Scintillating recordings by Giuffre, Swallow and Bley, in the early winter of their annus mirabilis; mostly drawn from studio work earlier in the year, but exhilaratingly transformed, freshly spontaneous.
Hotly recommended.

Dazzling abscondments from bebop, as fresh and challenging now as then.
Microtonal and pointillistic; formally forensic and equal handed; freely and limpidly expressive. Strictly no going through the motions; no cliches; no posturing, or emotional bluster.
‘What comes out is an investigation of sound from the inside out, textually, tonally, spatially’ (as Pitchfork describes a much later session).
Clarinet solos, and duos and trios with Steve Swallow and Paul Bley. 
Amazing stuff.

The Brotherhood Of Breath in 1972, tremendous, back at last.

Inspirational, joyous melding of African dance music and free jazz. The Brotherhood Of Breath’s 1971 recording debut, for RCA’s Neon imprint, produced by Joe Boyd.

Searing, ultra-dread Chicago blues. Total murder like Double Trouble, when Otis had barely turned twenty, with Ike Turner on second guitar. Genius.

Perhaps his best LP, from 1975, with an ace band, including horns. Rough, raw, and emotionally gripping as ever, and slashed through with his unmistakable guitar sound, from the mean, rollicking opener Cut You Loose to the Diddleyesque, wigged-out, hard-shuffling finale Motoring Along.

Perfect uptempo rock steady from the Gaylad (copping a little British Invasion, a bit late in the day). The flip carries the swing, though: a magnificent horns cut to Delano’s Tell Me Baby, by The Gaysters.

Classic LP with the Roots Radics, mixed by Scientist at Tubbys.

Firing interpretations of Curtis, full of funk and soulfulness, grooving jazz fire, and good old-fashioned revolutionary politics, by this octet with Hamid Drake, Dave Burrell, Leena Conquest, Amiri Baraka.
Dynamite twenty-minute version of (Don’t Worry) If There’s A Hell Below, We’re All Going To Go.

Four dazzlingly varied, closely written, new works — WP’s first composition for symphony orchestra; a commissioned piece for a standing new music ensemble; a chamber-jazz song series featuring Leena Conquest; and something for a particularly diverse line-up, Universal Tonality in mind. Handsomely presented; a limited edition.

His long-standing quartet with Hamid Drake, Rob Brown and Lewis Barnes — plus singer Leena Conquest and pianist Eri Yamamoto. The entire balance of the material recorded at the 2007 session for the classic Corn Meal Dance album.

‘A gorgeous soul-jazz organ quartet album that hearkens back to the early-mid ‘60s; fully revitalized by William Parker’s indelible compositions and the generous musical gifts of Darryl Foster, Cooper-Moore, and Gerald Cleaver. A straight-up joy. This very special project was produced by William Parker for his own Centering Records imprint, and dedicated to his Aunt Carrie Lee and Uncle Joe (pictured on the cover). It was created to celebrate the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary on August 6th, 2010.’
A one-time-only LP pressing, remastered and re-sequenced, including a download card for the album as originally released on CD, adding three tracks.