Jason Parker
I discovered Jason by chance when searching new releases on Bandcamp. His latest project is a jazz version of Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left. So far one track is available from Bandcamp - Day is Done - with the remainder due towards the end of March.
Jason has three earlier albums all on Bandcamp and emusic
To find out more about the Nick Drake project go to [url] http://music.oneworkingmusician.com/album/five-leaves-left-a-tribute-to-nick-drake[/url]
Jason also plays with the jazz funk band Water Babies
Seattle-based trumpet/flugelhorn player and composer Jason Parker has been quietly making a name for himself as a first-call jazz, funk, R&B and rock musician.
It was a visit from Dizzy Gillespie and band to Jasons elementary school that started him on the path to becoming a musician. 8 year-old Jason worshiped at the feat of Diz for 30 minutes, and immediately asked his parents to buy him a trumpet. He played in jazz and rock bands all throughout high-school and college, but put down the horn after graduation to focus on a career in radio. Starting on the midnight-6am shift at his college radio station in Los Angeles, Jason worked his way through better and better shifts in LA, Eugene and Denver, finally working his way to Program Director of a major adult rock station in Seattle. After winning the prestigious Gavin Award for A3 Major Market Program Director of the Year, Jason walked away from his promising career to turn his attention back to the horn.
Jason has three earlier albums all on Bandcamp and emusic
To find out more about the Nick Drake project go to [url] http://music.oneworkingmusician.com/album/five-leaves-left-a-tribute-to-nick-drake[/url]
Jason also plays with the jazz funk band Water Babies
Water Babies play spontaneously created funk improvisations lovingly designed to have you shakin' your booty. Think Bitches Brew or Headhunters combined with Galactic or The Meters and you'll get an idea....Water Babies is all about the energy and spontaneity of improvised music. We came together as an experiment to see if we could strip away everything we knew about form and chord changes and just ride The Groove. What we have found has exceeded our wildest expectations. All of our songs are one-take improvisations rooted in The Groove which we hope will have you shakin' your thang!
Every one of our shows is full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns. Magical interaction and tight coherence ensues as we develop new musical ideas in every moment. We draw inspiration from each other, from the audience, from the atmosphere of the room, and from our musical forefathers, groups like Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew band, Maceo Parker, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.
Above all, we never lose our main focus: To deliver the most distinguished and funky improv grooves we can muster and share the joy that comes from creating magic in each moment.
Comments
Heh, now that the memory is starting to return, I don't think I ever got my promised coffee mug as part of my donation, so depending on your work history, you might want to start looking over your kitchen shelves for an appropriate mug to send me, lol.
@ScissorMan - I do, in fact, know the Way to Blue...but I ain't tellin'! We all have to find our own way, dontchaknow???
@jonahpwll - You are SO owed a coffee mug! But not by me, sir. I worked at KBCO in Denver/Boulder, which is a rock station. I'm much happier now adays playing music and working at the public jazz station here (http://kplu.org). If you donate I will PERSONALLY ship your mug to you! I also host a podcast called Jazz Now! Seattle (http://jazznowseattle.com) where I play all the great jazz artists in my fair city. Check it out if you get the chance.
Thanks for the warm welcome to the site...I look forward to contributing and getting to know y'all.
Great to hear that you like PWYW, 'cause when the Nick Drake project is done, I might have to pull a few hundred pennies out of the couch!
Seriously, I'm glad you've shared your thoughts about selling music through Bandcamp. In general thread on Bandcamp offerings, I've ruminated on what artists expect to get from selling their albums thereat. From what I've read on blogs, most people tend to see "name your price" as free. I'm cheap, but no miser. Unless an artist explicitly says they are ok with free, I'll throw a few bucks at them (and even is they're ok, I'll give something).
I wonder if the Alex Skolnick Trio ever made money off any of their recordings? And apparently there was also a guy named Andy Rehfelt who did this sort of thing too, with commercial rock material, mostly for Youtube I guess (here's his version of Metallica's Enter Sandman, where he went to the trouble of synching his version to a live video of Metallica, presuably for humorous effect).
Oh, and someone should add you to this emusers thread, too!
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownload.php?id=6394
Also, he's been kind enough to offer a cd of his to the site to run as part of the AAJ Contest Give-away series. Not sure exactly when the Parker contest will go up, but I'll update when I find out.
Today, it's a rainy day. My Humane Society event got rained out. I've been drinking coffee and sitting in my comfy clothes and listening to music. I'm now officially the AAJ daily download guy as of today and I'm getting caught up on a backlog of work that built up while I was trying to get up and running on the site. I'm creating some AAJ forum threads highlighting free MP3s that I like or like the musicians. I listen to each as I create the thread.
I totally love the Day is Done track. Especially the vocals. Mostly I think it's the rainy day outside my writing room windows and how the weather reminds me of days when Tom Waits tunes perpetually played in my head. This one fit in seamlessly.
I mention this only to celebrate that wonderful quality of music that if you are patient and if the music is truly good, you'll find a way to each other. Pretty cool.
I guess I can see how, if I really hustle, how I could put my imprint on things. Huh, I'll have to think about that.
Thanks for the congrats, though. And I think I have the gig indefinitely, just so long as I play well with others (which, I suppose, is an iffy proposition).
I prefer the adage, "With great power comes great power."
I guess I'm on something of a roll. First I become the new Pitchfork and now the AAJ Daily Download Guy.
Tremble, all ye peeps.
Here's a link to the AAJ contest page...
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=81631