Search - William Parker & Little Huey Creative Music Orch :: For Percy Heath

Some passages, but not the beautiful beast of past Hueys

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 01/15/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded live on 5/22/05 at the Victo Festival in Canada. On this day, the Little Huey was Sabir Mateen, Darryl Foster, Rob Brown, Charles Waters and Dave Sewelson on saxophones and/or clarinets. Roy Campbell, Matt Lavelle and Lewis Barnes on trumpets. Steve Swell, Alex Lodico and Masahiko Kono on trombones. Dave Hofstra on tuba. Andrew Barker on drums. William Parker as bassist, composer and conductor.



Released too late to make it onto my Christmas list, I got this one around the 29th or 30th. I've had mixed feelings about it. I liked it the first time, but then after a few listens I felt it was losing steam. I took a few days away from it, listened to all my other Little Hueys, then refocused on this one and came away with a deeper, changing appreciation of it.



Depending on where in the musical spectrum you're coming from, I believe some people may come away thinking this one is noise. Even fans of other Huey albums. Taken as a whole, this one is more dense and less thematic than Raincoat in the River, Vol. 1: Ica Concert or Mayor of Punkville. Whereas themes, movements and even songs play a big part in those 2, they are a much smaller part here. That in itself is part of what makes this one interesting, though. For stretches of time, your senses are being assaulted... well, scattered. Then themes and small undercurrents will develop and overlap from behind the pervasive wall of sound. It's almost as if you're in one of those chaotic dreams, when all the sudden someone familiar from your past strolls right by you in a moment of calm and wonders why you're surprised to see them.



There are certain mindsets to which this will play to better than others. If you're just beginning to check out William Parker and you're coming from that angle of wanting to drink a few shots of something and listen to something that swings, this is not the album you want. If you're looking for something scarier... if you're more in a mindset of hypersensitivity rather than one of dulled anesthetization, this will do more for you.



Having said that, I still think there are better Little Hueys, or at least ones I prefer to this.



I give this one 3 stars because I like it... there are some passages I really like alot... dense, sonic chatter that seems to be bearing down on you from a crevice in your mind. But overall, I can't give this one 4 or 5 stars the way I've given previous Hueys. Nor as I've given in 2 of my most recent reviews of fantastic discs, The All-Star Game and Palm of Soul. For Percy Heath is good, but it's not at the level of those 2 magnificent, essential albums.



(11/14/07 edit: For an overlooked William Parker & Peter Kowald gem on this same Victo label, I present The Victoriaville Tape)"