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Aaron Parks
Pianist Aaron Parks is a forward-thinking jazz musician who came to the public's attention during his time with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Born in Seattle, Washington, Parks began playing piano at a young age and by the time he was 14 had enrolled in an early entrance degree program at the University of Washington.
Originally, Parks pursued both science and music degrees; however, his prodigious talent won out and by age 16 he had transferred to the Manhattan School of Music. While there, he studied with noted pianist Kenny Barron and received several competitive accolades, including being named the 2001 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association.
At age 18 he joined Blanchard's ensemble and subsequently recorded four albums with the veteran trumpeter, including 2003's Bounce, 2005's Flow, the soundtrack to the 2006 Spike Lee film Inside Man, and Blanchard's 2007 Grammy-winning opus A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina). Besides playing with Blanchard, Parks has performed with a variety of artists including trumpeter Christian Scott, drummer Kendrick Scott, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and others. Parks has released several albums under his own name, including his 2008 Blue Note debut, Invisible Cinema.
Parks, who has also recorded with Christian Scott, Kendrick Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, was an integral part of the James Farm Quartet with Joshua Redman, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland. Nonesuch released their self-titled album in 2011. The pianist subsequently signed to ECM and released the solo piano offering Arborescence in the fall of 2013. He also made sideman appearances on Will Vinson's Live at Smalls and Yeahwon Shin's Lua Ya, and Live in Japan with his own trio of Thomas Morgan and RJ Miller.
It was recorded on the pianist's phone during a show and released for free on his Bandcamp page. Find the Way, his sophomore label date for ECM, was issued in late spring of 2017. It featured bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart in the rhythm section and was inspired in part (according to Parks) by the music of Alice Coltrane and Shirley Horn (for whom Hart played); both of whom prioritized space and subtlety in composition and improvisation.
Source: Matt Collar, AllMusicTags
Aaron Parks: Little Big III
by Mike Jurkovic
Listening to the ever-evolving mind and music of pianist Aaron Parks reveals a sizable rock and roll streak running through it all. His impulsive 2008 solo nod on Blue Note Records, Invisible Cinema, carried indy rock energy. And it is a good bet that if one digs into his work with Terrence Blanchard--four albums from 2003 including 2007's Grammy-winning A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (EMI)--Parks, a late-stage teenager at the time, exhibits a bardic, punky tinge ...
Continue ReadingAaron Parks: Little Big III
by Chris May
After debuting with a clutch of albums on Keynote around the start of the millennium, and then spending five years with Terence Blanchard, Aaron Parks emerged as a fully-fledged bandleader with his album Invisible Cinema on Blue Note in 2008. On it, Parks fronted a quartet completed by guitarist Mike Moreno, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland. The group's bag was the capacious one known as post-genre, but the music was indisputably jazz for all that. After spells on ...
Continue ReadingAlexis Valet: Following The Sun
by Geannine Reid
Alexis Valet's Following the Sun, is an enjoyable collection of contemporary jazz inspired by Valet's journey across continents--from the luminous streets of Paris to the bustling avenues of New York. Central to the success of Following the Sun is the symbiotic relationship between Valet and his fellow musicians: Dayna Stephens tenor saxophone, Aaron Parks piano, Joe Martin double bass and Kush Abadey drums. Each brings virtuosity and their unique voice to the compositions, creating a recording that feels ...
Continue ReadingAaron Parks: Attention, Earthlings
by Mike Jacobs
The lead track from Dreams of a Mechanical Man (Ropeadope, 2020), “Attention, Earthlings" embodies the modern approach of Parks' Little Big project and is a great showcase for the power of the keyboardist's distilled, melodic style. ...
Continue ReadingJoshua Redman: Where Are We
by Dave Linn
After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1986, Joshua Redman (son of jazz legend Dewey Redman) won a full scholarship to Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1991. He was accepted at Yale Law School to become a lawyer. Instead, he embarked on a musical career which quickly turned luminous. He won the Thelonious Monk Institute's prestigious jazz saxophone competition in 1991, before moving to Brooklyn, becoming part of the thriving scene there. His debut album, Joshua Redman ...
Continue ReadingKurt Rosenwinkel: Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard
by Chris May
Kurt Rosenwinkel records in a variety of situations, either from inclination or to keep himself and his audience fresh or both. In 2022 alone, he released three unusually diverse albums: Plays Piano, a solo outing on which he plays piano only; The Chopin Project, a co-led disc with pianist Jean-Paul Brodbeck exploring the work of Frederic Chopin; and Berlin Baritone, another solo album, this time playing a baritone guitar. Undercover: Live At The Village Vanguard is back ...
Continue ReadingNu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Chronos
by Mike Jacobs
First appearing on Aaron Parks' joint venture with Matt Penman, Joshua Redman and Eric Harland, James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011), Miami's adventurous Nu Deco Ensemble takes AP's composition “Chronos" out for an expanded spin, with the composer himself as guest performer. From the 2019 digital-only release Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live From Miami. ...
