William Parker: In Order To Survive/The Peach Orchard

If Charlie Parker was the dominant inspiration point for post-WWII be-bop, surely Ornette Coleman's fiery free jazz has been the key jazz focus for much of the rest of the 20th century. After all, Coleman has been a pivotal figure for almost 40 years, well past Bird's reign. Coleman was on target when he named his classic 1959 album The Shape Of Jazz To Come, as his flowing improvisations became the template for contemporaries Coltrane and Ayler, as well as such later players as bassist William Parker. But, strangely enough, jazz isn't the first thing that comes to mind with Parker's new double-disc collection, In Order To Survive/The Peach Orchard. Yes, his noteworthy quartet, which includes Cooper-Moore on piano, Rob Brown on alto sax, and the astounding Susie Ibarra on drums, mostly sticks to free-jazz material, but the pieces that stick out recall, of all people, minimalist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass. "The Peach Orchard," a 20-minute piece that closes the first disc, was inspired by a conflict between New Mexico Navajos and the U.S. Army, and Parker writes in his informative liner notes that the music is meant to evoke a sense of cultural imperialism. Cooper-Moore's percussive piano and the generally rhythmic drones lent by the other players is oddly reminiscent of such Reich phase pieces as "Music For 18 Musicians," a blanket of sound whose logic gradually becomes more apparent as the composition progresses. The connection between "Posium Pendasem #3" and Philip Glass is more obvious: Here, Cooper-Moore adopts some of the repetitive minor-key piano patterns that Glass favors, though Ibarra's percussion gives the chamber piece a bit more menace than Glass usually delivers. The discs' other six pieces aren't quite as intriguing, though the smart, fun free-bop of "Theme From Pelikan" and "In Order To Survive" stand as a nice contrast to the more in-your-face compositions.