"AT SOMEWHERE THERE"

It's a great pleasure to announce the release of WILLIAM PARKER AT SOMEWHERE THERE, his first solo recording in more than a decade, on Barnyard Records. Jean Martin has done a typically loving job with this one, which features an extraordinary 48-minute bowed bass tour de force, "Cathedral Wisdom Light," and two short musical sorbets to round out the disc: "For Don Cherry" on dousn'gouni and "For Ella Parker" on double flute. The artwork is by the musicWitness, Jeff Schlanger, which is appropriate since the live concert from which the recording and painting were taken (July 2008) served to launch the ongoing exhibition of Jeff's work in the Somewhere There foyer.

Both William and Jeff will be coming to Toronto for an extra-special celebration for three wonderful new releases on Barnyard. The text of the media release follows:

BARNYARD RECORDS TRIPLE CD LAUNCH 2010:

Date:
Tuesday, 2 March, 8pm

Christ Church Deer Park
1570 Yonge Street, Toronto
(just north of St. Clair subway)

Admission: $10 advance (available at Soundscapes, 572 College St., Toronto)
and $15 at the door; special price for new CDs, $10/each, at the event

Program:
Andrew Downing, Jim Lewis & Jean Martin

William Parker - solo bass

Christine Duncan conducts The Element Choir, a 60-voice improvising choir with William Parker (bass), Andrew Downing (bass) Jim Lewis (trumpet), Jean Martin (drums) , and Eric Robertson (pipe organ)

This very special event will feature legendary New York double-bassist, William Parker, launching his first solo CD in over a decade, William Parker At Somewhere There , recorded live in Toronto in July 2008 by Jean Martin. “[Parker’s] signature synaesthetic philosophy invites colour-drenched metaphors for the swirling forms sprouting from his bow and bass: Prismic refraction, gardens blooming, a harvest feast being prepared. It’s playful, as seriously playful as your life.”

It will also feature Christine Duncan’s extraordinary 60-voice improvising ensemble, The Element Choir, in collaboration with William Parker, bass; Andrew Downing, bass; Jim Lewis, trumpet; Jean Martin, percussion; and Eric Robertson, playing the church’s beautiful Karl Wilhelm pipe organ, to launch The Element Choir At Rosedale United. “They possess the musicality, playfulness, and restraint to allow these unique and, in the most sublime moments, overwhelming sound resources (not only instruments and voices, but also the space itself) to be harnessed and channeled into a tangible feeling of wonder. This is very literally a wonderful record.”

Furthermore, the exquisite improvising trio of Andrew Downing, double-bass; Jim Lewis, trumpet; and Jean Martin, drums and percussion, will launch On a Short Path from Memory to Forgotten. This passionate and lyrical sequence of group improvisations introduces one of Toronto’s extraordinary creative music ensembles.

In addition, the legendary New York-based “MusicWitness,” Jeff Schlanger, whose artwork graces the cover of William Parker At Somewhere There, will be there to paint all of the musicians while they perform. The Barnyard Records Triple CD Launch 2010 is much more than just a music concert. It is a massive gathering of sound and spirit, a celebration of the energy and talent that makes Toronto an international capital of creative music.

Quite simply, it will be an utterly unique musical and artistic event, the outcome of years of painstaking and original work by Barnyard Records and its artists.