"Following on the monumental Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World box set earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser & community leader William Parker released an astonishing Pair of brand new trio albums 6 months later which further expound on his profound and limitless vision: Mayan Space Station -&- Painters Winter: williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/painters-winter. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, Parker continues to raise the bar higher. As ever, AUM Fidelity is deeply honored & incredibly stoked (!) to present this work to you.
Mayan Space Station is William's first electric guitar trio album as a leader [ not forgetting the sublime fully improvised collaboration, Altitude: joemorris-aum.bandcamp.com/album/altitude ].
Here, the unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by William Parker & Gerald Cleaver is matched by Ava Mendoza in full flight. This is cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel.
William Parker first worked with Ms. Mendoza on a project entitled Thunder and Flowers for his July 2019 residency at The Stone in NYC. Her prodigious & long-honed six-string skills have illuminated many projects and recordings as both leader and collaborator over the past decade and as is utterly clear here, she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music.
Gerald Cleaver is an exceptionally gifted poet of drum sound who can play in the deepest of pockets and manifest all manner of sound to perfectly fit evolving contours within the most open of forms. Cleaver & Parker have worked closely on numerous projects, notably within the nonpareil full-improvising trio, Farmers By Nature, together with Craig Taborn : farmersbynature.bandcamp.com
William Parker is in vibrant grandmaster blossom here on double bass – in both pizzicato & bow-as-prism modes.
Regarding the album title, Parker offers: “Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a fictional reality that is important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians – Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver – belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, ‘travel the space ways.’ Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments.”
AUM Fidelity
