William Parker 10/10 & 10/11 NYC

[Steve Reynolds]

At The Stone:

Bands were as follows:



10/10 Thursday
8 pm
In Order to Survive
Rob Brown (alto sax) Lewis Barnes (trumpet), Steve Swell (trombone) Cooper-Moore (piano) Hamid Drake (drums) William Parker (bass)

10 pm
Raining on the Moon
William Parker (bass) Leena Conquest (voice) Rob Brown (alto sax) Lewis Barnes (trumpet) Eri Yamamoto (piano) Hamid Drake (drums)


10/11 Friday
8 and 10 pm
O’Neal’s Porch Quartet
William Parker (bass) Rob Brown (alto sax) Lewis Barnes (trumpet) Hamid Drake (drums)


question is how do I even start to explain my experience over those two nights?

Some may have seen instant quick messages which were blurted out here or there slobbeerin on about the drummer...so how to say something that isn't read as Reynolds is being a Hamid Drake fanboy, blah blah blah....

let's see - How about my prior impressions of the core quartet and the related bands?

for whatever reason I have only seen In Order to Survive and that was as recent as last Summer - in June @ Vision Fest - and my experience was that the band was tight, loose and that Cooper-Moore was the highlight - and that Drake was Drake and that Parker was a bit rote and Brown was good and that Barnes was simply OK - a fine show with a few quibbles...

so I was excited to see that Steve Swell was standing between Brown and Barnes - and they started with a new composition that last just under 30 minutes - and it featured all band members sololin and interextaing and again Cooper-Moore was wonderful although probably undermiked - and the composition took on some Mingusian qualities towards the end when it morphed into something that I still can't fathom in it's excitement and complexity.


Parker then urged Drake to take a solo - and if he didn't play another solo the next night, all was worth it - I was in the front row 5 feet from the kit - and his beaut, his mastery of rhythms is simply unmatched by anyone who I've ever heard - live or on record - and THEN - William plays the bow, Cooper-Moore then closes the cover to the keys and sings and screams the blues for a bit - and 40 minutes in, it couldn't get better - and it didn't - 2 nice tunes - the next to last a Hymn that was a bit saccarine and cloying - it wanted to be a south africa type piece - it didn't quite work but fine by normal standards - and the closing piece nice but maybe the set lasted a few minutes too long at 65 minutes

Second set with the singer very very fine with the great composition James Baldwin to the Rescue being incredibly vibrant, melodic and swinging like a MFer....

next night my wife decides to go (thnak jah - she was in a miserbale mood nagry at the world for whatever reason 0 so we go in early and order a coupld of CD cabinets and wait for the rain that never came and got our seats in the second row saved....


and then we walk up and see Hamid - and she STOPS - so I say to the drummer that my wife loves - and he smiled and I walked inside and 10 minutes later I think she was still chatting it up with him - she is starting to remember last Summer

I tell her THIS time it will be different - we are in a little place and it will sound different.

William tells us the compositions they will play and that they will probably play right through

and hour later, I'm not jaded to anything - thew quartet at the core is immense, gorgeous, Rob Brown is insane and out yet grounded, Lewis Barnes is everything in between - nothing beyond the normal yet steeped deep into all of the tradition and now - and William here and in the secnd set never picked up the bow - and played better than I have ever heard him - and drum solo happened somewhere about half way in and it was more incredible than on the previous night if that was possible....and the melodies and compostions from Parker are cleaner, clearer and more stunning than I ever realized.

so I expected the seocnd set to be similar - and it wasn't - Malachi's mode with Parker on a crazy little horn was the simply put - the best duet with a drummer I've ever heard - Drake plays everything that I've never any other durmmer play - and the SOUND of his drums and the metal and cowbell - no more, I promise

and it's over and I am trying to tell a few people afterwords that never saw him before that were stunned that night that maybe Hamid Drake is NOT the greatest drummer they will ever see - and I'm really not believing myself except knowing I saw and I see well you know - I see them all and love them all - but these 2 nights......resonating.....

and on the way to the car my wife says this is the greatest band ever and he is the greatest drummer of all time - and I stop fighting, I surrender, she knows, I know - no not a contest - must be like when they saw the giants back in the day - well as good as these are giants in the day of today....

the sweetness and beauty between Parker and Drake is love, it is what people who have heard and who have listened and seen says it is - it is beyond this world - beyond my words or anyone else's


peace and blessings