It’s a hell of an undertaking to endeavor to make a musical product that adequately reflects the vast artistry and legacy of bassist William Parker. That’s what Italian keyboardist Giancarlo Tossani and his Big Monitors quintet recently accomplished with their Parker tribute Knots and Notes. Sometimes bringing in a vocalist, Amanda Noelia Roberts — just as Parker has utilized Leena Conquest as an effective conduit for his poetry — Big Monitors surveys Parker’s work over thirteen tracks.
In the spirit of Parker, they’ve taken liberties with some of their interpretations and even fluidly weave in some of their own originals. Tossani had also left large swathes of uncharted areas where his band (Tobia Bondesan, alto sax; Gabriele Mitelli, pocket trumpet, alto flugelhorn and synths; Michele Bondesan, double bass; Andrea Grillini, drums) can thrive on their own creativity.
One standout performance from Knots and Notes is “O’Neal’s Porch,” which perfectly captures the swagger of 40s and 50s jazz, filtered through a timeless, gutbucket blues strain. It solidifies — in my mind, at least — Parker’s status as the closest thing we have to Charles Mingus walking on Earth.
In Big Monitors’ hands, “O’Neal’s Porch” gives you a great idea of how much they honor Parker precisely by re-imagining his compositions. There’s a sax/trumpet ruckus going on before that familiar, bass-riffed theme enters the room. But before long, Bondesan and Mitelli are stretching that pattern to its very outer limits. Tossani meanwhile is roaming around totally free; there was no piano on Parker’s original, so Tossani has to create his own space from nothing, and does so confidently.
The only part that seems to hue to Parker’s arrangement is a return to the theme after the bass solo, and even then there’s a tentative hold on it. This is all about the exhilaration of freedom coupled with the majesty of tradition. That’s probably the best way to honor William Parker.
Knots and Notes is now available through the Italian creative jazz label Auand Records.
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