Style Weekly
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19. Alan Parker, “HAAM” 2:50
by Peter McElhinney
Since his Governor’s School days gigging with then-music teacher James “Saxmo” Gates more than a decade ago, Alan Parker has been one of the most interesting guitarists on the local scene. A prolific sideman — with Stone’s Stew, Bungalo 6, Brian Jones Guitar Quartet, Jason Jenkins Group — he’s led some individualistic trios, including this one, featuring bassist Matt Hall and drummer Billy Williams. On “HAAM” the sophistication is intensified by Parker’s experiments with atypical phrasing. The piece opens with a classically structured post-bop melody, fractured in an asymmetrical 7/4 time signature, organized in mirrored rhythmic subunits of 4-3 and 3-4. It ends with Williams soloing over an ostinato figure. “This was the first time we played it,” Parker recalls. The full song title, or as close as a somewhat family friendly publication can come to it, is “Hard as a Mother.” alanparkermusic.com.
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