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Guitarist
Jeff Parker has been a highly versatile musician, arranger, composer, and producer since the early '90s. His relaxed yet precise guitar playing easily adapts to numerous styles of music and configurations of musicians, ranging from post-bop improvisations to experimental electronic music to indie rock.
Parker is highly regarded as an ensemble player, as evidenced by his membership in
Tortoise, 1990s sessions with
Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble, his early tenures in the
Brian Blade Fellowship and
Chicago Underground Duo, Isotope 217, and 21st century recordings with
Makaya McCraven,
Fred Anderson,
Nicole Mitchell,
Mike Reed, and
Matana Roberts. His own albums have been a diverse lot. 2004's Relatives showcased him leading a post-bop quartet. 2016's
The New Breed offered a collection of jazz originals influenced by soul, old-school R&B, and hip-hop. He continued in that direction on 2020's
Suite for Max Brown. In December 2021, he released the solo guitar album
Forfolks, recorded at his California home studio.
A guitarist since youth,
Parker studied at the Berklee College of Music before relocating to Chicago in 1991. He became an associate member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1995 and played guitar with jazz artists such as
Ernest Dawkins,
Ted Sirota, and
Pat Mallinger. Later in the decade, he co-founded electro-jazz fusion group Isotope 217 and Chicago Underground Orchestra, both including
Rob Mazurek.
Parker joined
Tortoise in time for their acclaimed 1998 album TNT, which was one of their most jazz-oriented releases.
From there, he became in demand in several genres of music, working with musicians ranging from
Smog (
Bill Callahan) to
Fred Anderson, and forming additional ensembles such as Aesop Quartet,
Tricolor, and Vega. In 2003, Delmark Records released
Parker's debut album as a leader,
Like-Coping, which also featured Chris Lopes and
Chad Taylor.
Parker also recorded a more abrasive improvisational album,
Out Trios, Vol. 2, with
Kevin Drumm and
Michael Zerang. The following year, he released solo album The Relatives on Thrill Jockey and
Song Songs Song (with
Scott Fields) on Delmark. His next recording as a leader was
Bright Light in Winter, also featuring Lopes and
Taylor, and credited to
Jeff Parker Trio, which arrived on Delmark in 2011.
Parker relocated to Los Angeles in 2013. Two years later, he and
Mazurek recorded Some Jellyfish Live Forever, which was issued by French label Rogue Art. The label also released Gain, the debut album by hip-hop/jazz group Illtet, which featured
Parker along with
Mike Ladd,
High Priest (
Antipop Consortium), and
Tyshawn Sorey.
Parker expanded on his hip-hop influence and interest in sampling techniques with his 2016 solo album
The New Breed, released by
International Anthem. Later in the year,
Parker released solo LP Slight Freedom on the Eremite label, which included a cover of
Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids."
In 2018, he paired with saxophonist
Kjetil Møster, bassist
Joshua Abrams, and drummer
John Herndon for
Ran Do. Later that year, he issued the quintet offering The Diagonal Filter on Not Two Records. His sidemen included trombonist
Jeb Bishop, pianist
Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist
Nate McBride, and drummer
Luther Gray. Two years later, in January 2020,
Parker issued
Suite for Max Brown (titled for and dedicated to his mother, Maxine), the sophomore outing by his studio pickup group the New Breed. Along with
Jamire Williams, who returned from the first incarnation, sidemen included
McCraven,
Mazurek, Paul Bryan,
Jay Bellerose, and cellist
Katinka Kleijn, though many of its pieces were performed completely solo.
Parker followed in 2021 with the solo guitar offering
Forfolks for
International Anthem/Nonesuch. The eight-song set included readings of
Thelonious Monk's "Ugly Beauty" and the Richard A. Whiting, Newell Chase,
Leo Robin standard "My Ideal," as well as six original compositions including the title track -- first recorded in 1995 -- and "La Jetée" (initially recorded with Isotope 217 in 1997 and later with
Tortoise). Its four remaining originals were composed specifically for this project. ~ Paul Simpson