Since ascending onto the world stage in the 1990s as one of the premier bassists and composers of his generation, William Parker has perpetually toured around the world and released over forty albums as a leader. He is one of the most influential jazz artists alive today. In Universal Tonality historian and critic Cisco Bradley tells the story of Parker’s life and music. Drawing on interviews with Parker and his collaborators, Bradley traces Parker’s ancestral roots in West Africa via the Carolinas to his childhood in the South Bronx, and illustrates his rise from the 1970s jazz lofts and extended work with pianist Cecil Taylor to the present day. He outlines how Parker’s early influences—Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and writers of the Black Arts Movement—grounded Parker’s aesthetic and musical practice in a commitment to community and the struggle for justice and freedom. Throughout, Bradley foregrounds Parker’s understanding of music, the role of the artist, and the relationship between art, politics, and social transformation. Intimate and capacious, Universal Tonality is the definitive work on Parker’s life and music.

Literary Nonfiction. Music. Book + CD. Interviews. Photographs by Jacques Bisceglia. During the last 12 years, William Parker interviewed 32 of his friends and colleagues, artists and musicians. "There is a special level of trust and understanding that artists reach when speaking with other artists. William Parker goes deep in these one-on-one conversations to reveal brilliance, truth, wit, humanity and a relaxed eloquence that is both illuminating and a fascinating read. Conversations sheds long overdue light on some of the most important musicians of our time and in so doing presents us with an essential piece of the creative music puzzle. This is oral history at its best"—John Zorn. CD includes CD excerpts from the interviews and William Parker bass solos, total time: 68:40. Edited by Ed Hazell.

Leadership is not easy. It requires motivation, action, and courage. Principal Matters is a great resource for motivation and practical strategies for principals or school leaders who want to invest in self-growth that leads to flourishing service, instead of burnout. William D. Parker offers insights from over twenty years of experience as an educator, and over ten years as a school administrator. You are invited to this one-on-one conversation to learn how to better understand your purpose, lead others, influence change, and successfully manage the challenges of school leadership. Whether you are an aspiring principal or leading your own building or district, you will find Principal Matters both inspiring and instructive. One reader called it, "Chicken Soup for the Principal's Soul!" Read ahead for insight into how to lead with courage, action, motivation, and teamwork! Here's some feedback from some others who recommend the book: "Will is a great storyteller, and his use of these connections makes this book easy to read but also memorable. His focus on 'purpose'-going beyond what you do in school-is something that all leaders should really consider if they are going to make a difference in both their professional and personal lives." -George Couros, Principal, founder of ConnectedPrincipals.com, and an Innovative Teaching, Learning and Leadership consultant "Will generously shares experiences from his personal and professional life to remind principals of the big picture as well as the small details that are essential to the success of our school communities...Being a school leader can be lonely work, as the role of principal is only truly understood by those who have served in the position. Mr. Parker has utilized his time occupying the principal's office to develop practical yet inspiring tips for administrators. I'm excited to politely steal many of his great ideas with my own students and staff this school year!" -Rachel Skerritt, Principal of Eastern Senior High School, a D.C. Public School. 2013 Principal Ambassador Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education "Will writes with passion, conviction and insight. This book will equip you with the tools you'll need to face the frustrations you're sure to encounter as an educator, while enabling to you find renewed purpose and meaning as you influence your students to be the best they can be." -Daniel Wong, author of The Happy Student "This book explains the why of school leadership, not just the how. If you want to understand the right motives for school leadership and the steps to being a successful principal, you should read, Principal Matters by William D. Parker." -Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus and Soup This book captures the essence of effective teamwork and leadership. A great read for school administrators!"-Annette Breaux, educator, co-author with Todd Whitaker of The Ten Minute Inservice

Written by senior military and interagency leaders who have served on every service headquarters staff, as well as the staffs of the Department of State, Director of National Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the Vice President of the United States, the authors bring to the table over 150 years of operational experience, more than 50 worldwide deployments, 7 Bronze Stars, 4 doctorates and over 50 published articles and books.

Ben is learning to keep secrets. No one must know about his mother and her addiction to sherry. No one must know about the bedwetting that so bewilders him. And no one must ever know about the blue folder that he¿d stumbled across in Stuart England¿s car at the end of the previous term. Stuart England is the charismatic young master¿not long down from Oxford¿who makes life possible for Ben in the emotionally sterile environment of his prep school in Gloucestershire. This is the story of Ben¿s long struggle to be free of the demons that have chased him since childhood. Will he ever find the courage, like the house martins that fly high above the school, to accept life on life¿s terms?

The manuscript of the following pages has been handed to me with the request that I would revise it for publication, or weave its facts into a story which should show the fitness of the Southern black for the exercise of the right of suffrage. The narrative is a plain and unpretending account of the life of a man whose own right arm—to use his own expression—won his rights as a freeman. It is written with the utmost simplicity, and has about it the verisimilitude which belongs to truth, and to truth only when told by one who has been a doer of the deeds and an actor in the scenes which he describes. It has the further rare merit of being written by one of the "despised race"; for none but a negro can fully and correctly depict negro life and character. General Thomas—a Southern man, and a friend of the Southern negro—was once in conversation with a gentleman who has attained some reputation as a delineator of the black man, when a long, lean, "poor white man," then a scout in the Union army, approached the latter, and, giving his shoulder a familiar slap, accosted him with,— "How are you, ole feller?" The gentleman turned about, and forgetting, in his joy at meeting an old friend, the presence of this most dignified of our military men, responded to the salutation of the scout in an equally familiar and boisterous manner. General Thomas "smiled wickedly," and quietly remarked,— "You seem to know each other." "Know him!" exclaimed the scout. "Why, Gin'ral, I ha'n't seed him fur fourteen year; but I sh'u'd know him, ef his face war as black as it war one night when we went ter a nigger shindy tergether!" The gentleman colored up to the roots of his hair, and stammered out,— "That was in my boy days, General, when I was sowing my wild oats." "Don't apologize, Sir," answered the General, "don't apologize; for I see that to your youthful habit of going to negro shindies we owe your truthful pictures of negro life." And the General was right. Every man and woman who has essayed to depict the slave character has miserably failed, unless inoculated with the genuine spirit of the negro; and even those who have succeeded best have done only moderately well, because they have not had the negro nature. It is reserved to some black Shakspeare or Dickens to lay open the wonderful humor, pathos, poetry, and power which slumber in the negro's soul, and which now and then flash out like the fire from a thunder-cloud. ...