El Taller Latino Americano is proud to present the Encuentro of William Parker (double bass) and Jeff Schlanger (visual artist) as part of our 35 Years Celebrations. The night will feature live painting and an exhibition by Jeff, with musical collaborations between William and special guest, Oluyemi Thomas on bass clarinet, as well as a special collaboration and reunion between William and Bernardo Palombo.
The evening will close with a Chaski Award presentation to Jeff Schlanger for his artistic vision, support of El Taller and commitment to creating space for creative dialogues.
About William Parker William Parker is an improviser, and composer. He plays the bass, shakuhachi, double reeds, tuba, donson ngoni and gembri. He was born in 1952 in the Bronx, New York. He has studied bass with Richard Davis, Art Davis, Milt Hinton, Wilber Ware, and Jimmy Garrison.
William Parker entered the music scene in 1971, playing at Studio We, Studio Rivbea, Hilly's on The Bowery, the Salt and Pepper club and The Baby Grand, and quickly became a sought after bass player in the New York music scene. He has played with many musicians from the avant-garde such as, Bill Dixon, Sunny Murray, Charles Tyler, Billy Higgins, Charles Brackeen, Alan Silva, Frank Wright, Frank Lowe, Rashid Ali, Donald Ayler, Sonny Simmons, Jeanne Lee, Gunter Hampel, Karl Berger Dave Burrell, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons, Milford Graves and with traditionalists like Walter Bishop, Sr. and Maxine Sullivan.
For more information on William Parker, please visit his website.
About Jeff Schlanger Jeff Schlanger is a distinctive New York City sculptor and painter who has created public art projects focused on three interrelated subjects: Peace, War and Music.
Jeff is best known for his groundbreaking "MusicWitness" paintings, in which, over the past three decades, he has documented music on canvas at a variety of venues and live performances. His paintings have also graced the covers of many free jazz musicians who play in New York city and worldwide.
In addition to his paintings, Jeff is a sculptor and ceramicist, creating political works of clay. His Estadio Chile, a wall of 300 sculpted faces, memorializes those who were killed by Pinochet during the destruction of Chilean democracy.
Jeff has been a documentarian on canvas of El Taller's performance from the early days and his collection of ink drawings of concerts at the cultural art center continues to shape the artistic history of the organization.
El Taller is honored to award Jeff with the Chaski Award in recognition of his unique documentation of the artistic and political worlds, for reminding us of the power of artist as a social critic, and for creating an artistic archive of El Taller's own musical history.
For more information on Jeff Schlanger, please visit his website.
