Piercing the Veil

by Tom SchulteThis AUM Fidelity recording represents the pairing up of two icons of modern free jazz: bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake. This is the first time the duo formed and the forward-thinking title suggests more collaboration as a pair in the future. They first met in Peter Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog ensemble, and the same no-holds-barred approach to extemporaneous jazz can be heard here. Also represented are the stunning, unexpected twists of Byzantine rhythms one would expect from such a free thinking rhythm section without other instruments.