Raining on the Moon

Last updated

Raining on the Moon
Raining on the Moon.jpg
Studio album by
William Parker Quartet featuring Leena Conquest
ReleasedMay 21, 2002
RecordedOctober 2, 2001
Strobe-Light Studio, NYC
Genre Jazz
Length48:41
Label Thirsty Ear
THI57119-2
Producer William Parker
William Parker chronology
Raincoat in the River
(2001)		Raining on the Moon
(2002)		 Eloping with the Sun
(2001)

Raining on the Moon is an album by American jazz bassist and composer William Parker's Quartet featuring vocalist Leena Conquest, which was recorded in 2001 and released on the Thirsty Ear label. [1] [2] Since the original album, the name has also come to identify the group from this record, including, on all subsequent releases to date, pianist Eri Yamamoto. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Pitchfork Media 8.4/10 [7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]

In her review for AllMusic, Paula Edelstein states "Parker's basslines exchange and transform the compositions into textured applications of free jazz, loaded with unfamiliar improvisations and shifting between crisp and blunt and through blues, bop, and free" [6] Pitchfork's review noted "The album generally sticks with a strident, determined tone, with echoes of 60s and 70s protest music-- Conquest often evokes the spirit of, say, Abbey Lincoln on Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite -- yet the lyrics don't signify opposition so much as they dream of alternatives: a better world, more justice, watermelons that grow on trees... These are wild visions, but they sure seem real, and even attainable, when Conquest sings of them". [7] The Penguin Guide to Jazz observed "There is something refreshingly sanguine and upbeat about all the music on this record". [8]

The All About Jazz review noted "What marks Raining on the Moon as unique in Parker's long list of recordings is its raw accessibility. Listeners from various backgrounds will find this disc inviting and exciting. And if that serves the purpose of introducing Parker's vision to new ears, it's more than done its job". [9] PopMatters enthused "With Raining on the Moon, Parker gives evidence to back up his large stature in creative music, showing himself to be a modern day Charles Mingus. Here, he proves once and for all that any divisions between mainstream jazz and its more avant garde brethren need only be drawn in the minds of myopic listeners". [10]

Track listing

All compositions by William Parker

  1. "Hunk Pappa Blues" – 6:57
  2. "Song of Hope" – 6:33
  3. "Old Tears" – 5:32
  4. "Raining on the Moon" – 14:09
  5. "Music Song" – 3:37
  6. "The Watermelon Song" – 2:28
  7. "James Baldwin to the Rescue" – 8:01
  8. "Donso Ngoni" – 1:24

Personnel

Discography

Since the release of this album, credited to "William Parker Quartet featuring Leena Conquest," several albums have been released with the Quartet and Leena Conquest, as well as pianist Eri Yamamoto. These albums are credited to "William Parker / Raining on the Moon" or "William Parker & Raining on the Moon"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Parker (musician)</span> American jazz musician

William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Shipp</span> American pianist, composer, and bandleader

Matthew Shipp is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader.

Guillermo E. Brown is a multi-disciplinary performer whose works include Soul at the Hands of the Machine, The Beat Kids' Open Rhythm System and Sound Magazine, Black Dreams 1.0,...Is Arturo Klauft, Handeheld, Shuffle Mode, WOOF TICKET EP, PwEP2, forthcoming full-length album Dream&Destroy and performance piece Bee Boy. His one-man theater piece, Robeson in Space, premiered at Luna Stage (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe McPhee</span> American jazz musician

Joe McPhee is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day.

AUM Fidelity is an independent record label in New York City primarily devoted to avant-garde jazz artists such as William Parker, Matthew Shipp, and David S. Ware. It has also released recordings by improvisational rock band Shrimp Boat and exclusively distributes the CaseQuarter and Riti labels. It was founded in 1997 by former Homestead Records label manager Steven Joerg.

Thirsty Ear Recordings is an American independent record label. It was founded in the late 1970s as a marketing company for the then-unnamed alternative music field, and expanded to issue its own records in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David S. Ware</span> American jazz saxophonist

David Spencer Ware was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Cleaver</span> American drummer

Gerald Cleaver is a jazz drummer from Detroit, Michigan.

