William Parker - Flower in a Stained-Glass Window & The Blinking of the Ear

This special edition release is comprised of two newly recorded full-length albums, distinct in personnel & approach, yet complementary in ethos.

William Parker is (and has been) on a profound and voluminous creative flow. Both of these albums, recorded in Summer 2018, follow up his exemplary 3CD box set Voices Fall From the Sky. Flower in a Stained-Glass Window features vocalist Leena Conquest, a tremendous interpreter of Parker's work in song. She sings and speaks atop of and within a fresh ensemble featuring Parker's bass (and first time ever on the trap drum set!) together with long-time compatriots trombonist Steve Swell & saxophonist Dave Sewelson, South African drummer Kesivan Naidoo, Parker's son Isaiah on piano, as well as younger saxophonic talents Abraham Mennen and Nick Lyons.

This work is dedicated to the inspiration of Martin Luther King, and the lyrical content pulls no punches delivering the truth as Parker sees it. The message is: social and political justice and equality for all human beings. Flower.. was slated for release on it's own, until William Parker had a summer residency at The Stone/ New School in New York in which "The Blinking of The Ear" was presented in wholly extended form by an ensemble featuring Daniel Carter (see, the recently released Seraphic Light), Steve Swell, Eri Yamamoto on piano, William Parker and young Leonid Galaganov on drums, with the mezzo soprano singer AnnMarie Sandy.

This composition first appeared on the Voices Fall From The Sky box set in a voice/piano/drums reading. Here, as Parker writes in the liner notes: The dream was to combine written music with improvised music; slowly and seamlessly folding them together as one. This sextet live version wholly realized that dream; it was an extraordinary event in music called universal tonality. The piano and voice were familiar with their parts, the quartet came in used the idea: hear a sound feel a sound. Nothing was predetermined and it really happened. So it was forthwith decided to include this recording and make it a true double-album event! Astonishing work, all of this, packaged in a limited edition deluxe 8-panel digipak, with liner notes by William Parker.