Anna & Alfredo’s Wedding
We had an absolutely wonderful time at Anna & Alfredo’s wedding this past Saturday at Top of the Market. It was one of those sunny Springtime days in Seattle where everything seems to be just right with the world. What a great day to be married!
I had the pleasure of playing with Darrius Willrich on piano and Evan Flory-Barnes on bass. Evan is the regular bassist in my Quartet and it’s always a treat to play with him. I’ve known Darrius for years and we’ve played together a bunch, but it had been a while. He’s an incredible piano player and the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. I was glad to have the chance to spend the evening with him. This is one smokin’ trio, if I do say so myself!
Anna and Alfredo came to our recent show at Tula’s and told me that they just wanted us to be ourselves and do what we do, which is always nice to hear. They did have a few requests, however, which turned out to be great ones! For their recessional, for instance, they had us play “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. It’s always a challenge to take a well-know song from outside the jazz genre and do it justice. But it’s a challenge I love! And that song is so simple yet so beautiful that all we really had to do was play it straight and it worked out great. The bigger challenge was learning Jim Croce’s “Time In a Bottle”. Of course I’ve heard this song countless times, but I never paid too much attention to it until Anna asked if this could be their first dance. I take first dances very seriously, and wanted to create an arrangement that would be remembered by all in attendance. It took me a while, but the response was incredible, and I think we will add this song to our regular repertoire!
Top of the Market is a gorgeous place to have a wedding, with stunning views of Puget Sound. The staff took great care of us and was very complimentary about our music. The bartender told me she was thrilled to have such a great live band and not another cheesy DJ!
Thanks to Anna & Alfredo for including us in their big day.
Kathryn Krogstad was the photographer for the wedding and some of her beautiful shots:
Clave Nagila Debuts to a Packed House!
You know how sometimes you have an idea that you think is great, but you have no idea how others are going to react? Well, that’s how I’ve felt about Clave Nagila since the idea was born in Port Townsend four years ago. I had a suspicion that it was an idea who’s time had come, but you never know.
Nate Omdal and I have been working on the arrangements for over a year now. We started with this book of Jewish melodies and transformed them by adding different Latin rhythms to each piece. As each new arrangement was completed we grew ever more confident that we were on the right track.
Last Thursday the band made its debut at Egan’s. I arrived about an hour early to get warmed up and go over the parts one more time with the band. The first people to show up were folks I didn’t know, which I took as a good sign! By the time we took the stage the room was full! Family, friends and strangers all turned out to see what the fuss was all about. It was amazing to look out from the stage and see the anticipation on the faces. And all this for a band that hadn’t even played a note yet!
The show was a blast, and the response since has been truly amazing. This band may just become my most popular band!
I have to give huge thanks to Nate. Without his enthusiasm and dedication to the project it never would have seen the light of day. And I am honored and thrilled to have such a great band to make these songs come to life: Tobi Stone, Adrian Witherspoon, Brian Bermudez, Adam Kessler and Lalo Bello. Thanks to one and all!
I recorded the set, and as soon as I can find the time to go through it I will post a song or two. You really gotta hear this! Stay tuned for the further adventures of Clave Nagila!
Clave Nagila Debuts Tomorrow at Egan’s!
I’m very excited to announce the debut of my new project, Clave Nagila, tomorrow night at Egan’s. Almost 4 years in the making, this band combines my love of two distinct yet complimentary styles, Latin-jazz and traditional Jewish music. The concept grew out of an arrangement I did for my Quartet of a prayer called “Etz Chaim”, which I titled “Tree of Life”. That one is not in the Latin-Jazz vein, but it started me down the path toward arrangements of more Jewish music.
Over the last year my good friend Nate Omdal has helped me with the arrangements of such tunes as “Hava Nagila”, “Dayeinu”, “Adon Olam and more. I can’t wait to debut this amazing arrangements!
The band consists of 7 of the finest players in Seattle, including myself on trumpet, Nate on bass, Tobi Stone on clarinet, Brian Bermudez on bari-sax, Adrian Witherspoon on trombone, Adam Kessler on drums and Lalo Bello on percussion. These folks have dedicated much of their time and enthusiasm to rehearsing and getting ready, and I can’t thank them enough for their involvement and support.
Please come check us out tomorrow (Thursday) night at Egan’s. We play the early set, from 7:00-8:30pm, so you can join us for dinner and still get to bed at a reasonable hour!
