Jazz Articles about Chris Parker

About Chris Parker

Liner Notes

Beck is back! A perfectionist, gifted with a sharp sense of self-criticism, Joe Beck (born on July 29, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was making good music (and a lot of money) when he disappeared from the NY music scene in 1971 to become a dairy farmer in Vermont. After his professional debut with Paul Winter's group in 1964, he had played with such masters as Gary McFarland, Charles Lloyd, Chico Hamilton, and Gil Evans, on whose orchestra he was a ...

Album Review

Chris Parker Septet: Reunion

by Jack Bowers
March 30, 2026

This is a Reunion that Chris Parker was lucky to celebrate. In August 2023, eight months after recording his fifth album as leader and while vacationing in his native Oregon, Parker suffered a serious stroke that left him (temporarily) unable to walk or use his left hand when playing the piano. Before that misfortune struck, Parker had re-scored for septet a dozen songs he had been playing for years in various formats, from solo or trio to quartet or quintet. ...

Radio & Podcasts

Chris Parker, Craig Davis, Miro Sobrer, Jim McNeely and more

by Bob Osborne
September 8, 2022

On this show brand new releases from The Chris Parker Trio, Craig Davis, Miro Sobrer, Francisco Mela & Zoh Amba, Jim McNeely and The Frankfurt Radio Orchestra featuring Chris Potter, the trio of Ben Monder, Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey, and a preview track from a new album from Dave Douglas.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 The Chris Parker Trio “Coolypso" from Tell Me (M'Bubba Music) 00:48 Craig Davis “Escape" from Tone Paintings : The Music of Dodo Marmarosa (MCG ...

Album Review

Charlie Ballantine: Reflections/Introspection: The Music Of Thelonious Monk

Read "Reflections/Introspection: The Music Of Thelonious Monk" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 1, 2022

Reflections/Introspection... follows-up guitarist Charlie Ballentine's Life is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan, the guitarist's tribute to another (and very different type of) iconoclastic modern composer and one of the best albums of 2018. He absolutely bounces through this double-LP (one trio, one quartet) on a merry joyride through the compositions of “the onliest Monk." “Monk has such an incredible catalogue that one of the big challenges we faced was what songs to choose and also what instrumentation ...

Album Review

Charlie Ballantine: Reflections/Introspection: The Music Of Thelonious Monk

Read "Reflections/Introspection: The Music Of Thelonious Monk" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
November 15, 2021

Indianapolis-based guitarist and composer Charlie Ballantine has made thematically organized albums before. Life is Brief: The Music of Bob Dylan (Green Mind Records, 2018) featured creative versions of songs by the iconic songwriter, and Vonnegut (Green Mind Records, 2020), was made up of original Ballantine compositions inspired by the work of novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Here the inspiration is purely musical, and it is one of the pillars of modern jazz: the brilliant composer & pianist Thelonious Monk. Many of the ...

Album Review

Peter DiCarlo: Onward

Read "Onward" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann

by Friedrich Kunzmann
February 5, 2021

On his debut record, New York-based alto saxophonist Peter DiCarlo establishes himself as a serious straight-ahead composer who skillfully combines an elegant alto tone with intricate reed and horn arrangements that are propelled forward by a swinging rhythm section. Dominated by a majority of self-penned hard and post-bop scores, Onward—in accordance with its title—pushes last century's idioms into this one, exploring new and exciting territory that neither defies tradition, nor resists its modern environment. Swing is affirmed in ...

Album Review

Peter DiCarlo: Onward

by Jack Bowers
February 3, 2021

New York City-based alto saxophonist Peter DiCarlo makes a lot of winning moves on his debut album, Onward, and a couple that seem more puzzling than perceptive. More about them later. First, it should be noted that DiCarlo is a virtuosic player with a burnished sound and enough improvisational ammunition in his arsenal to guide him safely through any encounter, no matter how unforeseen or perilous. He is also a splendid writer whose five original compositions here serve to enhance ...