Kalaparusha On the Edge of the Horizon

Bassist William Parker has been at the epicenter of New York’s downtown jazz scene since the early ‘70s, playing with countless bandleaders (including Cecil Taylor, David S. Ware, and Matthew Shipp) and leading several excellent bands. This 2012 live multitrack recording marks the reemergence of In Order to Survive for the first time in more than a decade. All five musicians here have played together in a variety of contexts, with Parker and drummer Hamid Drake recognized as a rhythm section of unsurpassed power (here, particularly on the opener “Aquixo Waiting at Dark Corridor”). Yet the interaction between the jagged-toned alto saxophonist Rob Brown and effervescent trumpeter Lewis Barnes is equally compelling, whether they're playing melodic unison lines on “Shadows Arms Waving” or bobbing and weaving around each other on “Falling Promise.” Pianist Cooper-Moore, the wild card here, pivots from atonal shards to cascades of notes with many textures in between. It all adds up to creative music at its best.