Mayan Space Station (Centering Music)
William Parker
Released July 23, 2021
Arts Fuse 2021 Jazz Critics Poll Top 10 New Album
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/07HfHVDOF8HTlv0TdmWQQQ?si=M2PEiZMKS5mGO9Y1ByQkrg
About:
Following on the monumental Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World box set earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser & community leader William Parker released an astonishing Pair of brand new trio albums 6 months later which further expound on his profound and limitless vision: Mayan Space Station -&- Painters Winter: williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/painters-winter. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, Parker continues to raise the bar higher. As ever, AUM Fidelity is deeply honored & incredibly stoked (!) to present this work to you.
Mayan Space Station is William’s first electric guitar trio album as a leader [ not forgetting the sublime fully improvised collaboration, Altitude: joemorris-aum.bandcamp.com/album/altitude ].
Here, the unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by William Parker & Gerald Cleaver is matched by Ava Mendoza in full flight. This is cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel.
William Parker first worked with Ms. Mendoza on a project entitled Thunder and Flowers for his July 2019 residency at The Stone in NYC. Her prodigious & long-honed six-string skills have illuminated many projects and recordings as both leader and collaborator over the past decade and as is utterly clear here, she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music.
Gerald Cleaver is an exceptionally gifted poet of drum sound who can play in the deepest of pockets and manifest all manner of sound to perfectly fit evolving contours within the most open of forms. Cleaver & Parker have worked closely on numerous projects, notably within the nonpareil full-improvising trio, Farmers By Nature, together with Craig Taborn : farmersbynature.bandcamp.com
William Parker is in vibrant grandmaster blossom here on double bass – in both pizzicato & bow-as-prism modes.
Regarding the album title, Parker offers: “Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a fictional reality that is important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians – Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver – belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, ‘travel the space ways.’ Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments.”
Track Listing:
1. Tobasco (William Parker) 05:39
2. Rocas Rojas (William Parker) 06:43
3. Domingo (William Parker) 07:09
4. Mayan Space Station (William Parker) 14:42
5. Canyons of Light (William Parker) 10:05
6. The Wall Falls Down (William Parker) 13:50
Personnel:
William Parker: bass
Ava Mendoza: guitar
Gerald Cleaver: drums
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered February 2020, at Park West Studios, Brooklyn, by Jim Clouse
Produced by William Parker
AUM Fidelity production by Steven Joerg
Art & Design by William Mazza Studio
Review:
The immediate impact of the recording Mayan
Space Station is that of a sheer out-and-out physicality presented by this
music. While it is obvious the
musicians—guitarist Ava Mendoza, bassist William Parker and
drummer Gerald Cleaver—are engaged in the nonautomatic operation of their
respective musical instruments, their Herculean efforts are conspicuous. While
rarely recognized, credit must be given to engineer Jim Clouse who recorded,
mixed and mastered this session to center the listening experience on the
band’s energy.
What he captured are six compositions by William Parker for an electric
guitar/bass/drums trio that draws as much from heavy rock and psychedelia as it
does from the jazz and blues tradition. From the opening fire-breather
“Tabasco” to the dénouement of “The Wall Tumbles Down,” the
most descriptive word here is scorch.
Mendoza’s electric
guitar comes from the same school as that of Sonny Sharrock, Hedvig
Mollestad, and Raoul Bjorkenheim. This take no prisoners approach is
undoubtedly why Parker chose her for this project, just as other artists
like Jon Irabagon and William Hooker have utilized her
talents. Same goes for Cleaver who can be heard with Parker in such projects as
Farmers By Nature with Craig Taborn, his organ quartet.
The title track may best exemplify Parker’s electric guitar
trio philosophy. With Cleaver laying down a chugging forward pulse, Parker
first pulls handfuls of notes from his bass before applying his bow to cast
dense energy fields across this nearly fifteen minutes of exuberance. All the
while, Mendoza is casting psychoacoustic soundings of dynamic positiveness to
the world. Rockers say “Amen.” So do the psychedelic and spiritual
jazzers.
Mark Corroto (All About Jazz)
