Painters Winter, with multi-instrumentalist
Daniel Carter and drummer
Hamid Drake, is one of two simultaneously released trio outings by
William Parker for
AUM Fidelity. (The other is
Mayan Space Station with electric guitarist
Ava Mendoza and drummer
Gerald Cleaver.) Both of
Parker's sidemen have long been in his orbit. He and
Carter have worked together since the 1970s in various settings, most notably in
Other Dimensions in Music with
Rashid Bakr and
Roy Campbell.
Drake has been one of the bassist's most frequent drummers since 2000. That said,
Painters Winter is a long-overdue sequel to this trio's June 2000 date,
Painter's Spring. In addition to bass,
Parker plays shakuhachi and trombonium (a compact version of the trombone with similar timbre);
Carter plays trumpet, alto and tenor saxes, clarinet, and flute.
The music offered here travels outside often but almost never with jagged edges.
Parker composed these five long pieces especially for this date. Opener "Groove 77" finds
Carter using a mute on his horn, hovering about the rhythm section's airy swing. The trumpeter evokes the spirit of
Miles Davis' first quintet in delivering sweet modal melodies alongside open harmonics, as
Parker strolls around him and dialogues in pulses with
Drake, who underscores and illuminates with soft rim shots, skittering snare, and strident bass drum. After
Parker's brief, beefy solo,
Carter brings out his tenor and swings it home. On the title cut,
Parker's trombonium engages interplay and dialogue with
Carter's flute amid
Drake's bumping, muted tom-toms. They explore an elusive succession of tones delivered in attractive call-and-response cadences, not unlike those heard on vintage
Art Ensemble of Chicago recordings from the 1980s, albeit with a more focused and pronounced rhythmic approach.
Parker's rich, woody bassline introduces "Happiness" before
Carter's tenor enters with introspective lyricism atop
Drake's whispering, snare-forward rhythms. That is, until
Parker pulls out his bow for a frenetic yet oddly warm solo. His bandmates respond by picking up the tempo to push it over the line. "Painted Scarf" emerges as an abstract ballad inspired by Native American and Asian sources. The shakuhachi and clarinet entwine in open space as
Drake punctuates their interaction sparsely with toms and snare. Finally, "A Curley Russell" (after bebop bassist
Dillon "Curley" Russell, who died in 1986) offers deep, bluesy vanguard bop. There is glorious soloing from
Carter on alto and tenor, and killer kit work from
Drake.
Parker anchors it all; he transfers the music from its source inspiration in bop, then presents it for outside exploration with glee. The band delivers deep, swinging, avant blues with surprise -- and centered, advanced technique.
Painters Winter offers a canny display of group intuition and creativity with impeccable balance and taste, as one of the year's truly sublime trio outings. ~ Thom Jurek
![The Epic [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5054429002300_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "The Epic [LP]")
