Jeff Parker (musician)
Encyclopedia
Jeff Parker is an American jazz
and rock
guitarist based in Chicago
. Parker is best known as an experimental music
ian, working with avant-garde electronic, rock, and improvisational groups.
Parker currently plays guitar in the post-rock
group Tortoise
and also played with the ensembles Isotope 217
and the Chicago Underground Trio
in the 1990s and early 2000s. He has also worked with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
, as well as with jazz musicians such as Ted Sirota, Ernest Dawkins
and George Lewis
. He released his first solo effort in 2003.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
guitarist based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Parker is best known as an experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
ian, working with avant-garde electronic, rock, and improvisational groups.
Parker currently plays guitar in the post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
group Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
and also played with the ensembles Isotope 217
Isotope 217
Isotope 217° is a Chicago based band composed mainly of members from Tortoise and the Chicago Underground Orchestra that was formed in 1997. The New York Times described the band as "..adept to varying degrees at rock and funk and jazz and electronics, turn those introspective moments into jams...
and the Chicago Underground Trio
Chicago Underground Duo
Chicago Underground Duo is an avant-garde jazz duo consisting of cornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor. They formed in 1997, having both been members of Chicago Underground Orchestra...
in the 1990s and early 2000s. He has also worked with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians is a non-profit organization, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran....
, as well as with jazz musicians such as Ted Sirota, Ernest Dawkins
Ernest Dawkins
Ernest Dawkins is an American jazz saxophonist, principally active in free jazz and post-bop.Ernest Khabeer Dawkins was a neighbor of Anthony Braxton as a child. He played bass and drums early in life before switching to saxophone in 1973...
and George Lewis
George Lewis (trombonist)
George E. Lewis is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.- Biography :Lewis graduated from Yale University with a...
. He released his first solo effort in 2003.
Discography
- Like-Coping (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
, 2003) - Out Trios, Vol. 2 (with Michael Zerang and Kevin DrummKevin Drumm-Biography:Emerging from the city's improvised music scene, in the 1990s he became one of the world's pre-eminent prepared guitar players. Since then his work has expanded to include electroacoustic compositions and live electronic music made with laptop computers and analog modular synthesizers...
) (Atavistic RecordsAtavistic RecordsAtavistic Records is an American rock and jazz record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known particularly for its No Wave and free jazz recordings. It has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, various Ken Vandermark projects, Pinetop Seven, Swans, Elliott...
, 2003) - Song Songs Song (with Scott FieldsScott FieldsScott Fields , is a guitarist, composer and band leader. He is best known for his attempts to blend music that is composed and music that is written and for his modular pieces...
) (Delmark RecordsDelmark RecordsDelmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...
, 2004) - The Relatives (Thrill JockeyThrill JockeyThrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
, 2005)