The Squid's Ear Magazine


Melodic Art-Tet (Brackeen, Abdullah, Parker, Blank, Waters): Melodic Art-Tet (NoBusiness)

1974 recordings at WKCR in NYC from the quintet of Charles Brackeen (flute & sax), Ahmed Abdullah (trumpet), William Parker (bass), Roger Blank (drums) and Tony Waters (percussion), beautifully recorded and essential free improvisation.
 

Price: $18.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 5.00 units


EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:





Product Information:

Personnel:



Charles Brackeen-flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone

Ahmed Abdullah-trumpet

William Parker-bass

Roger Blank-drums

Tony Waters (Ramadan Mumeen)-percussion

Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.



UPC: 4779022074394

Label: NoBusiness
Catalog ID: NBCD 56
Squidco Product Code: 17643

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2013
Country: Lithuania
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Recorded on October 15th, 1974 at WKCR, NYC.
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1947) is a jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band.

Leroy Bland began performing at age 13 in his native New York City. By the 1970s he was performing in New York's loft scene, and joined the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1976, working there on and off until 1993, when Sun Ra died. During that time Abdullah participated in more than 25 recordings and traveled extensively with Sun Ra. He has performed with Chico Freeman, Charles Brackeen, Steve Reid, John Hicks and Marion Brown, among others. He led his own "Solomonic Quintet" and recorded for Silkheart and Cadence Jazz."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Abdullah)
3/4/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City, heralded by The Village Voice as, "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time."

In addition to recording over 150 albums, he has published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists.

Parker's current bands include the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, In Order to Survive, Raining on the Moon, Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind, and the Cosmic Mountain Quartet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore. Throughout his career he has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Milford Graves, and David S. Ware, among others."

-William Parker Website (http://www.williamparker.net/)
3/4/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Roger Blank (born December 19, 1938, New York City) is an American jazz drummer.

Blank's grandfather played saxophone and his father William Blank was a trumpeter who had performed with Cootie Williams. Blank worked with Hank Mobley in Harlem for several years and studied under Charlie Persip. He worked with Sun Ra starting in 1964 and recorded several times with him. He worked extensively on the New York jazz scene in the 1960s and 1970s; he played with and was influenced by Ornette Coleman, and helped found a group called the Melodic Art-Tet in 1971 which was devoted to playing in Coleman's harmolodic style. This group also included Charles Brackeen, Ahmed Abdullah, William Parker, and Ronnie Boykins. Other associations included work with Bill Barron, Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Dennis Charles, Walt Dickerson, Kenny Dorham, Frank Foster, Charles Greenlee, John Hicks, Ken McIntyre, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Charles Tolliver. He relocated to Atlanta in the 1980s and led an ensemble there, but moved back to New York in the 1990s, where he lived in the Williamsburg neighborhood."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Blank)
3/4/2026

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Parker, Evan
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Quintet Recordings
Instant Rewards

