Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy
1996 studio album by William Parker
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Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy is an album by the American jazz double bassist William Parker, recorded in 1995 and released on Homestead.
| Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Recorded | December 18, 1995 | |||
| Studio | Tedesco Studio, Paramus, NJ | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 69:29 | |||
| Label | Homestead | |||
| Producer | William Parker | |||
| William Parker chronology | ||||
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The album is the third part of a sound trilogy including the sextet In Order to Survive and the solo bass Testimony. In Order to Survive is the name of the ensemble, a quartet with Rob Brown on alto sax, Cooper-Moore on piano, and newcomer Susie Ibarra on drums. "Unrestricted" is a piano-drums duo dedicated to saxophonist Julius Hemphill. "Goggles" is dedicated to bassist Earl Freeman. "For Robeson" is for Paul Robeson. "Malcolm's Smiles" is for Malcolm X. The cover art is a "MusicWitness" painting made during live recording by Jeff Schlanger.[1]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz |  [3] |
In his review for AllMusic, Don Snowden states "Slack moments are rare and the evenly balanced contributions of all four musicians make this a fine example of freewheeling collective improvisation."[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that compared with the previous album the tracks "are more developed and feature some of the bassist's very best writing."[3] In a double review for the Chicago Reader, Peter Margasak says that Parker's original compositions "employ a variety of melodic and structural gambits toward a single goal: highly sensitive and all-enveloping improvisation."[4] In an article for the Boston Phoenix Ed Hazell notes that "Each track is a cathartic cry from the heart, complex, yet with utter clarity of structure."[5]
Track listing
- All compositions by William Parker
- "Compassion" – 10:38
- "Malcom's Smile" – 9:44
- "For Robeson" – 5:41
- "Holiday for Hypocrites" – 8:10
- "Testimony of the Last Flower" – 0:37
- "Dejenos en Paz" – 8:05
- "Unrestricted (for Julius Hemphill)" – 5:42
- "Goggles" – 10:53
- "The Eye of the Window" – 9:59