Continue ReadingRecent And Upcoming ECM Releases: April - June 2017
Source:
Universal Music Group
Look for these recent or upcoming releases on ECM Records. Aaron Parks Find the Way Aaron Parks: piano, Ben Street: double bass, Billy Hart: drums. For the second ECM album by Aaron Parks—following the solo release Aborescence, which JazzTimes praised as “expansive, impressionistic… like a vision quest”—the prize-winning pianist has convened a cross-generational trio featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart. The rhythm pair, which also teams in Hart’s hit quartet for ECM, blends fluidity and strength—what ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Aaron Parks
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Aaron Parks' birthday today! “Somebody once asked me to find two words that describe the music I make, and the words I picked were ‘spontaneous’ and ‘cinematic,’” says Aaron Parks. Having clarified the essence of his art, the pianist kept those two words closely in mind while conceiving and recording Invisible Cinema, his extraordinary debut for the Blue Note label. In its virtuosity and harmonic complexity... Read more. Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Aaron Parks
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Aaron Parks' birthday today!
“Somebody once asked me to find two words that describe the music I make, and the words I picked were ‘spontaneous’ and ‘cinematic,’” says Aaron Parks. Having clarified the essence of his art, the pianist kept those two words closely in mind while conceiving and recording Invisible Cinema, his extraordinary debut for the Blue Note label. In its virtuosity and harmonic complexity... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Aaron Parks
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Aaron Parks' birthday today!
“Somebody once asked me to find two words that describe the music I make, and the words I picked were ‘spontaneous’ and ‘cinematic,’” says Aaron Parks. Having clarified the essence of his art, the pianist kept those two words closely in mind while conceiving and recording Invisible Cinema, his extraordinary debut for the Blue Note label. In its virtuosity and harmonic complexity... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Aaron Parks
Source:
All About Jazz is celebrating Aaron Parks' birthday today!
“Somebody once asked me to find two words that describe the music I make, and the words I picked were ‘spontaneous’ and ‘cinematic,’” says Aaron Parks. Having clarified the essence of his art, the pianist kept those two words closely in mind while conceiving and recording Invisible Cinema, his extraordinary debut for the Blue Note label. In its virtuosity and harmonic complexity..."Somebody once asked me to find two words that describe ...
read more
Aaron Parks: To the Big Screen, and Back to the Jazz Scene
Source:
All About Jazz
"Aaron Parks: Seattle's Boy Genius" is not the story anymore. The local jazz piano prodigy, who went to the University of Washington straight out of junior high, is now 25, living in New York City for the past eight years. He's moved into movies, assisting his mentor Terence Blanchard on soundtracks for Spike Lee's Katrina documentary “When the Levees Broke" (among other Lee titles) as well as the filmic adaptation of “Their Eyes Were Watching God"; and Parks has a ...
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Aaron Parks' Blue Note Debut "Invisible Cinema" Released, Full Album Stream at AOL
Source:
On Target Media Group
Rapidly rising Jazz pianist Aaron Parks' Blue Note Records debut Invisible Cinema hits stores this week; the whole album is available to stream now at AOL. Invisible Cinema is a stunning concept record conceived entirely by the 24-year- old, and with his technically involved, melodic and sensitive playing, Parks is setting a new standard for Jazz piano expression. Available now, Invisible Cinema is an acoustic jazz record that evokes sonic and rhythmic frontiers through the use ...
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Pianist Aaron Parks Interviewed at AAJ...And More!
Source:
All About Jazz
Pianist and composer Aaron Parks is 24 years old--and he started college 11 years ago. A child prodigy who entered the University of Washington at age 13 as a triple major in math, computer science and music, Parks quickly found that music was his true calling. Now, after a five-year stint with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Parks is set to release his Blue Note debut, Invisible Cinema. The album, which hits stores on August 19, 2008, is a tour de force ...
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The Jazz Session #38: Aaron Parks
Source:
All About Jazz
Jason Crane interviews pianist and composer Aaron Parks. Parks is 24 years oldand he started college 11 years ago. A child prodigy who entered the University of Washington at age 13 as a triple major in math, computer science and music, Parks quickly found that music was his true calling. Now, after a five-year stint with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Parks has released his Blue Note debut, Invisible Cinema. The album is a tour de force of composition, imagination and performance. ...
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NYC Jazz Pianist Aaron Parks Gears up for Blue Note Debut on August 19th
Source:
On Target Media Group
Set for release next week (8.19) Invisible Cinema marks the Blue Note Records debut of up-and-coming pianist/composer Aaron Parks. The album is 10 tracks of classic piano Jazz that also touches on some rock, hip-hop and groove influences, creating a pioneering yet authentic Jazz sound. Parks came to the attention of Blue Note following a five-year tenure with Terence Blanchard, appearing on three of his acclaimed Blue Note albums (Bounce, Flow and A Tale of God's ...
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From: Spirit ScienceBy Aaron Parks
Nemesis
From: Invisible CinemaBy Aaron Parks
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Aaron Parks
Location: New York City
Instrument: Piano
Born: October 7, 1983
Publicist: Fully Altered Media
