Jeff Parker & ETA IVtet Happy Today - Led by guitarist Jeff Parker, featuring saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, anddrummer Jay Bellerose, the ETA IVtet is a band that grew out of a weekly residency started byParker in 2016 at Northeast Los Angeles venue ETA. Over seven years of holding down that residency, Parker's ETA ensemble evolved from a bandthat played mostly standards into a group known for it's transcendent, long-form (sometimesstretching out for 45 minutes or more) journeys into innovative, often uncharted territories ofgroove-oriented, painterly, polyrhythmic, minimalist and mantric improvised music.
Happy Today, the third album from guitarist/bandleader Jeff Parker's long-running ETA IVtet, was recorded live at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on August 20, 2025. This fresh entry into the IVtet's catalog captures Parker and the band - including drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, and saxophonist Josh Johnson - on record outside of the now-shuttered Highland Park micro-club ETA for the first time.
For his last solo record 'Through a Room', Bill Nace shifted his usual saturated guitar sound and added tapes, hurdy gurdy, doughnut pipe, bird calls and the mysterious Japanese taishogoto. Setting up for the final night of his three day residency at OTO with only the taishogoto soundchecked, Nace hoped that Parker would arrive with his small soprano as it's opposite. "I've been interested in state change, you know, playing until there's a shift in time." Known for his development of multiphonics to produce a constantly shifting pattern, Evan Parker has evolved an instantly recognizable sound - his work the soprano most distinct. Happily, it was the soprano Evan brought with him and as soon as the two start to play they entwine - taking off in a double helix of keys and reed primed for endless reconfiguration. Space warps under the velocity of playing, the pitch rising unrelentingly. It felt like unending lift off in the room, sheer energy until the last note makes remember your feet have been on the floor the whole time. Total time bending shredding.
Leo Parker was the first bebop baritone sax player and a member of Billy Eckstine's Unholy Four saxophone section with Dexter Gordon in the mid-40s. Sidelined in the '50s due to personal troubles, he made a tragically brief comeback in 1961 recording two Blue Note dates, including Rollin' With Leo months before he died. This stereo Blue Note Tone Poet Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
Charlie Parker - "Bird In Kansas City" / This new set of rare Charlie Parker recordings dating from between 1941-1951, most of them never having been heard before and some never even having been known to exist, chronicle Bird's evolution from a blossoming soloist with the Jay McShann Band into a brilliant improviser who dominated the jazz landscape for decades to come. In addition to two unreleased 78s with the McShann band, this set offers two sets of private recordings made with local musicians and a very relaxed-sounding Parker. Verve Label Group; Verve; Jazz
Charlie Parker - "Bird In Kansas City" / This new set of rare Charlie Parker recordings dating from between 1941-1951, most of them never having been heard before and some never even having been known to exist, chronicle Bird's evolution from a blossoming soloist with the Jay McShann Band into a brilliant improviser who dominated the jazz landscape for decades to come. In addition to two unreleased 78s with the McShann band, this set offers two sets of private recordings made with local musicians and a very relaxed-sounding Parker. Verve Label Group; Verve; Jazz
Vinyl LP pressing. Ornithology: The Best of Bird is a compilation bringing together 11 cuts from legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. Designed as an introduction to this influential artist, it covers Bird's prime years between 1945 and 1953, with cuts including "Ko-Ko," "Billie's Bounce," and "Groovin' High". Included on the back of the newly designed sleeve is a new essay by Grammy-Award winning writer Ashley Kahn.
Ornithology: The Best of Bird is a new compilation bringing together 11 cuts from legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. Designed as an introduction to this influential artist, it covers Bird's prime years between 1945 and 1953, with cuts including "Ko-Ko," "Billie's Bounce," and "Groovin' High". Included on the back of the newly designed sleeve is a new essay by GRAMMY® award winning writer Ashley Kahn.