Search for other titles on the label:
NoBusiness.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Perelman, Ivo / Matthew Shipp
Armageddon Flower
(Tao Forms)
A summit of master improvisers as tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman joins the Matthew Shipp String Trio — Shipp on piano, Mat Maneri on viola, and William Parker on bass — for a profound studio session of dynamic, four-way conversation that balances drama with hope, forging a richly textured and deeply expressive work of improvised chamber jazz.
Hirsh, Steve Trio w/ Eri Yamamoto & William Parker
Root Causes
(Mahakala Music)
An inspired session of spontaneously lyrical collective interplay from drummer Steve Hirsh with pianist Eri Yamamoto and bassist William Parker (also performing on gimbri), recorded in a single afternoon at Brooklyn's Park West Studios, presenting four fully improvised pieces that balance nuance, empathy, and depth with free yet cohesive expression.
Christi, Ellen (Christi / Buchanan / Ulrich / Parker / Brown)
Instant Reality
(Network)
A striking exploration of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation, this 1992 session unites vocalist and pianist Ellen Christi with Steve Buchanan (electric guitar), Tomas Ulrich (cello), William Parker (bass), and Lefferts Brown (loops), weaving dynamic vocal phrasing, bold instrumental textures, and evolving electronic layers into an immersive and unpredictable sonic landscape.
Barker / Parker / Irabagon
Bakunawa [VINYL]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
New York creative scene stalwarts drummer Andrew Barker, bassist William Parker, and saxophonist Jon Irabagon debut as a trio, delivering five collectively improvised explorations that emphasize call-and-response dynamics, weaving and reacting with technically impressive, extended, and unconventional techniques and expressions delivered with confident assertion.
Parker / Costa / Ernstring
Pulsar
(NoBusiness)
Rotterdam-based collaborators, alto saxophonist Hugo Costa and drummer Philipp Ernsting, invite legendary bassist William Parker to join them in a Netherlands studio for threeimprovisations that emphasize emotional spontaneity and raw intensity, creating music that finds beauty in exploration and a transformative journey through expressive conversation.
Hirsh / Swell / Clouse / Parker
Out On A Limb
(Soul City Sounds)
Brooklyn Saxophonist and Park West Studios founder is the common thread to this quartet with Steve Hirsh on drums, Steve Swell on trombone and William Parker on bass, all frequent collaborators in innumerable projects, here in three extended improvisations beautifully recorded, showing the wealth of experience each has alone and in collective expression.
Carter, Daniel / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear Volume 2
(577 Records)
Inspired by a poem Daniel Carter wrote about the transience and motion of modern life, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this second of two volumes from an excellent studio session.
Carter, Daniel / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear Volume 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Inspired by a poem Daniel Carter wrote about the transience and motion of modern life, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this second of two volumes from an excellent studio session.
Parker, William / Ellen Christi
Cereal Music
(Aum Fidelity)
William Parker's first spoken word album, and the continuing collaboration between Parker and composer, vocalist and sound designer Ellen Christi, who developed the underlying tracks, sung vocals and overall sound architecture for Parker's insightful, observational and revealing words and recitation, Parker also providing bass and flute that complement his life-affirming texts.
Parker, William / Cooper-Moore / Hamid Drake
Heart Trio [VINYL]
(Aum Fidelity)
A mesmerizing and organically spiritual album of collective improv from three global travelers based around the NY and Chicago scenes--long-time collaborators William Parker, Cooper-Moore and Hamid Drake--their instrumentation on this beautiful album also uniquely global, including doson ngoni, shakuhachi, bass dudek, Serbian flute, Ney flute, ashimba, hoe-handle harp and frame drum.
Borca / R. Brown / W. Parker / Workman / Nicholson / Murphy / Ibarra / Taylor-Baker
Good News Blues
(NoBusiness)
A vital member of groups led by Jimmy Lyons, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, Joe Morris and William Parker, bassoonist Karen Borca is heard in two Vision Festival performances under her own name performing her own compositions in trio, quartet and quintet formations with luminaries Rob Brown, William Parker, Reggie Nicholson, Susie Ibarra, Todd Nicholson, Paul Murphy and Newman Taylor-Baker.
Futterman, Joel / William Parker
Why
(Soul City Sounds)
Having worked together as members of the Kidd Jordan Quartet, pianist Joel Futterman and bassist William Parker recorded these collective duo improvisations in the studio in New York City in 2020, a perfect match of technical mastery pushing the boundaries of free playing through creative use of tonality, rhythm, and harmony from two extraordinarily compatibile improvisers.
Thollem
Worlds in a Life, Two
(ESP-Disk)
