Thursday, April 07, 2005

Bass lining

Check out my friend Carl Abernathy’s recent post on bassists in general and William Parker in specific. My own view is that bassists are key in many free jazz outings because they provide the beacon around which the improvisations revolve. You gotta get home eventually. The bass line is your marker.

I hear this in "From Valley to Valley," a CD from the Die Like a Dog Quartet (great name) including Parker, reedist Peter Brotzmann and, in this case, trumpeter Roy Campbell, which Carl gave me. Listen and I think you would agree Parker is the guy holding this very free session together. Good disk by the way, as long as you have an open mind.

No comments: