Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy

Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy is an album by American jazz double bassist William Parker which was recorded in 1995 and released on Homestead.

Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy
Studio album by
William Parker
Released1996
RecordedDecember 18, 1995
StudioTedesco Studio, Paramus, NJ
GenreJazz
Length69:29
LabelHomestead
ProducerWilliam Parker
William Parker chronology
Testimony
(1995)		 Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy
(1996)		 Sunrise in the Tone World
(1997)

The album is the third part of a sound trilogy including the sextet In Order to Survive and the solo bass Testimony. In Order to Survive is the name of the ensemble, a quartet with Rob Brown on alto sax, Cooper-Moore on piano, and newcomer Susie Ibarra on drums. "Unrestricted" is a piano-drums duo dedicated to saxophonist Julius Hemphill. "Goggles" is dedicated to bassist Earl Freeman. "For Robeson" is for Paul Robeson. "Malcolm's Smiles" is for Malcolm X. The cover art is a "MusicWitness" painting made during live recording by Jeff Schlanger.[1]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[3]

In his review for AllMusic, Don Snowden states "Slack moments are rare and the evenly balanced contributions of all four musicians make this a fine example of freewheeling collective improvisation."[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that compared with the previous album the tracks "are more developed and feature some of the bassist's very best writing."[3] In a double review for the Chicago Reader, Peter Margasak says that Parker's original compositions "employ a variety of melodic and structural gambits toward a single goal: highly sensitive and all-enveloping improvisation."[4] In an article for the Boston Phoenix Ed Hazell notes that "Each track is a cathartic cry from the heart, complex, yet with utter clarity of structure."[5]

Track listing
All compositions by William Parker
  1. "Compassion" – 10:38
  2. "Malcom's Smile" – 9:44
  3. "For Robeson" – 5:41
  4. "Holiday for Hypocrites" – 8:10
  5. "Testimony of the Last Flower" – 0:37
  6. "Dejenos en Paz" – 8:05
  7. "Unrestricted (for Julius Hemphill)" – 5:42
  8. "Goggles" – 10:53
  9. "The Eye of the Window" – 9:59

Personnel

References
  1. Original Liner Notes by William Parker
  2. Snowden, Don. William Parker – Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  3. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2002). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (6th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 1160. ISBN 0140515216.
  4. Margasak, P., William Parker Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy Rob Brown High Wire review at Chicago Reader
  5. Hazell, E., Human Revolution: William Parker Moves Free Jazz Ahead Archived 2014-03-30 at the Wayback Machine at Boston Phoenix
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