Reimagining sounds from his past collaborations with Nels Cline, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Terry Riley, and Michael Wimberly, Thollem transforms their performances into new sonic landscapes through real-time improvisation using samples from their improvisations, blending organic and electronic textures into a kaleidoscopic exploration of memory, transformation, and infinite creative possibility.
Mela, Francisco featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing.
Mela, Francisco featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3
(577 Records)
The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing.
Campbell, Roy / William Parker / Zen Matsuura
Visitation Of Spirits - the Pyramid Trio Live, 1985
(NoBusiness)
A superb album of 80's free jazz with a warmly lyrical loft influence and filled with jazz reference, from the trio of late trumpeter Roy Campbell, also performing on flugelhorn & flute, late Japanese/NY drummer Takeshi Zen Matsuura and bassist William Parker, in a never-before issued performance at Boston-area Brandeis University for five expansive conversations.
Lewis, James Brandon / Red Lily Quintet
For Mahalia, With Love [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Tao Forms)
Composer and tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis' exceptional Red Lily Quintet quintet (Kirk Knuffke on cornet; William Parker on bass; Chad Taylor on drums; Christopher Hoffman on cello) pays homage to gospel and jazz singer Mahalia Jackson through a suite of original Lewis compositions, reimagining some of Jackson's best known works; CD & LP issues include a bonus download track.
Shipp, Matthew Trio
Circular Temple
(ESP-Disk)
Originally released in 1992 on the US Quinton Records label, this trio album by New York improvisers, pianist Matthew Shipp (this being his first CD under his own name), bassist William Parker and drummer Whit Dickey, presents the four-part "Circular Temple" composed by Shipp, leveraging the language of jazz in remarkable ways, particularly the 2nd movement, "Monk's Nightmare".
Parker, William
Conversations IV [BOOK]
(RogueArt)
The fourth book in New York improvising bassist William Parker's interview with other improvisers, here with 29 interviews, and 24 works of art by Jeff Schlangler; interviews include Peter Brötzmann, Darius Jones, Ava Mendoza, Zeena Parkins, Tom Rainey, Bobby Zankel, Evan Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Micheal Bisio, Mario Pavone, Taylor Ho Bynum, &c.
Carter, Daniel / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Inspired by a poem Carter wrote about New York's interminable motion, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this first of two planned volumes from an excellent studio session.
Amba, Zoh / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 2 [COLOR VINYL]
(577 Records)
The second volume from the trio of Tennessee-to-NYC transplant Zoe Amba on tenor saxophone & flute, legendary double bassist William Parker and Francisco Mela on drums, performing three compositions by Amba recorded in the studio in NYC; emphatic free jazz with a powerful rhythm section elucidating Amba's spiritually fueled approach to compelling, lyrical improvisation.
Amba, Zoh / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
The second volume from the trio of Tennessee-to-NYC transplant Zoe Amba on tenor saxophone & flute, legendary double bassist William Parker and Francisco Mela on drums, performing three compositions by Amba recorded in the studio in NYC; emphatic free jazz with a powerful rhythm section elucidating Amba's spiritually fueled approach to compelling, lyrical improvisation.
Swell's, Steve Fire Into Music ( w/ Moondoc / Parker / Drake)
For Jemeel: Fire From The Road [3 CDs]
(RogueArt)
A triple CD of extended and magnificent performances between 2004 & 2005 from the quartet of Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on double bass, Hamid Drake on drums and Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, to whom this album is dedicated; two concerts in Texas and one at the Guelph Jazz Festival, with compositions from Swell and Moondoc plus collective improvisations.
Futterman, Joel / William Parker / Chad Fowler / Steve Hirsh
The Deep
(Mahakala Music)
Sounding as though they'd played together for decades, this 1st meeting between pianist Joel Futterman, bassist William Parker, saxophonist Chad Fowler and drummer Steve Hirsh is a single 52-minute free jazz exposition as the four immediately fall into an invigorating conversation that continues through diverse moods from pinnacles of activity to reflective tone worlds; masterful!
Mela, Francisco feat. Cooper-Moore / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 2 [COLORED VINYL]
(577 Records)
The second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, the trio of Francisco Mela on drums, Cooper-Moore on piano and William Parker on bass, recording in the studio in Brooklyn two extended, far reaching and powerful collective improvisations of music performed under the influence of Mela's work with, mentorship by and encouragement from pianist McCoy Tyner.
William Parker
Universal Tonality [2 CDs]
(Centering Records)
An incredible performance recorded at Roulette in NYC by a large ensemble of 16 jazz luminaries of various ages, cultures and musical backgrounds, led by composer and bassist William Parker, who explains that Universal Tonality is another name for love, the profusion of which is interpreted by vocalist Leena Conquest in a profoundly inspired concert of magnificent artistry.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC