The Gowanus Session

The Gowanus Session
The Gowanus Session
Studio album by Thollem McDonas, Nels Cline & William Parker
Released	April 17, 2012
Recorded	January 3, 2012
Studio	Peter Karl Studios, Gowanus Arts Building, Brooklyn, NY
Genre	Jazz
Length	41:02
Label	Porter; PRCD 4068
Nels Cline chronology
William Parker chronology

The Gowanus Session is an album by pianist Thollem McDonas, guitarist Nels Cline, and bassist William Parker recorded in 2012 for the Porter label.^[1]^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	^[3]

The All About Jazz review by Glenn Astarita awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Glaring expressionism coupled with rip-roaring layers of acoustic-electric sound-sculpting maneuvers yield the bountiful fruit on this manifold studio date".^[3] JazzTimes' Steve Greenlea said "pianist Thollem McDonas, bassist William Parker and electric guitarist Nels Cline play seemingly indiscriminately, creating unmusical layers of sound. These are not songs. There are no melodies, no rhythms. The Gowanus Session is a sound sculpture... So is this a good record, or even an enjoyable one? I really don’t know, but I do know this: It’s interesting, and I keep listening to it."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Nels Cline, Thollem McDonas & William Parker

"There Are" - 7:32
"As Many Worlds" - 4:42
"In A Life" - 5:57
"As There Are" - 2:15
"Lives" - 15:43
"In The World." - 4:53

Personnel

References

^ Porter Records website, accessed September 19, 2014
^ William Parker sessionography accessed September 19, 2014
^ ^a ^b Astarita, G., All About Jazz Review, May 21, 2012
^ Greenlea, S., JazzTimes Review, July/August 2012

[1] Porter Records website, accessed September 19, 2014

[William_Parker_sessionography-2] William Parker sessionography accessed September 19, 2014

[AllAboutJazz-3] Astarita, G., All About Jazz Review, May 21, 2012

[4] Greenlea, S., JazzTimes Review, July/August 2012

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Nels Cline
Studio albums	Angelica (1988) The Inkling (2000) Destroy All Nels Cline (2001) New Monastery (2006) Coward (2009) Dirty Baby (2010) Lovers (2016) Currents, Constellations (2018)
Collaboration albums	The Gowanus Session [with William Parker & Thollem McDonas] (2012) Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 [with Medeski, Martin & Wood] (2014) Room [with Julian Lage] (2014) Accidental Sky [with White Out] (2015)
Live albums	The Veil (2011)
Nels Cline Trio	Silencer (1992) Ground (1995) Chest (1996) Sad (1998) Hold It Under a Faucet 7″ (2002)
The Nels Cline Singers	Instrumentals (2002) The Giant Pin (2004) Draw Breath (2007) The Celestial Septet (2008) [with Rova Saxophone Quartet] Initiate (2010) Macroscope (2014)
Floored by Four	Floored by Four (2010)
Big Walnuts Yonder	Big Walnuts Yonder (2017)
Related articles	Scott Amendola Alex Cline Trevor Dunn Devin Hoff Mike Watt Wilco

v t e William Parker
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums	Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace (1974-1979) Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy (1995) Painter's Spring (2000) O'Neal's Porch (2000) Piercing the Veil (with Hamid Drake, 2000) Raining on the Moon (2001) Bob's Pink Cadillac (2001) Scrapbook (2002) Luc's Lantern (2004) Summer Snow (with Hamid Drake, 2005) Alphaville Suite (2007) Corn Meal Dance (2007) Petit Oiseau (2007) Beyond Quantum (with Anthony Braxton and Milford Graves, 2008) Uncle Joe's Spirit House (2010) Out of This World's Distortions (with Gerald Cleaver and Craig Taborn, 2010) The Gowanus Session (with Thollem McDonas and Nels Cline, 2012) 2 Blues for Cecil (with Andrew Cyrille and Enrico Rava, 2021)
Live albums	Melodic Art–Tet (with Charles Brackeen, Ahmed Abdullah, and Roger Blank, 1974) In Order to Survive (1993) Harras (with Derek Bailey and John Zorn, 1993) Sunrise in the Tone World (1995) The Peach Orchard (1997 & 1998) Posium Pendasem (1998) Mass for the Healing of the World (1998) 2 Days in April (with Fred Anderson, 1999) Mayor of Punkville (1999) Fractured Dimensions (1999) Raincoat in the River (2001) Eloping with the Sun (with Joe Morris and Hamid Drake, 2001) I Plan to Stay a Believer (2001, 2002, 2007, & 2008) Spontaneous (2002) Historic Music Past Tense Future (with Peter Brötzmann and Milford Graves, 2002) Sound Unity (2004) Requiem (2004) For Percy Heath (2005) Wood Flute Songs (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, & 2012) Double Sunrise Over Neptune (2007) Farmers by Nature (with Gerald Cleaver and Craig Taborn, 2008) Tribute to Albert Ayler Live at the Dynamo (with Roy Campbell Jr., Joe McPhee, and Warren Smith, 2008) Winter Sun Crying (2009) Medicine Buddha (with Billy Bang, 2009) Love and Ghosts (with Gerald Cleaver and Craig Taborn, 2011) Essence of Ellington (2012)
Related articles	Other Dimensions in Music