A gorgeous soul-jazz organ quartet album that hearkens back to early-mid 60s sessions of similar form; fully revitalized by William Parker's indelible compositions and the generous musical gifts of Darryl Foster, Cooper-Moore and Gerald Cleaver. This very special project was produced by Parker for his own Centering Records imprint. Dedicated to his Aunt Carrie Lee & Uncle Joe (pictured on album cover), it was created to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in 2010. Released on CD edition back then, this is a newly mastered-for-vinyl first-time/one-time Centering Records LP issue, released in Spring 2024. "A family thing. And a lot more than that: one of the great bassist's most joyful, sunshine-filled records. An album of very accessible creative jazz with irresistible grooves. A federating record. A gem." -Monsieur Delire "Though mysticism and spirituality play a hand in his expansive aesthetic, so do earthly concerns like social justice and family. A deeply personal offering from a musician whose role as a scene leader and social activist is as significant as his instrumental prowess." -All About Jazz "For a guy who's rightly regarded as a load-bearing column holding up much of the New York avant-jazz scene, bassist William Parker records some remarkably mainstream-friendly albums. Don't let this pass you by. It's emotional, hard-grooving, occasionally abstract but often raw and bluesy music that shakes hands with the past before striding confidently into the future." -Burning Ambulance
Heart Trio features three lifelong-devoted fellow travelers on the path of healing through sound. World-renowned & revered bassist-composer-leader William Parker has performed and recorded extensively with both Cooper-Moore & Hamid Drake over the past 30+ years. And, the three of them are core since 2012 in Parker's reborn In Order To Survive quartet. Heart Trio is, remarkably then, their debut as a trio on record. William here plays doson ngoni, dudek, and flutes of bamboo, cedar & walnut. Cooper-Moore on his hand-crafted ashimba and harp; Hamid Drake on frame drum and drum kit. All of this music was collectively composed at the time of it's creation. This is music for sunrise and sunset. Daily music. Healing, centering, mantra, heart music. From William's notes included with the release: "The theory behind this music is the music itself. Empty and fill the heart and soul with sound, letting it dance. Without pretense. We are trying to get to a flow-Earth, sky, and flowing water sounds that jump out of the painting." William Parker will receive Lifetime of Achievement Honors at Vision 2024. The celebration will take place June 18, 2024 at Roulette, Brooklyn. Jacket printed on reverse board. Includes full-res download card w/ all * tracks. Strictly limited LP edition of 600.
Cereal Music is bassist-composer-leader-poet William Parker's first spoken word album -observations from a profound life devoted to the path of finding truth in beauty & speaking truth to power. Parker's words are further illuminated by deeply sensitive sound design created by likewise devoted artist on the same path, producer and singer Ellen Christi. William Parker's music -in it's vast scope & range of form- has been an elemental nutrient of countless listeners lives for nigh on five decades. William's words -whether published on page or spoken from the stage- are part of that music. They speak on the beauty of life itself, amplifying the light of life ever-present, even in exceptionally difficult circumstance. As his first artistic expression, Parker began writing as a young person growing up in the South Bronx projects, presenting an alternate perception of often bleak surroundings and living conditions in the neighborhood. This early awareness that there was another way of being in the world, has suffused his development into a singularly generous artist and human being. Ellen Christi's singing brings that same affirmation in the beauty of life. She & Parker's previous work together, The Majesty of Jah, is a tremendous feature for her voice. That album also includes the track, "Baldwin", w/ his ever-powerful words and voice resonating even more profoundly within the sonic architecture created around them by Christi. Here, she does the same for the words & voice of William Parker. Jacket printed on reverse board. Includes insert w/ illuminating notes & full-res download card w/ 3 bonus tracks.
Heart Trio features three lifelong-devoted fellow travelers on the path of healing through sound. World-renowned & revered bassist-composer-leader William Parker has performed and recorded extensively with both Cooper-Moore & Hamid Drake over the past 30+ years. And, the three of them are the core since 2012 in Parker's reborn In Order To Survive quartet. Heart Trio is, remarkably then, their debut as a trio on record.
William here plays doson ngoni, dudek, and flutes of bamboo, cedar & walnut. Cooper-Moore on his hand-crafted ashimba and harp; Hamid Drake on frame drum and drum kit. All of this music was collectively composed at the time of it's creation. This is music for sunrise and sunset. Daily music. Healing, centering, mantra, heart music. From William's notes included with the release: "The theory behind this music is the music itself. Empty and fill the heart and soul with sound, letting it dance. Without pretense. We are trying to get to a flow-Earth, sky, and flowing water sounds that jump out of the painting." William Parker received Lifetime of Achievement Honors at Vision 2024.
Cereal Music is bassist-composer-leader-poet William Parker's first spoken word album -observations from a profound life devoted to the path of finding truth in beauty & speaking truth to power. Parker's words are further illuminated by deeply sensitive sound design created by likewise devoted artist on the same path, producer and singer Ellen Christi. William Parker's music - in it's vast scope & range of form - has been an elemental nutrient of countless listeners lives for nigh on five decades. William's words - whether published on page or spoken from the stage- are part of that music. They speak on the beauty of life itself, amplifying the light of life ever-present, even in exceptionally difficult circumstance.
