Search - William Parker & Leena Conquest :: Raining on the Moon

William's poetry comes to life

Cathy Austin | Oakland, CA United States | 06/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you enjoyed William's Oneal's Portch, this is a definate extension of that concept. Grooving beats and great solos from the quartet with an added treat of Leena Conquest vocalizing Mr. Parker's wonderful poetry. She has a wonderful voice. There's humor, hope, dedication, just damn great modern jazz!I have to say that I somewhat hesitant in buying the CD. I'd listen to another CD by Mr. Parker with vocalist but they just didn't hit the mark."

Beautiful stuff

afbg02 | San Francisco, CA United States | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a particular fan of jazz double bass, I have really enjoyed this disc. Mr. Parker plays some great chops here. His playing is vibrant, aggressive, thrilling. I'm not a big fan of jazz vocals, but I still really enjoyed Ms. Conquest's singing. It's beatiful and at times hypnotic. As a jazz amateur, I found this disc a bit more accessible than Mr. Parker's "Piercing the Veil, Part 1" or "O'Neal's Porch", both of which I also love and strongly recommend. The tunes here are more coherent and contained than some of his other more free jazz work, although I find them no less enthralling.

"

Huey and John's Chicken & Waffles

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 06/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"So my review title is silly, but the music and lyrics are not. Receiving this for Christmas 2006, it has become my favorite William Parker Quartet (sorta) album, of those I own. As much as I enjoy this quartet (william, hamid drake, rob brown - alto, lewis barnes - trumpet), most famously of O'Neal's Porch it's not my favorite thing William does. When you add Leena though, you really get great results.



For someone to be on an album with 2 of my all-time favorites (William Parker & Hamid Drake), and be the star of the album... that's a big deal. This is also (at least of albums I have/have heard) the best disc for framing William's lyrics and verbal, poetic spirit. Song of Hope is a mini masterpiece. I can't think of any other way to say it, but I don't want to dip into its topic here. Just listen. Raining on the Moon (the song) could have been titled When Hell Freezes Over, and as much as it's proudly defiant, it's not negatively angry. Leena is brilliant the way she sings his words to life.



If you own one of my favorite albums, Mayor of Punkville, then you know and probably love James Baldwin to the Rescue. While that one is all-powerful, I'm also very much a fan of it here in this lighter, smaller band with a different arrangement.



This band is more straight-forward than much of William & Hamid's work together... it's almost like an early '60s Blue Note sort of angle... so if you're wanting something massive... mysterious grooves that can make you dance, and later tear your head off as alien nano-carnivores nibble at your mind, make sure to get Never Too Late But Always Too Early, but when you want something smaller, where there's a spotlight on Leena, give this a try. I decided to review it now because I'm really looking forward to the William Parker Sextet (the quartet + Leena + Eri Yamamoto on piano) that the Aum-Fidelity label has recorded.



(10/25/07 edit: My above-mentioned WP Sextet album, Corn Meal Dance, has been released and it's beautiful. Even better than this album, overall. Essential, and there is zero chance of me considering it anything other than 1 of the best releases of 2007.)"