Oyle!
Another Wonderful Night at Lucid
The Jason Parker Quartet had another great night at Lucid on Saturday night. I have to say, this is without a doubt my favorite room to play in. In just 6 months David has built his club into a hip, happening place. It feels like a true jazz club, and the energy is electric every time the JPQ plays there.
This time we were joined by our old friend Nate Omdal on bass and new friend Brad Gibson on drums. All who were in attendance agreed that they both sounded great and fit in real well, even though it was Brad’s first time playing with us. I asked Cynthia Mullis to join us for most of the evening. She’s been playing 2-3 songs with us at our recent shows, and she brings such great energy and playing to the band that I wanted her to play more and more! She absolutely tore it up on my tune “Bashert”. A few other guests sat in, including Katrina Wible, Jamie Baumgart and Bob Garrett, who played a double-trumpet throwdown with me on Nick Drake’s “Three Hours”.
If you haven’t been to Lucid yet you gotta check it out. We’ll be back there on June 19th, but don’t wait until then. They have great music 4 nights a week, and it’s always free.
Recording Complete
After 8 hours, 9 tunes, 21 takes and 1 Indian buffet the Jason Parker Quartet recording session is complete! It was an exhausting and exhilarating day, and all-in-all I couldn’t be happier. Recording is a strange process and no matter how much you prepare it’s always different than you expect. It’s hard to get used to a new room, an unfamiliar headphone mix, no audience to draw energy from, etc. And it’s hard to forget that tape is rolling and every missed note and dropped beat is captured forever. But that’s all part of making jazz music. And with a band of professionals and a top-notch studio and engineer it’s a joyful experience.
Josh, Evan, D’Vonne and I had a dress rehearsal at the studio yesterday and worked out some of the room details, and I’m glad we did. I really wanted us all in the live room so it would be as close to our normal playing experience as possible. But our engineer, PJ Newman, wanted to put Evan in an isolation booth to capture a clean bass sound. I asserted myself as the leader and had him set Evan up in the room with us, but after listening back to the recording I had to admit that PJ was right. From then on, I deferred to him as the expert! We got all of the placement issues out of the way, set all the levels of the various microphones, and ran a couple of the tunes. It was great to have the opportunity to get used to the room before the actual recording session.
On the way to the studio this morning, I told myself that all the hard work was done and that today was about playing music with my beautiful friends and enjoying the experience. I’m so fortunate to have this incredible band and I’m inspired and excited each and every time I get to make music with them. And my fiance Darrah sent me some perfect inspiration this morning by way of this quote:
Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. – George Bernard Shaw
With that in mind, I was ready to dive in and fully appreciate the experience.
So this morning we all rolled in about 11am, had a cup of coffee together and leisurely got ready to go. It was relaxed and slow, and set a good pace for the rest of the day. When we got to playing, it took a while to dial in the headphone mix. I always find it hard to get used to hearing myself through headphones, and was fiddling with them all day. The first couple takes of “Bashert” I was distracted by this, but by the third take we had all settled into our groove. I was determined not to do too many takes of any given song, and we did pretty well. Two tunes we got in one take, one tune we tried four takes, and the rest were two or three each. By the time we had gotten through “Bashert”, “Love For Sale”, “Beatrice” and “Dos Gardenias” I was starving and called a break for lunch.
After lunch we were joined by the wonderful tenor saxophonist Cynthia Mullis. I have long admired Cynthia’s playing and was thrilled when she agreed to participate in the recording. We had her come out to our last couple shows to play with us and it’s been a real treat. And I must say, she got us all excited with her playing today. After our first take of “Mance’s Dance” PJ told us we should always eat Indian food before we play, but I’m pretty sure it was Cynthia that got us all hyped and took our playing to a new level. We did a few more takes of Tatum’s tune, nailed “Idle Moments” in one, and then took a couple passes at our mash-up of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” & Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”. Cynthia was tearing it up, and after listening back we were all pleased with what we got. It was sad to say goodbye to her at that point but we had a few more tunes to get through before the day was over.
So we cut Cynthia loose and took two shots at “The Rainbow Connection” and got “Three Hours” is one take. We decide to try one more take of “Bashert” for kicks, and then my chops were done. Trumpet playing is such a physical endeavor, and when they go, they go! I would have loved to take another pass at one or two of the tunes, and we never got to my composition “Contact”, but that’s the way it goes.
