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 (age 41) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Blue Note, Nonesuch, ECM, Ropeadope
Website	aaronparks.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 them 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: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Spike Lee and films: Inside Man, She Hate Me, and When the Levees Broke.

Parks released his first four albums on Keynote Records between 1999 and 2002. 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

• 2001: Cole Porter Fellow of the American Piano Awards^[1]
• 2006: Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition (third place)
• Jas Hennessy Piano Solo Competition at Montreux (third place)
• 2016: DownBeat magazine: “25 for the Future”^[6]

Discography

As leader

Year recorded	Year released	Title	Label	Notes
1999	1999	The Promise	Keynote	Trio, with Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), Eric Peters (drums)
2000	2000	First Romance	Keynote	Trio, with Larry Holloway and Evan Flory-Barnes (bass; separately), Julian MacDonough and Eric Peters (drums; separately)
2001	2001	The Wizard	Keynote	Quintet, with Jay Thomas (trumpet, flugelhorn, tenor sax, soprano sax), Tim Green (alto sax), Jeff Johnson and Josh Ginsburg (bass; separately), Obed Calvaire (drums)
2002	2002	Shadows	Keynote	Some tracks trio, with Matt Brewer (bass), Obed Calvaire (drums); some tracks quartet, with Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet) added
2008	2008	Invisible Cinema	Blue Note	Quartet, with Mike Moreno (guitar), Matt Penman (bass), Eric Harland (drums)
2011	2013	Arborescence	ECM	Solo piano
2012	2013	Alive in Japan	(Independent)	Trio, with Thomas Morgan (bass), RJ Miller (drums); in concert; digital download
2014	2016	Groovements	Stunt	Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbaek (bass), Karsten Bagge (drums)
2015	2017	Find the Way	ECM	Trio, with Ben Street (bass), Billy Hart (drums)[7]
2018	2018	Little Big	Ropeadope	Most tracks quartet, with Greg Tuohey (guitar), David Ginyard (bass), Tommy Crane (drums); some tracks with Eliot Krimsky (keyboards) added
2019	2020	Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man	Ropeadope	Quartet, with Greg Tuohey (guitar), David Ginyard, Jr (bass), Tommy Crane (drums, percussion)[8]
2021	2022	Volume One	(Independent)	Trio, with Matt Brewer (bass), Eric Harland (drums); digital download[9]
2021	2022	Volume Two	(Independent)	Trio, with Matt Brewer (bass), Eric Harland (drums); digital download[9][10]
2023	2023	Live in Berlin	(Independent)	Quartet, with Greg Tuohey (guitar), David Ginyard, Jr (bass), Jongkuk Kim (drums); digital download
2024	2024	Little Big III	Blue Note	Quartet, with Greg Tuohey (guitar), David Ginyard (bass), Jongkuk Kim (drums)

Main sources:^[11][12]

As member

James Farm
With Joshua Redman, Matt Penman and Eric Harland

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

As sideman

With Terence Blanchard Bounce (Blue Note, 2003) Flow (Blue Note, 2005) – recorded in 2004 A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note, 2007) With Mike Moreno Between the Lines (World Culture Music, 2007) – recorded in 2006 First in Mind (Criss Cross, 2011) Another Way (World Culture Music, 2012) Lotus (World Culture Music, 2015) With Christian Scott Anthem (Concord Jazz, 2007) Live at Newport (Concord Jazz, 2008) – live With Dayna Stephens Today Is Tomorrow (Criss Cross, 2012) Reminiscent (Criss Cross, 2015) Right Now! (Contagious Music, 2020)

With others Ambrose Akinmusire, Prelude (Fresh Sound, 2008) Monika Borzym, Girl Talk (Sony, 2011) Francesco Cafiso, Angelica (CAM Jazz, 2009) Cant, Dreams Come True (Terrible, 2011) Terri Lyne Carrington, Waiting Game (Motema, 2019) Anders Christensen Trio, Dear Someone (Stunt, 2009) Nir Felder, Golden Age (Okeh, 2014) Gilad Hekselman, Ask for Chaos (Motema, 2018) Derrick Hodge, Live Today (Blue Note, 2013) Lage Lund, Foolhardy (Criss Cross, 2013) Chris Morrissey, North Hero (Sunnyside, 2013) Ferenc Nemeth, Night Songs (Dreamers Collective 2007) – recorded in 2005 Gretchen Parlato, In a Dream (ObliqSound, 2009) – recorded in 2008 Kurt Rosenwinkel, Star of Jupiter (Wommusic 2012)[2CD] Yeahwon Shin, Lua Ya (ECM, 2013) – recorded in 2012 Walter Smith III, Casually Introducing (Fresh Sound, 2006) Ben Wendel, The Seasons (Motema, 2018) Dhafer Youssef, Diwan of Beauty and Odd (Okeh, 2016) Joshua Redman, Where Are We (Blue Note, 2023)

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. 4 March 2011. 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. "Find the Way". ECM Records. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
8. "Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man | Aaron Parks". Aaronparksmusic.bandcamp.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
9. "Volume One". Aaronparksmusic.bandcamp.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
10. "Volume Two". Aaronparksmusic.bandcamp.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
11. "Aaron Parks Discography". jazzdisco. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
12. "Aaron Parks". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2018.

External links

• Official site
• Aaron Parks at NPR Music