William Hooker-
Hard Time CD
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Your Flesh #42 "Hard Time consists of improvised music taken from CBGB performances on 8/16/94 and 12/1/95. Hooker is joined by two guitarists (Donald Miller of Borbetomagus is one) and one righteous synth twister. For the first eight minute piece, "Computer Glasses", the listener is bombarded with a fuzzed-out, processed techno squall led by the man's monstrous CBGB drum bombs. While I usually object to the unrelenting hair metal hugeness of the CB's sound (best in the city, my ass), with these renderings it serves as an industrially accented new music caterwaul that's only jazz because it's not rock. Tracks are distinguished and given names like "Cloning (the self)", and "Lincoln's Microchip", but there's little change in the renegade robot pillage until the saxophonist shows up to add some goose death on "The T.V. Wall". This antiquated contraption of musicianly interplay is a little less man/machine hybrid, perhaps more biologically inspired. The synth does its best to cut its strings, but it's still a sad puppet. The guitars puke to hear such a sound and the dish ran away with a dying sun."-Dave Rick Alternative Press 131 June 1999 "NYC-based free drummer William Hooker has always been the victim of paradox.
When examining his body of work, one finds that Hooker's most
inspiring moments are consistently marred by substandard recording.
The more cathartic the performance, the crappier the tape. The Wire Issue 184, June 1999 "Hard Time, recorded at CBGB's in August 1994 and January 95, teams firebrand drummer William Hooker with Borbetomagus guitarist Donald Miller alongside relative unknowns: Doug Walker on synthesizer, Jesse Henry on guitar and Richard Keene on sax. In its head-on engagement with John Coltrane's prime testament-Ascension's climactic stockpile to infinity-the first set is unrelenting. Although Walker's primitive and frankly cackhanded yawing from one extremity of pitch to another initially threatens to rip the whole enterprise asunder, he eventually settles down, allowing the listener to concentrate on the yawning hole being rent in temporal consciousness by Hooker, Miller and Henry. Saxophonist Keene steps up only for the second more subtly nuanced set. This fine disc might not add much to Hooker's ever expanding catalogue, but it certainly stands as fiery testament to his work as New York's prime scorched earth agent, slashing and burning his way across the no man's land between jazz and rock".-Tim Owen Cadence Vol. 25 No. 2, February 1999 "I have great admiration for William Hooker. He appears to have no interest in pandering to casual listeners or even in entertainment value: he's looking for a mystical union with the godhead at each deafening moment. His perspective seems to be: if this approach sells records, fine: if not, so much the worse for those who don't understand. Hooker's not just knocking on heaven's door, he's bashing away at it. On Hard Time he and his mates provide primal examples of Hooker's violent, ecstatic art. The assault on one's senses here is merciless and seemingly endless. Like Cecil Taylor, Charles Gayle, and David Ware when those gentlemen are 'on', Hooker doesn't get enervated from his flailing, the divine feedback loop just seems to make him stronger. Thus, an evening of his music can seem like...well...eternity. Is his harsh vision in some sense true of the world? On the atomic or molecular level, certainly: every note seems an accurate picture of this savage realm. To sink into these thick layers of noise is like descending into a world of clashing, ricocheting, but somehow cooperating particles. On these dates, the guitarists provide the thick, squealing ether, and Richard Keene is something of a free Jazz proton to Hooker's leaping electrons. He moves around, but not nearly as fast. Meanwhile, Doug Walker undertakes various subatomic roles with his analog howls and bloops. This kind of stuff is not easy or always pleasant, but this is true of many of the most wonderful things in life, isn't it? These live sessions from 1994 and 1995 are on a par with Hooker's fine work with both Zeena Parkins and the late (and sorely missed) Glenn Spearman. I promise the seekers out there that the spiritual gain from Hard Time will be well worth the delicious punishment to your senses and the angry calls from your neighbors."