Legendary bassist, composer, improvisor, and multi-instrumentalist William Parker unveils new work, which consists of two new works at Roulette over two nights with two special ensembles.

Night one: Friday, December 13
Veil Of Compassion, Tone Poem number 8

gabby fluke mogul violin
William Parker bass shakuhchi, strings, electronic sound collage, text
Eri Yamamoto piano
Ann-Marie Sandy voice
Patricia Nicholson dance
Ava Mendoza guitar
Michael TA Thompson percussion
Jackson Krall handmade bells and percussion
Ellen Christi vocals
Katerina Pansera video and stage design

Night two: Saturday, December 14
The Wisdom Of Winos (dedicated to Akira Kurosawa)

Kyoko Kitamura vocals
William Parker music montage, flutes, film collage
Ikuo Takeuchi percussion and spoken word
Remzi voice, electronics
Miya Masaoka koto electronics
Jo Wood Brown video “Waking the Sea” – with additional footage of William Parker (unknown)

A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. Watch below or on YouTube.

William Parker is a bassist, improvisor, composer and educator from New York City. He has recorded over 150 albums, published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists. He has been called “one of the most inventive bassists/leaders since (Charles) Mingus” and “the creative heir to Jimmy Garrison and Paul Chamber….directly influenced by 60’s avant-gardists Sirone, Henry Grimes and Alan Silva”. The Village Voice called him “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time” and Time Out New York named him one of the “50 Greatest New York Musicians of All Time.” Parker has been a key figure in the New York and European creative music scenes since the 1970’s and has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Peter Brotzman, Milford Graves, Peter Kowald and David S. Ware among many others. He was awarded the Vision Festival 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award by Arts for Art. He works all over the world but he always returns to New York’s Lower East Side, where he has lived since 1975.