William Parker - Corn Meal Dance Orchestra 2007

and then there is the Raining On The Moon Band, which is more "free mainstream vocal" jazz, with Leena Conquest stealing the show. The first record of this band is an absolutely highly recommended piece of music, with Leena Conquest singing on only three tracks. Here, she is in the spotlight, and Eri Yamamoto joins on piano. The other band members are the same : William Parker on bass, Rob Brown on alto saxophone, Lewis Barnes on trumpet and Hamid Drake on drums. The concept is also the same - Parker's political poetry sung with insistence and powerful rhythm, drenched in the blues tradition, but on the second album it is a little bit softer, less angry, more to the center of the spectrum, lighter, more song-like, gospel-like, more composed in the various meanings of the word. Yet the concept is so strong, the musicians so good, that I really don't care that it sounds like a CD 2 of the same album, rather than a new album in its own right (the last track "Gilmore's Hat" sounds like an replica of "Raining On The Moon"). Improving on the first one was impossible. This one is nice to hear too, but the adventure is gone.

Free Jazz

1 DOCTOR YESTERDAY 8:40
2 TUTSI ORPHANS 7:12
3 POEM FOR JUNE JORDAN 2:58
4 SOLEDAD 9:53
5 CORN MEAL DANCE 8:56
6 LAND SONG 11:33
7 PRAYER 3:53
8 OLD TEARS 8:35
9 GILMORE'S HAT 7:15


All compositions William Parker,
except 'Old Tears' music by William Parker & words by Leena Conquest

2007 AUM Fidelity


William Parker - bass
Rob Brown - alto saxophone
Lewis Barnes - trumpet
Eri Yamamoto - piano
Leena Conquest - voice
Hamid Drake - drums

Produced William Parker and Steven Joerg.
Recorded Joe Marciano at Systems Two Studio,
Brooklyn on January 3, 2007
Mixed and Mastered M. Marciano and S. Joerg May 2007.