After we were done we headed to Lucid for a celebratory drink, where the owner David bought the first round! He’s been super supportive of the band and the recording project and it was nice to end the day in the warm confines of his club. We even got to hear a bit of a new band called Chemical Clock, who were great!
I got home in a state that is all too familiar after playing – tired and wired. I slept for a couple hours but woke up with thoughts of the session in my head and deep gratitude for all my good fortune in my heart. PJ is going to get me the rough mixes tomorrow night, and I can’t wait to hear what we got. The band was absolutely killin’ all day long, and I look forward to getting into the mixing and mastering phase of the project.
Big thanks to Ashwin Rao for bringing his camera and documenting the session. Click here to see a slideshow of his photos.
Recording Day!
It’s recording day for the JPQ, and I’m giddy with excitement. We’ve worked hard over the last few months to prepare for this day and I’m ready to get to the studio and tear it up!
Thanks to all who have participated in the Micropatronage Program so far. Your contributions will be used to pay the band and the studio today. I couldn’t have done it without you. If you haven’t yet participated, now would be a great time.
I’ll post an update later to let you know how it’s going.
Beth & Chad’s Beautiful Wedding
We had the pleasure of celebrating Beth & Chad’s wedding last night at Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard. I met with them at their house about a month ago and they immediately felt like friends. They are warm and welcoming, and we talked about weddings, music, living in Seattle and their new kitty Gus. Beth was extremely organized and a pleasure to work with and told me that they just wanted us to do our thing, which is always great to hear.
So last night Josh, D’Vonne, Evan and I were joined by the lovely Katrina Wible on vocals. Katrina is one of my favorite singers in town because she’s a true musician, and she can sing just about anything, from Ella Fitzgerald to Stevie Wonder and everything in between! Check out her band Soul Kata for some great tunes.
Everyone at the wedding was just as nice as the happy couple themselves, and we received many great compliments. The best was from the mother of the bride, who told me that they’ve had 4 weddings for their 3 children and we’re the best band of them all! Once the dance floor was opened up it was crowded all night long.
Big thanks to Kaycee Parker of Parker Events and her assistant Tali for a great job coordinating the evening. Kaycee is a pro and kept everything running smoothly and calmly all night long. And I had the pleasure of meeting a new photographer, Ashwin Rao, who takes gorgeous pictures. He and his assistant Chris were fun and lively, and got some amazing shots of the band. All the photos you see here are Ashwin’s. He’s is a full-time sports medicine physician, and only shoots a handful of weddings each year, but if you’re lucky to hire him you won’t be disappointed. You can view a slide show of his photos of the JPQ and Katrina here.
Thanks also to the staff at Ray’s for taking such good care of us. I had an amazing plate of Gnocchi for dinner!
$1000 Mark Reached in the Micropatronage Program!
On February 28th I made this post and launched the Micropatronage program for the forthcoming Jason Parker Quartet CD. Today, with your generous support, we reached the $1000 mark! And I mean “we”, because I couldn’t have done it without you.
I have been humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from my family, friends and colleagues. With this support we will be able to make the record I’ve always dreamed of making, and document my amazing band two years into our development. I can’t tell you how much this means to me, and I hope you will feel a great deal of ownership and pride in the project, as do I.
If you haven’t yet become a Patron, believe me when I tell you that every $10 makes a huge difference. One patron at a time we will reach our goals and by the end of the summer I will present to you the fruits of our labors. I can’t wait to share the new music with you and show you exactly what your support will allow us to accomplish.
My deepest love and gratitude goes out to you. Thank you.
Lucid Was a Blast!
We had a most amazing show at Lucid on Saturday night! It was our first time playing at Seattle’s newest jazz club and honestly I had no idea what to expect. I had met the owner, David, and had seen the room, but you never know what’s going to happen on your maiden voyage at a new venue. Will anyone show up? Will the sound be good? Will the band adapt to the new setting? Well, what happened blew my mind!
Even before we started playing the room was starting to fill, and by the time we finished our first set it was standing room only! The vibe in the room was warm and friendly, the drinks were flowing liberally, and the band was ON.
We ran through some of the new tunes we’re working on for the recording and dusted off some old favorites as well. The new stuff went over well and our arrangements worked great in the live setting. It was fun playing “Dos Gardenias”, “Three Hours” and “Idle Moments”. And “Bashert” was particularly inspired, perhaps because Darrah and her family were in the house.
