top of page

*Tethers from the Tone World: Gary Hassay/William Parker/Tracy Lisk + Matt Lavelle Solo

Thu, Sep 12

|

Black Squirrel Club

The real mayor of New York City, the one and only William Parker, will be playing bass alongside Philadelphia's Tracy Lisk on drums and Allentown's Gary Hassay on Alto Saxophone. Matt Lavelle opens with a solo

*Tethers from the Tone World: Gary Hassay/William Parker/Tracy Lisk + Matt Lavelle Solo
*Tethers from the Tone World: Gary Hassay/William Parker/Tracy Lisk + Matt Lavelle Solo

Time & Location

Sep 12, 2024, 7:00 PM

Black Squirrel Club , 1049 Sarah St, Philadelphia, PA 19125, USA

About the event

It is with great pride, that we are presenting one of the most innovative bassists of our time, an inspiration to many in the worlds of free jazz and creative music. When William plays there is a true belief that what we are doing is special, that it is sacred, that there is a better way of being calling to us. It is with tremendous excitement that he is joined by Tracy Lisk, painter and drummer, whose recent resurgence has seen them playing up and down the east coast and touring through Europe.  They'll form a trio with the venerable Gary Hassay, saxophonist and throat singer, whose played with the best in the world and brought many a jazz legends through Allenton via his presenting company ImprovCo.

Opening is Matt Lavelle, student of harmelodics and one of the best human beings on the planet. His compassion, grace, and deep knowledge of jazz history, lets him travel the worlds of this music with clarity and depth. 

$20-$36

No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds at the Door. Advance Tickets will be prioritized.

Hassay/Parker/Lisk

William Parker- Contra Bass, Little Instruments, Misc

Tracy Lisk- Drums

Gary Hassay- Alto Saxophone

Matt Lavelle- trumpet,fluegalhorn,  alto clarinet, bass clarinet

Bios

William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City. He has recorded over 150 albums, published six books, and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists.

He has been called “one of the most inventive bassists/leaders since [Charles] Mingus,” and “the creative heir to Jimmy Garrison and Paul Chambers...directly influenced by ‘60s avant-gardists like Sirone, Henry Grimes and Alan Silva.” The Village Voice called him, “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time” and Time Out New York named him one of the “50 Greatest New York Musicians of All Time.”

Parker’s current active bands include the large-band Little Huey Creative Orchestra, the Raining on the Moon Sextet, the In Order to Survive Quartet, Stan’s Hat Flapping in the Wind, the Cosmic Mountain Quintet with Hamid Drake, Kidd Jordan, and Cooper-Moore, as well as a deep and ongoing solo bass study. His recordings have long been documented by the AUM Fidelity record label and on his own Centering Records, among others. He also has a duo project "Hope Cries For Justice" with Patricia Nicholson Parker which combines music, story telling, poetry and dance

Over the decades, Parker has developed a reputation as a connector and hub of information concerning the history of creative music, recently culminating in a two hefty volumes of interviews with over 60 avant-garde and creative musicians, Conversations I & II.  He is also the subject of an exhaustive 468-page “sessionography” that documents thousands of performances and recording sessions, a remarkable chronicle of his prolificness as an active artist.

He has been a key figure in the New York and European creative music scenes since the 1970s, and has worked all over the world.  He has performed with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Peter Brotzmann, Milford Graves, Peter Kowald, and David S. Ware, among many others.

William Parker works all over the world but he always returns to New York’s Lower East Side, where he has lived since 1975.

Tracy Lisk is a percussionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ms. Lisk’s history as a painter informs the substance of her improvisations which contain references to rhythmic structures while maintaining a fluid, suspended continuity. She has lead percussion ensembles, and regularly tours as a drummer in the US and Europe. She has collaborated with William Parker, saxophonist Gary Hassay, Andrea Pensado (electronics/voice), dancer Ryuzo Fukuhara (JP, SI), Mia Zabelka (AU), and cellist Helena Espvall (PT), among others.

Grammy Nominated Gary Hassay (alto , tenor and soprano saxophones) has been performing since 1979 with various groups, both as a leader and a sideman. His large ensemble, "Dr. Vincent Sakeeda's Attack Ensemble", founded in 1979, was a tour de force of free music which drew critical and public attention. Beginning in 1985, interdisciplinary collaborations have become the main interest of Mr. Hassay. Working in partnership with choreographer Karen Carlson has produced more than thirty-seven performance scores (musician/dancer ) in nine years. "The Stubborn Trio" (Gary Hassay/Karen Carlson/action painter Howard Greenberg) performed together for over four years. An inter-active computer environment installation (Scott Sherk, George Shortess, Gary Hassay, Karen Carlson) occurred in 1997. "The New Lounge", is the name of one of Hassay's current musical projects (alto sax, drums and guitar). A solo cd project entitled "A Survivor's Smile" was released on the Dbops Music label in November, 1996. In 1999 "Another Shining Path" was released on Drimala Records and received qualifications for Grammy Awards in four categories. Dbops Music released a limited edition cd (alto sax/violin) entitled "Dbops Pollittics" in June, 2001. In March, 2002 Drimala Records released a duo cd "Blackwater Bridge" featuring harpist Anne LeBaron. Blackwater Bridge made the Grammy ballot in two different jazz instrumental categories, and has almost completely sold out. In late 2004 the new cd titled “Tribute To Paradise” with Gary Hassay and Ellen Christi was released on Drimala Records. “Tribute” is Gary Hassay's debut as a Tibetan style throat singer, and the disc is selling well while receiving great reviews.

Matt Lavelle is a trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and alto clarinet player and composer. He began his music career with Hildred Humphries, a swing era veteran who played with Count Basie and Billie Holiday. In 2002 he began performing in ensembles led by Sabir Mateen. In 2005, Lavelle began study with Ornette Coleman. Lavelle was a member of the Bern Nix quartet from 2010-2017. In 2011 Lavelle created the 12 Houses Orchestra. Lavelle has played and collaborated with Ornette Coleman, William Parker, Warren Smith, Henry Grimes, Eric Mingus, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Maneri, Ras Moshe, Hilliard Greene, Steve Swell, Matana Roberts, Bern Nix, Jack DeSalvo, Charles Downs, Tom Cabrera, Francois Grillot, Giuseppi Logan, William Hooker and many others. Lavelle published his first book, New York City Subway Drama and Beyond, in 2011. In 2013 he published a second book called The Jazz Musician’s Tarot Deck. Lavelle is also the author of the blog No Sound Left Behind.

Share this event

bottom of page