Live At Yoshi’s 2006 / Live At Yoshi's 2006

Bassist William Parker has been a near-ubiquitous figure in the global avant-garde jazz scene for 40 years, having played with countless musicians over that time. This two-set performance from 2006 finds him working with some of his favorite players: saxophonist Rob Brown, trumpeter Lewis Barnes, and rhythmic soulmate Hamid Drake on drums. Launched as a unit in 2001 but with history among the members going back much further, chemistry is never an issue with this band. Much of the material is improvised as Parker typically lays down a series of grooves that everyone (including him) riffs off of. Conventional solo-then-refrain methodologies aren’t necessarily observed, and the other three will often follow the main soloist down the rabbit hole only for them all to come out somewhere else and proceed from there. The energy and joy of this group’s music is palpable—this is a voyage of discovery for the musicians as well as the audience, who can rightfully be heard clapping and cheering.