William Parker is In Search of Enlightenment

William Parker Light Ensemble: September 8th, 16th, 23rd at 7pm
William Parker Big Band and Voice Choir: September 28 & 30th at 7pm
Doors 6:30pm

In September, FourOneOne hosts William Parker, the improviser, composer, bandleader, and numinous griot from the Bronx. "In Search of Enlightenment” spans rehearsals, workshops, and performances with two ensembles, the William Parker Big Band and Voice Chorus and the William Parker LIGHT Ensemble. Developed in conjunction with new and longtime musical collaborators, both groups foreground the spiritual aspirations that have been integral to Parker's practice since the 1970's, and further develop his deeply held convictions of the healing capacities of performance.

William Parker is a bassist, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, activist, mentor, educator, treasured raconteur, and longtime resident of the Lower East Side. Born in the Bronx in 1952, he studied the double bass with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware, and began performing in the early 1970s. His invaluable and ongoing contributions to creative improvised music take form in over 150 album recordings, six books, teaching and mentorship of hundreds of young musicians and artists, and an essential role as a community connector and caretaker-griot for the history of Black American creative music. A player of the shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donso ngoni, and gembri as well as the bass, Parker emerged as a key figure in American and European creative music scenes in the 1970s and 1980s through close collaborations with iconic pianist Cecil Taylor, German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, New York tenor David S. Ware, and Chicago percussionist Hamid Drake. In the 1990s, he embarked on equally successful turns as a bandleader, composer, and recording artist in his own right. In the words of artist Faye Victor, Parker remains "a beacon of light and wisdom" for new generations of performers and audiences globally, through his unflagging performances, teaching, and numerous collaborations with artists worldwide.