As his first artistic expression, Parker began writing as a young person growing up in the South Bronx projects, presenting an alternate perception of often bleak surroundings and living conditions in the neighborhood. This early awareness that there was another way of being in the world, has suffused his development into a singularly generous artist and human being. Ellen Christi's singing brings that same affirmation in the beauty of life. She & Parker's previous work together, The Majesty of Jah, is a tremendous feature for her voice. That album also includes the track, "Baldwin", w/ his ever-powerful words and voice resonating even more profoundly within the sonic architecture created around them by Christi. Here, she does the same for the words & voice of William Parker.
Restock inventory available. A reissue made available for Record Store Day to celebrate the 75th anniversary of this landmark recording. In September of 1949, Charlie Parker crossed paths with Swing Era giants Roy Eldridge and Lester Young onstage at Carnegie Hall. The band - which also included Ray Brown, Hank Jones, Flip Phillips, Buddy Rich and Tommy Turk - wailed on standards and extended, improvised tunes, producing this exciting performance. This LP has been mastered from the original analog sources and pressed on yellow vinyl.
Solo – Harmonica on Harmonica charts a journey from the Middle Ages to our own time and showcases the harmonica in all its versatility and variety. From jazz legends Chick Corea, Charlie Parker and Lester Young to Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and from the sinful tango of Mato Rodriguez’s famous La Cumparcita to the sacred monody of O Virgo splendens – the repertoire and the performances display striking juxtapositions. Luca Littera is an acclaimed chromatic harmonica virtuoso. He performs here on a selection of instruments, multi-tracking each part to create the unique sound of an ensemble of harmonicas.
Vinyl LP pressing. This 1957 release, the third in a series of albums expanding on Bird's 10-inch Clef releases from the early 1950's, 'Now's The Time' boasts some of Parker's purest recordings and strongest playing, featuring two different quartets. His lyrical and fluid improvisations on cuts like 'The Song Is You' and 'Laird Baird' are on full display, prime examples of his unmatched genius. This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit.
Trance Map+ is an electro-acoustic formation in constant motion. Founded by electronic musician, turntable player and sound designer Matt Wright and saxophonist Evan Parker, the band is in a constant process of transformation, renewal and expansion, both conceptually and also due to fluctuations in personnel. Etching the Ether features star trumpeter Peter Evans and percussionist Mark Nauseef. This new musical adventure began with a trio recording by Parker, Wright and Evans, with Evan Parker asking Mark Nauseef for "intro, interludes and a coda", material which was added in post-production. "What arises in the process is a determinedly plural space, a temporal cubism, a dream time that's omnidirectional. Reverb is less an effect than a new relationship, echoing 'back' as it moves forward", writes Stuart Broomer in the liner notes.
Charlie Parker was a legendary American jazz saxophonist and composer. Early on he developed a reputation for his innovative and virtuosic playing style, which revolutionized jazz music and had a lasting impact on the genre. Parker's musical career took off in the 1940s, when he played in the iconic jazz clubs of New York City, including Minton's Playhouse and the Three Deuces. He became a key figure in the development of bebop, a new style of jazz characterized by it's fast tempos, complex harmonies, and intricate melodies. Parker's improvisational style, marked by rapid-fire melodic runs and unpredictable harmonies, set a new standard for jazz musicianship and inspired countless musicians who followed in his footsteps. Listen here to the "Bird" performing a rare selection of jazz and bebop hits, aired originally for radio broadcast during the 40s.
If there is one figure in jazz who remains similarly inexplicable, it is Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker has contributed so much to the syntax and grammar of jazz that no contemporary jazz musician exists today who is not influenced in some way by Bird’s jargon, either directly, or in echoes. Of course, every language has to be able to change with the times, otherwise it could not describe the atmosphere, the reality of the present. This mutability and the will to change is what makes Charlie Parker's dialect so special.
AFRO CUBAN BOP: THE LONG LOST BIRD LIVE RECORDINGS
ROCKBEAT RECORDS
Vinyl
$49.49Apr 22, 2023
MORE INVENTORY ON TEH WAY! 180 GRAM. This 180 gram 2xLP vinyl set features 18 selections from one of jazz's greatest saxophonists, Charlie Parker. All the recordings were captured in the late 1940s and early '50s at such storied venues as Carnegie Hall and Birdland in New York, The Jubilee in Los Angeles. The music is focused on experiments in Afro-Cuban fusion and Parker is joined by a dazzling group of supporting musicians.
AFRO CUBAN BOP: THE LONG LOST BIRD LIVE RECORDINGS
ROCKBEAT RECORDS
CD
$14.49Apr 21, 2023
Live archive release. Remastered, reconfigured and repackaged high energy live recordings from the 1940s & 1950s featuring the legendary Charlie Parker, backed up by other jazz luminaries including Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Art Blakey and Woody Herman, with liner notes by Keith Emerson and Cory Weed.
