Search - William Parker, Hamid Drake :: Piercing the Veil 1

Don Cherry Lives On!

The Mascara Snake | Deepintheheartof Appalachia | 07/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the wonderful oppurtunity of seeing these two guys perform a lot of this material live just before this CD came out at the Vision festival in the spring of 2001, and let me just say that this is music that can really grow on you. I had been familiar with Mr. Parker's work for quite some time and had heard many good things about Mr. Drake, but had never heard his playing. I watched these two men pull up to the venue, and unload an upright bass and AN ENTIRE STATION WAGON FULL of percussion instruments, and then proceed to listen and play with each other non-stop for almost 2 hours, but I wasn't converted then... it was a little too much to take in all at once. I had to go home, buy the CD, listen and remember the performance, and really let their personalities settle in for a while. Now they have become strong role models in my life as a musician. This CD is a very good representation of what these two gentlemen do, they have found the common threads in many/string/wind/percussion instruments, and use them all as vehicles for expression and interaction with one another. Drake is a consummate percussionist and Parker is surprisingly multi-instrumental. And because of these multi-instrumental capabilites (and the many variations of music they create), and also the wisdom to take the only the best of what they recorded, and to organize the pieces in a balanced and vairied fashion, the CD remains interesting throughout. They have also made quite a few other recordings together with other musicians in various formats, and I highly recommend checking these out as well."

Is my experience unusual?:

. | Chicago, IL USA | 06/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So many times, I've enjoyed the rythm-section-dominated intro to a tune, only to be less than pleased with the theme to follow, either with the less-hip-lines in the 'other' instruments, or in many cases,(of stuff from the last 30 years or so),with the plastic-toy sounds of of poorly-chosen-and/or-adjusted electronic instruments and processors. No problem here; When you enjoy the very cool bass-and-drums/percussion of each of these tracks, you can relax in the knowldege that it will continue ininterupted."