The Wire (p.61) - "The three solo bass offerings are simply spectacular..."
JazzTimes (p.123) - "A quartet of merengue musicians lays down steady beats; soloists add melodic motives and rhythmic cells that wash over the beats like waves on the beach, overlapping, vaguely cyclic, loosely linked."
Personnel: William Parker (bass instrument, 8-string bass); Omar Payano (vocals, guiro); Luis Ramierez (accordion); Dave Sewelson (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Isaiah Parker (alto saxophone); Todd Nicholson (bass instrument); Gabriel Nunez (bongos, timbales).
This selection of the free jazz bassist's individual and ensemble work spans the gentle, reflective "There Is a Balm in Gilead" and the frenetic Latin-style "El Puente Seco." "Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy" features a bowed acoustic bass solo, while "Pok-A-Tok" is a circular blues and the meditative "Long Hidden Part One" features a pensive doson ngoni (a type of lute from Mali) pattern.