-Walter Horn CMJ New Music Report December 14, 1998 "While drummer William Hooker's speedy, heavy-handed technique owes much to revered names like Buddy Rich and Elvin Jones, the aptly-titled Hard Time is not free jazz, nor is it an aimless blare of noise. Hooker looks like a big, cuddly koala bear, but he batters his kit with the abandon of a coked-up hitman. Though the percussionist practically ignores subtlety and finesse, the accents of his savory, endless rolls hit like bare knuckles. The hollow fidelity on this set of live-at-CBGB compositions weakens the in-person impact of Hooker's skins, but his quintet's howling and engaging interplay climaxes with captivating, nearly-religious huskiness and passion. On the closing 'Slaughtered Lambs', Richard Keene's sax motif wanders naked through a tempest of bleeding electronics, roiling kick/snare punctuations and Donald Miller's air-raid guitar - a glimpse of tradition in a beautifully iconoclastic abyss."-Jordan N. Mamone All Music Guide Web site "This excellent, risk-taking CD is taken from two of William Hooker's gigs at New York's CBGB's, one on August 16, 1994, and the other on December 1, 1995. On both nights, the drummer provides an explosive yet atmospheric mixture of free jazz and rock that only the most adventurous listeners will appreciate. Freeform instrumentals such as "Lincoln's Microchip", "The TV Wall" and "Slaughtered Lambs" don't follow a conventional melody/solos/melody structure, but rather find Hooker and his sidemen (who include Doug Walker on keyboards, Donald Miller or Jesse Henry on electric guitar and Richard Keene on sax) simply taking a theme or a mood and improvising on it in a very stream-of-consciousness, outside fashion. With his outrageous, space-is-the-place electronics, Walker proves to be a major asset for the daring Hooker. To be sure, music this 'out there' isn't for everyone, but those with a taste for the avant-garde will find Hard Time to be a most thrilling excursion."-Alex Henderson LA Weekly Dec. 18-24, 1998 "Who's the baddest of the bad? Anyone who has caught New York drummer Hooker locally knows the answer. Hard Time accompanies his brutal humanism with unrestrained screeling and barfing from synth, guitar and sax. 'What is that noise?' asked my wife, phoning me midtrack. Be honest, listeners: When all the wrapping paper is scattered around the living room, this, not 'Silent Night', is what you really want to hear."-Greg Burk Ink Blot Web Zine, 1/99 "You've heard of the eye of the storm, and the calm that exists
there; William Hooker's music finds serenity by leaning straight
into the gale-force wind. His drumming is a study in brutal power;
pummeling, relentless, dragged along by a wild kick drum attack
that carves crosshatched designs across his dense patterns. Mole Number 12 "It's hard to imagine Hooker as anything but live, so this concert recording comes as no surprise. Drums provide a skeleton that's padded out by sound and fury of electronic noise and sculpted magico-feedback. Not so cushioned that Hooker's energy is lost, but the brute force of his battery is picked up and spread out thru other fields. Magnify a stick hitting a head, stretch the blow-noise out so you can see all of it, and that's what's approximated here: the aura of the beat. Hooker's in there, whipping up a storm that for mere mortals has to be conjured by other hands and other tools. But the whole is controlled by the center-never fear, it will not fail. Quintet includes Borbetomagus git-wrecker Don Miller".-Jeff Bagato Gajoob's DIY Report #89, 4/13/99 "My first impression just looking at this album was that it was going to be a Blues project. I couldn't have been more wrong. This album is a live project recorded at NYC's famous CBGB club on 8-16-94 and 12-1-95. The music is improvised electronic, techno, and noise pieces. The first track, "Computer Glasses", inspired my friend to say, "This is what it sounds like in R2D2's brain," and I must agree. This album is full of Melt Down music- Acid Jazz for the new millennium. The songs are relatively formless to the listener, and the album meanders from song to song. It is difficult to tell where one concept ends and another begins, for the swirling tracks cascade into one another. Track 7, "Slaughtered Lambs", breaks this cycle with a more identifiable melody and accompanying saxophone. This album is sometimes dark, and is not for the lighthearted. Strap yourself in, and prepare for the mind-ride of your life."