Bio

William Parker bassist, multi-instrumentalist, author, composer, librettist Born 1952 Bronx, New York -

William Parker is a composer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist, an author and educator who has recorded over 250 albums, 60 of them as co-leader. His work features a range of concepts and ensembles, from solo bass to quartets, sextets, and large ensembles such as the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra and Huey's PocketWatch Big Band, as well as special projects such as The Essence of Ellington and The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield. He has composed music for the Wroclaw Symphony Orchestra as well as a host of commissions for large and small ensembles. He has composed music and librettos for numerous multi-media operas including Trail of Tears, Vision Peace and Battle Cries, and Mass for the Healing World, in addition to hundreds of pieces of vocal music. All of Parker's music incorporates his concept of Universal Tonality. They all include improvisational languages and possibilities.

Since the early 1970s Parker has been a central figure in creative music, performing at Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Hilly's on the Bowery and The Baby Grand. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of collaborators including Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill, Billy Bang, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, Sunny Murray and the late Kidd Jordan, as well as many leading European improvisers in the free music scene such as Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann and Han Bennink. In 1974 he performed with Cecil Taylor at Carnegie Hall, and from 1980 to 1991 was a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit. The Village Voice described him as the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time. His recordings as a leader include O'Neal's Porch, the Raining on the Moon ensemble and the multi-disc collections Wood Flute Songs and For Those Who Are Still on AUM Fidelity and his own Centering Music. In 1994 he founded the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra. He received the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2013 and the Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

Recent Highlights

• Observations: Selected Works 1967–2023 — major collected volume of writings, essays, notes, and reflections, 2023.

• Pierre Boulez Concert Hall, Berlin — concert with ensemble presenting original compositions and extended improvisations, 2023.

• Holocaust Museum, Krakow — concert performance in a program of remembrance and creative music, 2023.

• Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, New York, June 2024.

• Huey's PocketWatch Big Band — large ensemble concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, 2024.

• Ellington in Mourning — BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Lena Horne Bandshell, August 2025.

• Black May Music — Bennington College, 2025.

• Segue Reading Series at Artists Space, New York, with Marina Abramović, 2025.

• Artists on Artworks: William Parker on Jennie C. Jones — The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• First Mauro Bardusco Award, Jazz & Wine of Peace Festival, Italy.