There is history, as regards the rather obvious references (not only in the dedication) to the capital Revolutionary Ensemble of Leroy Jenkins & C., but largely in the performance of the singular violinist but more generally activist Billy Bang, witness of the still thorny US racial issues, as well as the socio-identity repercussions of his country's war adventures (at least two of his twenty-five albums: Vietnam-the Aftermath and Vietnam-Reflections, very recent, however, involved not only US veterans of the conflict but also musicians from the country opponent), and that among the various record and concert participations he left a clear trace at least in the String Trio of New York, which saw him as an active co-founder and animator.
A parallel figure with even less need for presentation, the great double bass player William Parker remains a cornerstone of the expression and commitment of the free scene, present in over a hundred recordings (among which we would not forget to mention the recurring partnerships also with local talents ) but more in detail a skilful architrave of the current views of a post-free of research and testimony of the contemporary.
The latter traces an admiring memory of his older and late colleague, not hesitating to define him at least "lyrical, gentle and majestic" in his performance and personality expressions: «Although I was born and raised in the Bronx, I was a rather serious individual and stiff, I felt the need for someone to bring out my sense of humor: that person was Billy Bang. He taught me to laugh, and through laughter to be able to see life as the most serious thing there is."
Composite and planning album (but more shrewdly experience), Medicine Buddha marks one of Bang's last live battles shortly before his disappearance, announcing himself with authoritative communication already in the eponymous piece, marked by imposing vibratory tensions, and an extensive and profound excavation of the endowments expressions and the chromatic palettes of the respective, wooden instruments, proceeding with symbiotic inspiration and organic interaction along a captivating program with a high expressive tension, which in many respects appears to be pervaded above all by a sense of ceremoniality that is not limited to idiomatically ritual rooms orientalist ( Sky Song ) or of African eruptiveness ( Bronx Aborigines ) but also in stentorian drama ( Eternal Planet) and in the warlike swing ( Buddha's Joy ) of conceptually alternating moments but in any case of free scheme and powerful representation, touched and traced by strong eloquence and participation in a different way aestheticizing and in any case vivid and anti-rhetoric. - Aldo Del Noce
Tracks
1. Medicine Buddha (Billy Bang/William Parker)
2. Sky Song (Billy Bang/William Parker)
3. Bronx Aborigines (Billy Bang/William Parker)
4. Eternal Planet / Dedicated To Leroy Jenkins (William Parker)
5. Buddha's Joy (William Parker)
BILLY BANG violin, kalimba
WILLIAM PARKER bass, shakuhachi, xalam
Recorded live at The Rubin Museum Of Art, New York, on the 8th May, 2009.
NoBusiness Records - NBCD 71 (Lithuania)