Freedom Of Speech Billy Parker's Fourth World SKU: SES19754 Barcode: 5060149622636 34.00 £34.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Pure Pleasure Released Date: 27th October 2017 Buying Format: 180g 1LP Add to basket Reserve Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London THE HISTORY of this recording. Most of the musicians who gathered to record this fantastic spiritual jazz record for the Strata-East label on May 24th, 1974 had crossed each other’s paths in various musical pairings over the preceding few years. Husband and wife team Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals) and Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet) had been working together on albums like Frank Foster’s “Loud Minority”, and Roy Ayers’ “Coffy” and “Virgo Red”. Ten weeks before the “Freedom Of Speech” session, the couple had been joined in Tokyo by Cecil’s brother Ronald Bridgewater (tenor saxaphone) to record Dee Dee’s debut album, the beautiful “Afro Blue”. Also in the studio on May 24th, 1974 was Donald Smith, (piano, vocals), fresh from recording on his older brother Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Cosmic Funk” – on which Ronald Bridgewater had also played percussion. Cecil McBee (bass) was also there – just two weeks before, he’d completed his own Strata East date “Mutima”, and in February he’d played on Mtume’s “Rebirth Cycle” – with both albums also featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals. He’d also played on Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Astral Travelling”. So 1974 was a huge year for all five of these people. Donald Smith and Cecil McBee were six months away from recording on Lonnie Liston Smith’s massive “Expansions”, with McBee fitting in a few Pharoah Sanders albums in between. AND THEN, THE MYSTERY … So with all this fervent activity, the question has to be asked …Who was Billy Earl Parker Jr (drums), the leader of this session ?? Billy Parker remains unlisted as a musician on all major jazz sites. His only other recording appears to be as a percussionist on Charles Tolliver’s “Impact” in 1975. Then there’s nothing. Finally, by backtracking one of those Zoom info pages, I found a summary of a “SUNY Rockland Community College” 2002 press release that no longer exists : “Billy Parker’s Fourth World Legacy Concert ??…?The concert, Billy Parker’s Fourth World Legacy, is the eighth annual tribute honouring the late percussionist and RCC educator, Billy Parker. A long-time Rockland County resident, Parker began his affiliation with RCC in 1987, building its jazz program and maintaining his life-long tradition of teaching and inspiring others. A lifelong student himself, Parker was near completion of his doctorate in music education at New York University when he died in 1996. But then people began to read this blog post, and in the comments, Aaron Fuller said : “Billy Parker was my uncle. He was an incredibly talented, smart, and kind man. I’m very happy to see that folks are still enjoying his masterpiece. Just to give you a bit more information about him… He was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and then attended college at Michigan State University. He met my aunt in Lansing. They lived in NY and toured in Europe for quite a while. Sometime later they relocated to Nyack, NY and he ended up on the faculty of the community college while he pursued advanced degrees from NYU. He was an Ellington scholar. Although his name isn’t well-known even among the most avid jazz fans, I think that if you were to talk to some of the great NY musicians that were around in the late 60s and 70s you would find that most knew him. He also had a huge impact as a music educator and I have no doubt that his former students are all over the place, continuing to put his love of the art into practice.” Artist Billy Parker's Fourth World Genre Jazz Label Pure Pleasure Buying Options 180g 1LP Format 180g , 1LP Condition New Country United Kingdom Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Jazz View Product Quick View Lee Konitz Tenorlee Jazz | Candid Records | 180g, 1LP Released 1st December 2023 £26.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Lee Konitz Tenorlee £26.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Candid Records SKU: LPCND33221 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 1st December 2023 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Various Artists Jazz At The Pawnshop Jazz | 2xHD | 200g, 2LP Released 24th March 2023 £99.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Various Artists Jazz At The Pawnshop £99.00 Genre: Jazz Label: 2xHD SKU: 2HDLP1232 Formats: 200g, 2LP Released Date: 24th March 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Sonny Red Out of the Blue Jazz | Blue Note | 1LP Released 22nd December 2009 £13.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Sonny Red Out of the Blue £13.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Blue Note SKU: BLUENOTE4032 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 22nd December 2009 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Yusef Lateef Gentle Giant Jazz | Music On Vinyl | 180g, 1LP Released 1st September 2014 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Yusef Lateef Gentle Giant £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOVLP1160 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 1st September 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Kamasi Washington Fearless Movement Jazz | Young | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 3rd May 2024 £27.00 - £29.00 Select options Kamasi Washington Fearless Movement £27.00 - £29.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Young Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 3rd May 2024 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Grant Green Green Street (Classic Vinyl) Jazz | Decca (UMO) [GB] | Jazz | Blue Note | 180g, 1LP Released 15th December 2023 £26.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Grant Green Green Street (Classic Vinyl) £26.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Decca (UMO) [GB] | Jazz | Blue Note SKU: 5524263 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 15th December 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr Relaxin in Ireland Jazz | ACT | 1LP Released 16th November 2018 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr Relaxin in Ireland £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: ACT SKU: ACT98731 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 16th November 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Troyka Ornithophobia Jazz | Naim Jazz | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 26th January 2015 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Troyka Ornithophobia £22.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Naim Jazz SKU: NAIMLP212 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 26th January 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Billie Holiday All Or Nothing At All (Mono) Jazz | Analogue Productions | 180g, 2LP, 45rpm Released 20th November 2020 £65.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Billie Holiday All Or Nothing At All (Mono) £65.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Analogue Productions SKU: AVRJ832945 Formats: 180g, 2LP, 45rpm Released Date: 20th November 2020 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View George Benson Walking To New Orleans (yellow vinyl) Blues | Provogue | 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released 26th April 2019 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders George Benson Walking To New Orleans (yellow vinyl) £18.00 Genre: Blues Label: Provogue SKU: 0819873018889 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released Date: 26th April 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Jazz Start again
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