Two CD set. Charlie Parker only visited Europe twice, in May 1949 he played in Paris, and for just over a week in November 1950 he was mainly in Sweden - Some of the recordings were made at concerts with a buzzing audience and people dancing - hence the live feeling! The musicians are relaxed and the atmosphere informal. Their joy of playing on stage with Parker is truly palpable to the listener. This double CD set contains 2 shows and a late night jam. Some of these recordings have been previously released, but at the wrong speed - but now we get the full sets in the way it sounded 1950.
For his second album for King's College, Cambridge, harpist and alumnus Parker Ramsay performs The Street by acclaimed composer Nico Muhly and librettist Alice Goodman, a dramatic new work for harp solo, narration and plainchant, based on the Fourteen Stations of the Cross. In it's complete form, The Street weaves together the three sonic elements of Parker's harp, Rosie Hilal's narration, and plainchant from the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, for a powerful presentation of the story of Jesus's final days in a uniquely beautiful way. An alternative version of the work for harp solo is also included. Following the success of Parker Ramsay's first album, J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations performed on the harp, the album also contains a performance of the Partita No.2 in C Minor, BWV 826.
William Parker's Universal Tonality documents an epic performance which brings his titular concept to full, vibrant life. An exquisite example of this system in practice, it features a truly once-in-a-lifetime assembly of creative music luminaries and legends. Clocking in at nearly two hours and featuring six extended pieces flowing across two discs, this Universal Tonality happening took place in December 2002. Parker invited 16 musicians of various ages, cultures and musical backgrounds - to join him in an experiment of "breathing together." Many of them met on stage for the first time that evening. While he provided a score (wonderfully illustrated pages from same are included in the package), all were advised that there need not be adherence to it. Parker's hope with this approach is that each musician will trust their own instincts - and those of the musicians around them - enough to let the sound find it's shape in real time. Ranging from roof-raising big band to intimate cross-cultural exchanges, that constant current of inspiration, and open, receptive communication was wholly present at Roulette that night, and is on full display on this magical recording. Lyrics and personal writings by Parker - which Leena Conquest sings, recites, or dramatically interprets - also play a key role in this work. Parker gave Conquest the same freedom of choice he afforded the instrumentalists, supplying her with materials to draw on as she saw fit. When discussing or writing on his Universal Tonality concept as a whole (as on the enclosed, extensive liner notes), Parker can sound like he's outlining a life philosophy. It is both telling and fitting that author Cisco Bradley chose to title his 2021 biography of William Parker after this concept. The results of this one-night-only communion can now take their place among Parker's many landmark works spanning the past three decades, including previously released Universal Tonality-driven pieces like Double Sunrise Over Neptune, and Red Giraffe with Dreadlocks (released on the box set For Those Who Are, Still).
Jeff Parker's Forfolks-a new album of solo guitar works-will be released on December 10, 2021 via International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. The albumincludes interpretations of Thelonious Monk's "Ugly Beauty" and the standard "My Ideal, " plussix original compositions including "Four Folks" (a tune first written by Parker and recorded in 1995) and "La Jetee" (a tune he recorded with Isotope 217 in 1997 and with Tortoise in 1998). The four totally new original compositions are loop-driven, stratiform works that marry melodic improvisation with electronic textures. The album was recorded by Graeme Gibson at Sholo Studio in Altadena, California (aka Jeff's house) over two days in June 2021.
Vinyl includes 4 of the 6 CD tracks & includes download card featuring all 6 tracks. Following the release of Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 (Centering Records) and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker (Duke University Press) earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker will present a pair of brand new trio albums which further expound on his vision. One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Mayan Space Station is his first electric guitar trio album, and features Ava Mendoza - electric guitar, Gerald Cleaver - drums, and Parker on bass. Cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. All of the promise imagined by a trio recording of these musicians with compositions by Parker is delivered to the fullest. Regarding the album title, Parker offers: "Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a fictional reality that is important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver, belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, 'travel the space ways.' Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments."
LP includes 4 of the 5 CD tracks & includes download card featuring all 5 tracks / stickered noting this. Painters Winter features the trio of William Parker - bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Daniel Carter - reeds, trumpet, flute; and Hamid Drake - drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. Drake & Parker launched their devoted "two-man big band" partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, "It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered." And from his liner notes, "The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us. Sounds we both listened to while breezes and big green kites we called leaves sailed above the trees."
CD digipak features liner notes by William Parker. Painters Winter features the trio of William Parker - bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Daniel Carter - reeds, trumpet, flute; and Hamid Drake - drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. Drake & Parker launched their devoted "two-man big band" partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, "It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered." And from his liner notes, "The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us. Sounds we both listened to while breezes and big green kites we called leaves sailed above the trees."
