For lovers of song, William Parker's 3CD box set Voices Fall From The Sky represents an inexhaustible, eloquent and impressively varied treasure trove. Released on his own Centering Records imprint in a limited physical edition of 1,000 copies, the three distinct yet complementary albums are produced, curated and sequenced by Parker, with a 40-page CD booklet featuring detailed notes and complete lyrics. With the exception of the opening invocation, CD1 (‘Voices Fall From The Sky’) presents all-new work recorded, mixed and mastered at Brooklyn's Park West Studio between December 2017-January 2018. The material ranges from ‘Small Lobby’, beautifully sung by Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez who accompanies herself on piano, to the ineffably powerful chamber setting of ‘We Often Danced’, a part-sung, part-spoken word memory of survival inside a slave ship making its way from Africa to the Americas, with Fay Victor the impressive soloist. CD2 (‘Songs’) focuses entirely on duets and brings together material originally recorded in the early 1990s, including the exquisite ‘For Julius Eastman’ sung by Lisa Sokolov accompanied by pianist Yuko Fujiyama, with more recently composed songs featuring Leena Conquest (the profoundly beautiful ‘Prayer’ is a standout) and Mola Sylla. CD3 (‘Essence’) features the voice within a large ensemble, namely four different incarnations of the William Parker Orchestra and his Double Quartet. It presents new versions of previously released material – including Parker's homage to the civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer – alongside a new four-movement suite, ‘The Blinking of the Ear’, captivatingly performed here by the pure toned mezzo-soprano AnnMarie Sandy. Even within the context of an extraordinary discography of almost 200 albums, both as leader and sideman, Voices Fall from the Sky marks itself out as something uniquely rewarding. One of the discs of this, or any other, year.