William Parker & In Order To Survive - Live/Shapeshifter (2019)

An exemplary double-album from one of master bassist-composer-improviser William Parker's flagship groups, recorded live and presenting all-new compositions. Featuring pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and drummer Hamid Drake, In Order To Survive is one of the great jazz groups of the past quarter century.

Launched in 1993, In Order To Survive was Parker's first fully dedicated small group. It has always featured Cooper-Moore & Rob Brown, together with a series of drummers (including Denis Charles, and then Susie Ibarra) and occasional additional brass/reeds. A top live draw in New York during the heights of that heady decade, they made momentous visits to Europe as well. This initial phase culminated on record with their first double-live set, The Peach Orchard, an era-defining work released by AUM Fidelity in 1998.

In October 2016, IOTS entered the studio for the first time since 1995. This work was presented as half of the exquisite double-album, Meditation/Resurrection, released in July 2017. Two nights were booked at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn to celebrate its release. "A mid-summer guided self-illumination" was promised on the handbill for these concerts. Live/Shapeshifter presents both sets of night two. Beyond expressing the obvious, the album title states the shamanistic nature of the work at hand.