Jazz Articles about Rob Parton

UNT Two O'Clock Lab Band: Long Way on a Blues

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 2022

The University of North Texas, generally recognized as home to one of the world's leading undergraduate Jazz Studies programs, is essentially set apart from others by the decisive proficiency of its various Lab Bands, led by the One O'Clock and Two O'Clock ensembles (there are half a dozen others). Each band has a large number of albums under its belt, dating back several decades, the most recent of which are the One O'Clock's Lab 2021 and this one, the Two ...

The Rob Parton Big Band: Christmas Time Is Here

by Jack Bowers
January 5, 2014

The only plausible impetus for releasing an album of Christmas themes so close to the holiday itself is the inclusion of music that transcends the season and may be auditioned and appreciated throughout the year. Trombonist Chris McDonald accomplished that with his splendid album In the Mood for Christmas, and trumpeter Rob Parton has mirrored that success with the kaleidoscopic Christmas Time Is Here, a compilation he says was some twenty years in the making. The earliest tracks were recorded ...

Rob Parton: Rob Parton Quartet

by Jack Bowers
October 9, 2009

It's always a pleasure to welcome a new CD by the remarkably talented Chicago-based trumpeter Rob Parton, even one that is untitled and places Parton in a (mostly) quartet framework. The downside is that one can't hear Parton play lead trumpet, another area in which he excels, as any perusal of his superb (albeit recently demised) JazzTech Big Band would readily affirm.

Parton always recruited only the best available sidemen for his large ensemble, and the same is true here ...

Rob Parton: Rob Parton Quartet

by Edward Blanco
June 16, 2009

Chicago trumpeter Rob Parton has been leading his phenomenal JAZZTECH Big Band for the better part of two decades now, but it was four years of quartet gigs at the Catch 35 Restaurant and Club in Chicago that inspired Rob Parton Quartet. Parton began performing at the club in 2005 with his favorite longtime drummer Bob Rummage and pianist Laurence Hobgood, who has since relocated to New York and been replaced by Steve Million. The quartet now features Million, Rummage ...

Rob Parton's JazzTech Big Band: Just One of Those Things

by Jack Bowers
January 12, 2008

There aren't many big bands that are as consistently impressive in a studio as they are in person. Here's one that is--trumpeter Rob Parton's strapping, Chicago-based JazzTech Big Band. Parton's secret? It's not hard to comprehend. Enlist the best players one can find, give them bright and elaborate charts to sink their chops into, then stand aside and let 'em roar.

Except Parton does much more than stand aside. He also quarterbacks the ensemble's superlative trumpet section and produces splendid ...

Rob Parton's JAZZTECH Big Band: Just One of Those Things

by Edward Blanco
December 30, 2007

Just One of Those Things is, after only one captivating listen, anything but just another “one of those big bands. The seventh album by trumpeter Rob Parton's Chicago-based orchestra and, perhaps, the best one yet, this is truly a gem of an album that sparkles with every track. Quite a statement to swallow if one is familiar with the discography of the JAZZTECH Big Band and, in particular, with their last blue ribbon release, Two Different Days (Seabreeze, 2004), which, ...

Rob Parton's JazzTech Big Band: Two Different Days

by Jack Bowers
November 28, 2004

Two Different Days --and one terrific band. This is the sixth album recorded by trumpeter Rob Parton's cyclonic ensemble from the Windy City, and while every one of them has been spectacular in its own way, this one may well earn the blue ribbon as best in show.

Simply put, this is a band that has everything--scrupulous section work, stalwart soloists and a superb rhythm section spearheaded by Chicago's premier big band drummer, Bob Rummage. But even though the competition ...