Sky Falling / Adobe House / Rez Sunset / Trail Of Tears I / Trail Of Tears II / Rez Sunrise / Ascending Earth

CD 3: Baldwin / The Majesty of Jah / Freedom / Sun Song / Numbers / Letter to a Resurrected Slave Owner

CD 4: Entire Universe / Cheops / The Map is Precise / If We Play Soft Enough / Harriott

CD 5: Dancing At The Savoy / Don’t Sell My Soul / Harlem Dances / Harlem Speaks / Paintings in the Sky / Shutters as Windows

CD 6: Tilted Mirror / Mexico / The Bleeding Tree / It Is For You

CD 7: Song To Lift Sadness (Morning) / The Sky Is Always Beautiful / Moring Bird / Rocket Man / Essence Calling Out / Afternoon Poem / First Vision / Green And Brown / I Believe / I Will Die For You / Song For Patricia / My Cup / Silent Whispers / It Would Never Be Long Enough / Song To Lift Sadness (Evening) / Cloud and Sea Fading as Rain Falls

CD 8: Visconti / Fellini / Pasolini / Leone / De Sica / Rossellini / Gospel / Milano / Lights in the Rain / Antonioni

CD 9: The Elders at the Edge of the World part 1 / Cultivation / Deep Spirit / Family Voice / Listen to the Sky / Sacred Prayers / Host for the Anointed / Bamboo Village / Blessed / The Flute Reaches Out / The World’s Fastest Train / Joyous and Delightful / The Elders at the Edge of the World part 2