-Phil Simon Copper Press Issue Number One June 1999 "William Hooker exists on a different plane from you and I. His presence may lie in our physical world, but his mind and spirit float in an alternate sphere. His intensity alone separates him from an overwhelming majority of musicians, let alone the populous. Whether attacking his drumkit in a frenzied ecstasy or splashing and crashing like waves behind the lead of a piano or horn, Hooker is immersed in the moment and in the sphere in which that moment transcends his soul. Even if I don't enjoy everything he's created, his dedication to his art is beautiful. Of two of his more recent records, Hard Time is a vastly more difficult and challenging listen. The guitars and electronics sting like onions, with their wailing incessant walls of feedback, dissonance and piercing distortion tearing the soundscape in drops of electronic bleeps and electric scrawl. Buried beneath the information overload is Hooker, pummeling his toms in a nonstop caterwaul designed, I imagine, to communicate with the high-end histrionics. According to the liner notes there's a saxophone in there somewhere"-Steve Brydges Scram #9 "Avant garde drummer improvises seven frenetic original compositions with a band composed of (in order of audibility) synthesizer, two guitars and sax. The energy level starts high, mostly remains there. Recorded live at CBGB's in 1994 and '95."-Kim Cooper The Newsletter of the Alliance for Improvised Music Issue #1, April 1997 I found this a tough article to write. I'm not overly familiar with William
Hooker's music and the promo material we received didn't have
a lot of personal information. There was a good deal about his
collaborations with Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth.
He's been leading adventurous ensembles for over 20 years and
has released albums on Silkheart, Homestead, Table of the Elements,
Knitting Factory Works, and other labels. He's also worked with
David Murray, David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp, Mike Watt from firehose,
and Donald Miller of Borbetomagus. That's it for background info
- how old he is I don't know. Actually, 'worked with' may not
be fully accurate. William Hooker never works as a sideman, only
as a leader, which is extremely rare for a 'jazz' musician - especially
one who blasts across the imaginary borders between genres as
easily as Hooker does. Paradoxically, Hooker also emphasizes the
communal feeling and musical freedom necessary to create great
music, especially improvisation. If I had the chance to interview
him, I'd ask him why he focuses on leadership. My guess is that
being in control is the only way he can guarantee that his group
has the right environment. I think he seeks control over the external
forces that can wreak havoc with a performance so that the musicians
and the audience will have the freedom to create. 'We're dealing
with freedom', he said in one interview, 'but we're also dealing
with an omnipresent center. I like to have a feeling where that
center is. I can focus better, and I can provide a launching pad
for the soloists'. A benevolent dictatorship I suppose - in the
Ellingtonian tradition! Blow Up #11, April 1999 "Il batterista William Hooker-noto per aver collaborato con David Murray, Thurston Moore, D.J. Spooky, Marc Ribot, Lee Ranaldo, DJ Olive, Billy Bang, William Parker...-propone in questo CD (registrato dal vivo al CBGB's di New York nell'Agosto 1994 e nel Dicembre 1995) una specie DI jazz cosmico in cui la massiccia propulsioned dei suoi tamburi fa da sfondo a un muro DI suono creato DA chitarre (due), synth e sax. I sette brani scorrono malamente fra sibili ed effetti DA guerre stellari senza riuscire ad approdare in nessun dove. L'effetto e lo stesso che puo fare Stallone nel grande schermo: tanti muscoli e tanta forza bruta a cui corrisponde una incapacita assoluta nel generare qualcosa in grado DI affascinare-o DI shockare-l'ascoltatore. L'unica sensazioned che emana DA questi solchi e una certa afflizioned per i kilowatt consumati alla faccia del risparmio energetico."-Etero Genio
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