aining On The Moon, the latest release from the William Parker Quartet, is not exactly my cup of tea. Which is not to say in any way that it is bad music; if anything, it’s musically superb. It is jazz music, for people who really love jazz music. I don’t really love jazz music, probably mostly because I haven’t taken the time to get into and understand it as much as I probably should have by now. Sure, I have the typical stuff- Miles, Coltrane, Monk, even some Freddie Hubbard and Bill Evans- but William Parker is beyond me. I feel almost guilty for not absolutely loving this album- it’s not because I don’t want to love it, but because I don’t know how.


Raining On The Moon is an album, I’m sure, that true jazz aficionados would be quite enthusiastically discussing at length. I, on the other hand, am going to have to keep it short, simple, and honest (yet enthusiastic, I assure you) in an attempt to at least do the album some sort of justice, which it definitely deserves.


The thing that struck me immediately was the tightness and proficiency of the playing, which isn’t very surprising, considering Parker has been on the free jazz scene since the ‘70s. I know enough about modern jazz to know Parker is considered one of the leading bassists in the free jazz scene, even having a reputation for being avant-garde, but I don’t know enough about modern free jazz to know if the avant-garde aspect of his reputation is reflected on this album. The bass doesn’t sound terribly avant-garde, although this is no doubt skewed by the fact that I can’t help but think of music like Otomo Yoshihide when I hear the phrase “avant-garde.”


Enough hiding behind page-filling exposition, though; my original thought was that the music was played expertly, and I mean this in the sense that it becomes apparent as you listen to the improv aspects of the album that each player really knows his instrument. Each song consists of much more than the players simply memorizing their respective parts. The songs are certainly structured and arranged with an amazing sense of harmonic progression, yet there is plenty of breathing room for unexpected elements to unfold within the music. I’m thinking especially of the various instances that a strange little cymbal fill will make it’s first and only appearance in a song, or the way that the trumpet will veer off into a freeform skronk. Another interesting aspect to the actual playing of the music is that all the instruments are on a similar level in the mix, which is a pretty glaring difference when compared to a lot of the music I usually listen to. Again, I have no idea if this is typical of modern free jazz and bop, but the overall effect is that you can hear the individual instruments interacting very closely, working intimately together, reacting to each other, contributing equally to the whole of the song; this is the part of the album that I enjoy the most, just hearing the band physically work together.


If any one element stands out on any given song, it is the vocals of Leena Conquest, although the vocals are not nearly as far forward as I’m used to hearing. They are definitely a highlight of the album, rich and earth-toned, delivered in a fashion unconventional by most standards I’m familiar with yet entirely appropriate to the music. The lyrics speak to a tradition of black folk music and spirituality, melding with the music with a splendor that even I, jazz dunce supreme, can’t help but appreciate.


Raining On The Moon is an album that is elegant yet earthy, precise yet organic, consistently performed with my idea of consummate skill. It is certainly one of the better, and more interesting, pieces of jazz that I have ever heard, my limited experience be damned; I have no doubt that hardcore jazz heads would agree with me in that regard. Nonetheless, I am unable to say that it amazes me, that it blew me away time and again, that I love it with all of my heart. I did, however, like it enough to suspect that I feel the way I do because I haven’t heard enough jazz to have anything legitimate to compare it to or make me appreciate it fully. What I can say, and this is one of the biggest endorsements I could give any album, is that it makes me want to learn more about the genre as a whole. It has the feel of an album that is certain to grow on me with time; or perhaps more appropriately, it is an album that I will grow into with time.