William Parker: In Order to Survive
Formed back in 1993 when Susie Ibarra held the drum throne, In Order to Survive is one of bassist William Parker’s oldest working ensembles. The current lineup of drummer Hamid Drake, alto saxophonist Rob Brown, and pianist Cooper-Moore has been an intense model of small group improvisation where the leader’s feverish, tightly-coiled lines ground the quartet’s loose themes while also pushing and pulling his cohorts into extended flights of exploration
As DownBeat wrote of the rhythm section, “The pair extend, compress and explode time in endlessly simpatico ways—a fulcrum of motion that provides Brown and Cooper-More plenty to dig into.” Each performance by the group wends through a limitless array of modes, a constant shuffle of density, groove, and bobbing-and-weaving interaction, with Brown’s lithe, post-Jimmy Lyons lyricism riding those waves like a seasoned surfer and Cooper-Moore’s shape-shifting lines injecting furtive, darting accents, tsunami-grade swells, and post-bop solos that routinely summon a good chunk of jazz history in their slaloming narrative arcs.
William Parker’s IN ORDER TO SURVIVE // “Criminals In The White House”
