Aaron Parks

Aaron Parks (born October 7, 1983) is an American jazz pianist.

Aaron Parks
Aaron Parks plays a duo concert with Adam Baldych in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2014.
Background information
Born (1983-10-07) October 7, 1983
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsPiano
Years active2001–present
LabelsBlue Note, Nonesuch, ECM, Ropeadope
Associated actsTerence Blanchard, James Farm
Websiteaaronparks.com

Career

A native of Seattle, Parks studied at the University of Washington at the age of 14[1] through the Transition School and Early Entrance Program as a double major in computer science and music. At 15 he was selected to participate in the Grammy High School Jazz Ensembles which inspired him to move to New York City and transfer to the Manhattan School of Music. At Manhattan one of his teachers was Kenny Barron.[1] During his final year he began touring with Terence Blanchard's band, recording three albums with him for Blue Note, including the Grammy-winning A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina).[1][2] Parks can be heard on the soundtracks to Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Spike Lee films Inside Man, She Hate Me, and When the Levees Broke.

Parks released his first two albums on Keynote Records. In 2008, he released Invisible Cinema, his debut for Blue Note.[3] Following this he released two albums for ECM, and is currently an artist on Ropeadope Records.

He is a member of the band James Farm with saxophonist Joshua Redman, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland.[1][4] He has toured with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel.[1][5]

Awards and honors

Discography

As leader
  • Invisible Cinema (Blue Note, 2008)
  • Arborescence (ECM, 2013)
  • Groovements (Stunt, 2016)
  • Find the Way (ECM, 2017)[7]
  • Little Big (Ropeadope, 2018)
  • Little Big II (Ropeadope, 2020)[8]

As Member of James Farm

With Joshua Redman, Matt Penman and Eric Harland

  • James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011)
  • City Folk (Nonesuch, 2014)

Backing Musician Credits

With Terence Blanchard

With Mike Moreno

  • Between the Lines (World Culture Music, 2007)
  • First in Mind (Criss Cross, 2011)
  • Another Way (World Culture Music, 2012)
  • Lotus (World Culture Music, 2015)

With Christian Scott

With Dayna Stephens

  • Today Is Tomorrow (Criss Cross, 2012)
  • Reminiscent (Criss Cross, 2015)
  • Right Now! (Contagious Music 2020)

With others

References
  1. Collar, Matt. "Aaron Parks". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  2. GRAMMY.com Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "CRITICS' CHOICE: NEW CDS; Aaron Parks". New York Times. August 18, 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  4. "James Farm". Nonesuch. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  5. "Aaron Parks". Blue Note. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. Panken, Ted (July 2016). "25 for the Future / Aaron Parks". DownBeat. Vol. 83 no. 7. Chicago. p. 36. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  7. "Aaron Parks". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  8. "Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man | Aaron Parks". Aaronparksmusic.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
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