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Veteran Drummer/Composer Chris Parker Releases -Heart of Mine- May 14th! Drummer and composer, Chris Parker, has dug deep into his musical history to honor composers, he grew up with including Ralph Burns, Nat Adderley, Bobby Timmons, Lalo Schiffrin, Thelonious Monk and Bob Dylan too, with the Quartet’s version of the title track, “Heart Of Mine.” For nearly fifteen years, the connection and empathy has grown stronger between the members and original compositions from Parker and Oyobe add to that musical spontaneity on this recording, their fourth. The Chris Parker Quartet Heart of Mine Release Date: May 14th Label: M’Bubba Music Parker has always been a catalyst behind the scenes and especially, behind the drums. Many have written home to say so: Tom Hanks said, “...the hardest working man in show business!” Michael Brecker, “...a natural drummer with a great feel for funk.” Tom Scott, “...sweetest, mf, drumming human being on the planet!” Bob Dylan, “...one of the greats!” “Drummer Chris Parker has a to-die-for resume. Over the past four decades he’s worked with everybody from the Brecker Brothers to Miles Davis and Laura Nyro to Lou Rawls. Parker’s quartet, with Ameen Saleem or Michael O’Brien bass and pianist Kyoko Oyobe, and Yuto Kanazawa playing guitar, is one of the most dynamically tuned-in foursomes. Parker’s made a career out of playing the right thing for the right situation, and that skill carries over into his own work. He also knows a thing or two about leading a band.” — Dan Bilawsky, allaboutjazz.com Musicians are: Kyoko Oyobe - piano Ameen Saleem - bass Michael O'Brien - bass Yuto Kanazawa - guitar Chris Parker - drums Tracks and times: 1.Bijou 4:20 2.Long, Long Summer 5:21 3.I Need Your Love 4:33 4.Sermonette 4:54 5.Heart Of Mine 3:04 6.You Are The One Mr. Chris Parker 5:25 7.South Washington Street Parade 4:30 8.Nutty Freedom 4:52 9.This Here 6:54 10.Sempre Grato 5:19 11.You're A Giver 5:37 Album Details: ARTIST: Chris Parker Quartet TITLE: Heart Of Mine GENRE: Jazz LABEL: M’Bubba Music CATALOG#: 004 UPC: STREET DATE: May14, 2025 RADIO ADD DATE: May 14, 2025 Randy Brecker 2/24/25: Chris Parker and his trio featuring Kyoko Oyobe on piano, and Ameen Saleem or Michael O'Brien on bass, and Chris on drums, serve up another tantalizing recording, adding Guitarist Yuto Kanazawa to the mix and ending up with a record full of surprises and stunning moments. Chris was never one to limit his 'horizons' when it came to music, and as a musician you just can't put a label on his musicianship either, he's a 360 degree drummer, who quite naturally, can play any style, he's a totally original composer of tunes which also don't fit in any one genre, but at the same time fit in the one genre that's really important: Music! This time he has really outdone himself by choosing material that you yourself wouldn't think of, from his childhood with a houseful of drummers, and also several engaging originals by Chris and one by Kyoko. The Quartet really sounds like a band, and the arrangements each have little creative drops of glue like the amazing shout choruses (usually just heard in big bands!) that hold everything together and whip up a ton of excitement, with "What can happen next?" imprinted on your brain. While I won't go into each tune with too much detail, since Chris's great liner notes perform that function, but all soloing is just first rate, each solo tells a story, and fit seamlessly into the arrangements, and really the 'whole concept' of the recording as a whole. That's the key for me, the way the solos just slide in and morph into a band section and final chorus so effortlessly, that's the sign of a great arranger in this case mostly Chris but I imagine everyone had some input into the charts, and of course playing together nightly is also where new ideas are born, and individuals become a Band! So cool that some of the material ("Bijou" and "Sermonette") came out of the Lambert Hendricks and Ross singing group, recorded years ago as brilliant 'vocalese' classics, but the tunes have lost none of the flair with these great solos and arrangements... I was a big fan of LH&R growing up since I was 8 years old, so these had special significance to me....! "Long Long Summer" gets a nice latin-jazz treatment with the addition of the guitar and great solos as does "I Need Your love" with the bandleader's great drum solo as the centerpiece! Then onto a Bob Dylan, the title track "Heart of Mine" a tune which I was unfamiliar with, but you'd never know it was written by the man himself. I remember when Chris just casually mentioned to me that he's been Dylan's drummer for what was it? 10 years or so? How did he fit that into his already busy schedule? The soft-spoken Chris Parker strikes again! "You Are the One Mr. Chris Parker" is a lovely heartfelt tune by Kyoko, and you're right ... he is! The next 2 Tunes Chris' "South Washington Street Parade" and "Nutty Freedom" a 'mash up' of Monk and Eddie Harris, are another case in point: great Chris Parker arranging and compositional ideas. Uh Oh then comes a tune I must have listened to. a thousand times growing up Bobby Timmons' "This Here" or as Cannonball would say:"Dis Heah"...sounds wonderful with this instrumentation and spirted soloing and deep vamping. "Sempre Grato' ('Always Grateful') Chris' 'thank' you to the band. Well anyone listening to this recording with be 'Sempre Grato' too! Closing out with another Chris original: "You're a Giver"...We all give thanks (The Listeners!) to all the Musicians and behind the scene people for putting this recording together..it's a real winner! |
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