It was also nice to be able to invite some friends up to join us, including Richelle Gay, who sang beautifully on our mash-up of “Footprints/Summertime”. My soon-to-be-cousin Keith Beesley joined us on soprano sax on “If I Were a Bell” and tore it up. Harold Rosenkrans brought is signature tenor style to Wayne Shorter’s “Adam’s Apple”. And Randy Powers busted out his flugel for an inspired version of Miles Davis’s “All Blues”.
It was a beautiful night of music and the love in the room was palpable. David has created the kind of club that every musician wants to play and I hope you’ll go check it out when you get the chance (we’ll be back at Lucid on April 4th). And I can’t thank him enough for creating our new signature cocktail, “Parker’s Mood”, and donating $1 from each sale to the Micropatronage program.
And as always, it is inspiring and a true joy to play with my incredible band. Thank you Josh, Evan and D’Vonne for bringing your fire, your spirit and your love to the JPQ.
ArtZone Video is Streaming!
We had such a fantastic afternoon at the ArtZone TV taping the other day! They treated us like kings from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, with hugs all around, our own personal green-room, and the best part: cheese! And I must say they run a professional and tight ship, and we’re honored to be on the show. Big thanks to Nancy, Sheila, Travis and Greg. Click here to watch the show.
JPQ on ArtZone TV Thursday at 8pm
As mentioned in an earlier post, the JPQ is excited to be the featured performer on Nancy Guppy’s program ArtZone on the Seattle Channel. We’ll be featured on the the episode that airs on Comcast Cable channel 21 at 8:00pm this Thursday, March 5th. They rebroadcast the show all weekend long if you miss the premiere, and it will be available to stream on the web at Seattle Channel.org. Tune in to hear my original tune “Bashert” and snippets of our take on “One Mint Julep”.
Here we are after the taping with Nancy:
Slava! Ukrainian Carols in February?
My good friend Michael Owcharuk put together a wonderful and ambitious project called Slava! Ukrainian Carols and New Christmas Music that was snowed out during the big storm last December. We rehearsed it and were ready to go, and everyone was disappointed when we had to call it. Thankfully, the composers and musicians involved all agreed that the music was too good to go unheard, and Mike decided to put on the concert anyway. So breakout the eggnog and the mistletoe, because Christmas is coming again in February!
The reschedule concert will take place this Friday, February 27th at Trinity Church on First Hill in Seattle. Come hear new arrangements of traditional Ukrainian Carols and brand new Christmas music by seven of Seattle’s finest composers, played by seven of Seattle’s finest musicians. Oh, and its free!
New Tunes!
So I’ve been talking for a while about some new tunes that we’ll be debuting at our shows in the next couple months. The one’s that go well and feel the best will be recorded for our next CD in April at MOUSe Recording Studios. Today we had a rehearsal for our show at Egan’s tomorrow, and ran through a few of them. Much to my delight, they went great! Two that I’m particularly excited about are an arrangement I’ve been working on of Nick Drake’s “Three Hours” and our rendition of the Duke Pearson composition “Idle Moments”, which was originally made famous by the guitarist Grant Green. The boys had never seen or heard the Drake tune before, but totally nailed the concept I had in mind within minutes. I can’t wait to lay that tune on the folks at Egan’s tomorrow. And “Idle Moments”, which is a super-slow blues, is the perfect vehicle for Josh, who pulled out his finest Gene Harris licks and killed it! If you’re in Seattle and free tomorrow night, come down to Egan’s in Ballard and check us out from 7-9pm.
Jason Parker Quartet returns to Egan’s
Egan’s Ballard Jamhouse is everything a Jazz club should be…intimate, friendly and a great sounding room. We haven’t played there since October, and we’re happy to be returning on Tuesday, February 24th. Join us as we debut a few new tunes that we plan to record for our next CD in April, and a few old favorites. We play the early set, 7:00-8:30pm, so drop by after work for dinner and some great jazz!
The All New Jason Parker Music.com!
Welcome to the all new Jason Parker Music.com! I am in the process of teaching myself WordPress, so bear with me while I figure it all out. Soon you will find information, recordings, videos, concert calendars and musings about my career as a working musician in Seattle, WA. I hope you’ll check back often for updates, and please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
