Music has always been around. As a child, William Parker, born in 1952 in the Bronx, played a toy trumpet and only discovered the instrument that was to make him famous during high school. Bassist Parker is a kind of living legend – the guardian of the last 30 years of New York avant-garde; he is also a festival producer. In the 70ies, he played with Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry, and in the 80ies with Cecil Taylor. Pianist Matthew Shipp has been his partner for many years, as well as Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake and Joe McPhee. Parker’s interests are as diverse as his leader and sideman discography is long. An encounter between this outstanding bassist and another bassist of his calibre is extremely appealing: for several years, Sebastian Gramss has been pursuing the “Double the Double Bass” project. His duet partners include Barry Guy, Barre Philips and Mark Dresser. These collaborations reveal fine differences in their approaches to playing as well as a richness of the instrument’s nuances, allowing completely new rhythms and melodic freedom to develop. Now Gramss and Parker improvisingly explore the possibilities of the double bass and of playing together. Parker once said that great musicians are not great because they play well, but because their music has a magical power – which they will demonstrate this evening.
