Sunday afternoon show as part of Joe’s “Improv Now” series. These two master improvisers collide for four string based workouts. First tune has them on their home base instruments, that is Parker on acoustic bass and Morris on electric guitar. They said that they met in the 80s, and this long relationship manifests with a telepathic quality to their music. Morris, with eyes closed, squiggled while Parker plucked and bowed, spending time in and around strings. Next offering had Parker on ngoni and Morris starting on ngoni-tar and then moved to the floor to bang on some percussion. The ngoni is a west African instrument with a dried gourd of a base, stretched animal skin (usually goat), a neck with several strings to be plucked. Parker said that he was reading poetry in a park in Brooklyn and was approached by the mystical Don Cherry, who befriended him and turned him on to the instrument. In a similar fashion, Morris received a package from Parker with a small jeli ngoni which he then fashioned into a ngoni guitar or ngoni-tar. The third tune had Parker on guimbri and Morris on a banjo and then switched to a banjuke ( for those keeping score, a banjo ukulele). Parker mumbled some wordless vocals to shade this one. Parker is a downtown kook, he had a pink knit cap with green dots that made him look like an avant garde strawberry. Morris had long straggly gray hair that looked like he stuck a fork in a light socket while prepping to teach his course on differential sonic equations. Joe has taught music theory at the New England Conservatory for years and has the look of a crazed intellectual. Parker announces that he is going to throw an ice cream party and that we are all invited, which seemed random, but coming from this renaissance man, anything is probable. The final offering had Morris on acoustic bass and Parker on shakuhachi ( Japanese longitudinal end blown flute) and some sort of metallic mini vuvuzela. Parker also sang a little “ death has died today, god is in tears, and the devil has a big old grin”. It was a treat to see these two old friends spending an afternoon, laughing at conventions. They are not constrained by musical norms, normal musical instruments, or even the mode of delivery. Check Parker’s prolific Spotify presence and you are just as likely to hear an electronic piece as hearing him sing an indigenous ditty.
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