Home » Jazz Musicians » Antonio Parker
Antonio Parker
Howard University Jazz Ensemble 2023: Nefertiti
by Jack Bowers
The Howard University Jazz Ensemble was formed almost half a century ago, in 1975, by Fred Irby III, its first--and, so far, only--music director. Every year since 1976, the ensemble has recorded and released an album to showcase its prowess and growth under Irby's baton. This year's entry, Nefertiti, is a tribute to the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter, many of whose compositions have become jazz standards, including the album's title song. Interestingly, Shorter, a twelve-time Grammy winner ...
read moreHoward University Jazz Ensemble: HUJE 2022
by Jack Bowers
Recordings by the superb Howard University Jazz Ensemble have been surfacing like clockwork each year since shortly after the orchestra was formed in 1975 by its first (and only) music director, Fred Irby III. Sometimes the albums have overall themes, while others (such as this one) are dedicated to one or more of the university's distinguished alumni. Andrew Nathaniel White III, a Washingtonian who graduated cum laude from Howard in 1964, was a multi-instrumentalist whose notable career ...
read moreThe Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children
by Jack Bowers
The best music, in jazz or any other genre, is and should be timeless. To prove the point, the Scott Silbert Big Band celebrates the songs of a bygone era on its debut album, Jump Children, refreshing a number of memorable themes from the '30s, '40s and '50s and underscoring their relevance in an ultra-modern twenty-first century environment. His goal, Silbert writes, was to represent the fantastic musicianship of the artists [who] originally performed these works," venerated masters such as ...
read moreManny Kellough: Speaking of Jazz (East to West Coast)
by Richard J Salvucci
If you are looking for some small group jazz that is relaxed but swinging, Manny Kellough, Billy Preston's drummer, has put together a nice package of standards and originals for your listening enjoyment. While the ensemble work is, to put it plainly, not tight, the instrumental solos are good and, at times, outstanding. Alto saxophonist Antonio Parker is especially rewarding on Generosity" and Secret Love." Michael Thomas on trumpet is a bit less compelling. His biting sound recalls the asperity ...
read moreThe TNEK Jazz Quintet: Plays the Music of Sam Jones
by Jack Bowers
The late Sam Jones is mainly remembered as an earnest craftsman whose perceptive bass lines undergirded the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Barry Harris, Kenny Dorham, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans and a host of other jazz masters. Jones, however, had another special albeit lesser-known talent, one that is addressed here, almost forty years after his passing in 1981, by the TNEK Jazz Quintet. Jones, as it happens, was a superb writer whose keen ear for a melody ...
read moreAntonio Parker & Sounds of the City: The Exchange
by Matt Merewitz
With Sounds of the City, Antonio Parker has put himself on the map as both a performer and composer. The songs on The Exchange show his vast array of influences, from straight-ahead bop to world music. More than anything else, Parker's writing for the ensemble shines. With a penchant for both catchy melodies and pastiche, his compositional approach is interesting to analyze. Having toured Africa with the State Department's Jazz Ambassadors program, Parker says he was inspired to create a ...
read more