Welcome to Squidco!
Edit Your Shopping Cart

   Squidco Home
   About Squidco
   My Account
      Log Out
   Checkout

   Artist List
   Label List
   eMail List
   Rewards
   Staff Picks
   Current Email Update
   Used Albums
   Top Sellers
   Gift Certificates
   The Squidco Blog
   Contact Us

Release Formats    ∇
Featured Genres    ∇
Instrumental Forms    ∇
Orchestration    ∇
Miscellaneous    ∇




The Squid's Ear Magazine
Memorial Day Sale!
   Save 10% to 15% on all new albums!!


Parker, William

Conversations IV [BOOK]

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.
 

Price: $42.70
Price Was: $44.95
Squidco Memorial Day Sale

Quantity:

In Stock
Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 36.00 units

Product Information:

Personnel:



William Parker-author, interviewer

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


485 pages, Text in English. 29 interviews by William Parker. 24 artworks by Jeff Schlangler. Edited by Ed Hazell.

UPC: 9782953150865

Label: RogueArt
Catalog ID: ROG-0128
Squidco Product Code: 33306

Format: BOOK
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: France
Packaging: Book
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"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/)
5/14/2026

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


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:

Book

Improvised Music
Compositional Forms
Jazz
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Parker, William
Various Artists & Compilations
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Compositional Music

Search for other titles on the label:
RogueArt.

Recommended & Related Releases:
Sparks Quartet (Yamamoto / Fowler / W.Parker / Hirsh)
Live At The Vision Festival XXVI
(Mahakala Music)
Recorded live at Vision Festival XXVI in Brooklyn, pianist Eri Yamamoto joins reedist Chad Fowler, bassist William Parker, and drummer Steve Hirsh for two expansive collective improvisations that unfold with strong lyricism and surging energy, balancing spiritual melodic phrasing, exploratory solos, and deeply responsive quartet interplay in a powerful document of contemporary free jazz.
Swell, Steve / Ellen Christi
Songs From the Poetry Box [Book + CD]
(The Bodily Press)
A multidisciplinary project from trombonist and poet Steve Swell and vocalist/sound designer Ellen Christi, pairing a book of Swell's poems with a CD of performances by a stellar ensemble including Roy Campbell, Sam Newsome, William Parker, AJ Federico, and Tom Bruno, blending spoken word, improvisation, and textural sound design into a meditation on experience, spirituality, and creative expression.
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".
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.
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.
Fowler, Chad / William Parker / Anders Griffen
Broken Unbroken
(Mahakala Music)
Led by New York wind and reed player Chad Fowler, who performs here on stritch, saxello & alto flute, this collective free jazz album brings together frequent collaborators, bassist William Parker (with whom Fowler plays in Dopolarians) and drummer & trumpeter Anders Griffen (heard on Thinking Unthinking and the Music of Frank Lowe) for two extended improvisations from contemplative to assertive.
Mela, Francisco feat. Cooper-Moore / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 2 [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.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC

New In:
Recent Releases
Improvisation
Electro/Experimental
Compositional
Rock & Related