William Parker is a prodigious talent. His prowess on the bass is undisputed. Even in the most chaotic moments of the free jazz idiom that Parker inhabits, he keeps a lumbering, funky beat marching under the discord. On Corn Meal Dance, his latest release and the second project of his group Raining on the Moon, he works with some frequent collaborators: Hamid Drake on bass, Rob Brown on alto sax and Lewis Barnes on trumpet. The pianist Eri Yamamoto and vocalist Leena Conquest join the regulars on this set of compositions featuring vocals.

Parker is also an excellent composer. His searching intelligence along with his ear for harmony and melodies makes him a worthy heir to Charles Mingus. The songs Parker writes for Corn Meal Dance are surprisingly accessible, sounding more fully formed than most original jazz compositions. “Doctor Yesterday,” the opening track, is a sly, bluesy number. “Soledad” offers plenty of space for Brown and Barnes to stretch out, yet at the end Parker pulls the group back into a solid grove. On the wistful “Poem for June Jordan,” Yamamoto shines on the piano.

Parker’s skills as a lyricist don’t match his work as a bassist or composer, though. When he turns to words, he tends towards abstraction. The “sun mother” ascends to the “forever mountains” and a “rocket ship to the moon” injures the “rain god.” Too often, the lyrics seem like a parody of Beat Generation poetry. Vocalist Conquest has a better ear for language, judging by her lyrics for the lovely “Old Tears (Fall Down).” On that song, everything comes together, revealing the potential of this project to marry cutting edge jazz with vocals.