<i>Scrapbook</i> (album) 2003 studio album by William Parker Violin Trio

Scrapbook is an album by American jazz bassist and composer William Parker's Violin Trio featuring Billy Bang which was recorded in 2002 and released on the Thirsty Ear label.

<i>I Plan to Stay a Believer</i> 2010 live album by William Parker

I Plan to Stay a Believer is a double live album by American jazz bassist William Parker, which was recorded between 2001 and 2008 and released on the AUM Fidelity label.

<i>Painters Spring</i> 2000 studio album by William Parker Trio

Painter's Spring is an album by American jazz bassist and composer William Parker's Trio, featuring saxophonist Daniel Carter and drummer Hamid Drake, which was recorded in 2000 and released on the Thirsty Ear label.

<i>Lucs Lantern</i> 2005 studio album by William Parker

Luc's Lantern is an album by bassist and composer William Parker which was recorded in 2004 and released on the Thirsty Ear label.

<i>Corn Meal Dance</i> 2007 studio album by William Parker / Raining on the Moon

Corn Meal Dance is an album by American jazz bassist and composer William Parker's Raining on the Moon, which was recorded in 2007 and released on the AUM Fidelity label.

<i>Alphaville Suite</i> 2007 studio album by William Parker Double Quartet

Alphaville Suite is an album by bassist and composer William Parker's Double Quartet inspired by the film Alphaville (1965), which was recorded in 2007 and released on the RogueArt label.

<i>BalladWare</i> 2006 studio album by David S. Ware Quartet

BalladWare is an album by saxophonist and composer David S. Ware's Quartet which was recorded in 1999 but not released on the Thirsty Ear label until 2006.

<i>Wood Flute Songs</i> 2013 live album by William Parker

Wood Flute Songs is an eight-CD box set by bassist and composer William Parker which was recorded in California in 2006, Houston in 2007, Geneva and Montreal in 2011and New York in 2009 and 2012, and released on the AUM Fidelity label.

<i>New Orbit</i> 2001 studio album by Matthew Shipp

New Orbit is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp recorded in 2000 and released on Thirsty Ear's Blue Series. Shipp leads a quartet with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

<i>Pastoral Composure</i> 2000 studio album by Matthew Shipp

Pastoral Composure is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, recorded in 2000 and released on Thirsty Ear. It was the first installment of the Blue Series, a collection of releases curated by Shipp. He leads a quartet with trumpeter Roy Campbell, bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver. The album includes a version of Duke Ellington composition "Prelude to a Kiss" and a rendition of the French traditional song "Frère Jacques".

<i>Equilibrium</i> (Matthew Shipp album) 2003 studio album by Matthew Shipp

Equilibrium is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp recorded in 2002 and released on Thirsty Ear. According to Shipp, this fourth Blue Series record is a synthesis of what he learned from all their other albums in the series. He continues exploring beat elements with modern jazz.

<i>Live in the World</i> 2005 live album by The David S. Ware Quartets

Live in the World is a live album by the David S. Ware Quartets. Six tracks were recorded in Switzerland in 1998, and feature Ware on saxophone, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Susie Ibarra on drums. The remaining tracks were recorded in two locations during 2003: Terni, Italy, with Ware, Shipp, Parker and drummer Hamid Drake; and Milano, Italy, with Drake replaced by Guillermo E. Brown. The album was released as a triple CD set by Thirsty Ear Recordings in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ Lopez, R., William Parker sessionography, accessed May 27, 2014
  2. ↑ Thirsty Ear catalog, accessed May 27, 2014
  3. ↑ "WILLIAM PARKER – Great Spirit". www.aumfidelity.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ "WILLIAM PARKER – CORN MEAL DANCE". www.aumfidelity.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ "WILLIAM PARKER – Wood Flute Songs: Anthology/Live 2006–2012 Box Set". www.aumfidelity.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Edelstein, Paula. William Parker – Raining on the Moon: Review at AllMusic . Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Dahlen, C., Pitchfork Review, August 20, 2002
  8. 1 2 Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. pp.  1031. ISBN   0141023279.
  9. ↑ AAJ Staff, All About Jazz Review, May 20, 2002
  10. ↑ Kenyon, J., PopMatters Review, September 19, 2002
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.