''New World Pygmies'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before s ...

and bassist William Parker, which was recorded live at the Fire in the Valley Festival in 1998 and released on the

Eremite A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

label.''New World Pygmies''
at Eremite It was Moondoc's first recorded encounter with Parker since ''

Nostalgia in Times Square ''Nostalgia in Times Square'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in 1985 and released the following year on the Italian Soul Note label. He leads a quintet that features Ornette Coleman guitarist Bern Nix, ...

''. "Another Angel Goes Home" is a tribute to drummer

Denis Charles Denis Alphonso Charles (December 4, 1933 – March 26, 1998) was a jazz drummer. Biography Charles was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and first played bongos at age seven with local ensembles in the Virgin Islands. In 1945, he moved to Ne ...

.Original liner Notes by Ed Hazell

Reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Steve Loewy states " Parker is a strong addition to any group, but he is mostly in a supporting role here, while Moondoc spurts forth line after line of creative inspiration... Moondoc is a sort of odd, underrated elder statesman of free music, occupying a role not dissimilar to that of Chicago tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson." ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' says "People talk about the conversational quality of duo performance, but this is more like twin preachers in the mission hall, playing hard priest, soft priest alternately, the one threatening brimstone, the other promising redemption." The

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

review by Derek Taylor states "Moondoc and Parker have teamed up on numerous occasions since the mid-70s... Their familiarity rises immediately to the fore as both men jettison the fetters of decorum and play off each other with a visceral zeal."Taylor, Derek
''New World Pygmies'' review
at

Track listing

#"New World Pygmies" (Moondoc/Parker) - 17:03 #"Huey Sees a Rainbow" (Parker) - 9:41 #"Theme for Pelikan" (Parker) - 13:26 #"Not Quite Ready for Prime Time" (Moondoc) - 12:58 #"Another Angel Goes Home" (Parker) - 4:55 #"Encore" (Moondoc/Parker) - 9:28

Personnel

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

* William Parker - bass

References

{{Jemeel Moondoc, state=autocollapse 1999 live albums Jemeel Moondoc live albums Eremite Records live albums