Jason Parker Quartet | th

A prolific jazz guitarist, Jeff Parker freelances in jazz and all its contemporary extracts mostly within the greater Chicago area. Noted for his smoothness and intensely influenced improvisational skills, Parker has had success with a number of groups, including the internationally praised avant-garde group Tortoise. Jeff Parker still resides in Chicago and can be found in almost every corner of the Chicago music scene. Jeff Parker links: Official website Thrill Jockey page .

Jason Mraz (born June 23, 1977 in Mechanicsville, Virginia) is a Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter. Mraz’s stylistic influences include reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz, and hip hop. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come in 2002 but it was not until the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z that Mraz achieved commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold over one hundred thousand copies in the US. In 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album debuted at number three on...

Charles Christopher "Bird" Parker, Jr (29th August 1920 – 12th March 1955) was a U.S. bebop saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Parker was dubbed Yardbird; this was later shortened to "Bird" (or sometimes "Yard") and remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life, and inspiration for the titles of his works such as "Ornithology and Yardbird suite". Parker is commonly considered the greatest bebop jazz musician. In terms of influence and impact, his contribution to jazz was so great that Charles Mingus commented that if Bird were alive today, he would think he was living in a...

The Modern Jazz Quartet was formed in 1952 by Milt Jackson (vibraphone), John Lewis (piano, musical director), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums). Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955. Various of the members had played together backing other artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown, and in Jackson's own Quartet. Through their long existence, they have worked with Classical musicians and are known for incorporating elements of Classical music into jazz, being one of the most notable examples of the style called Third Stream. The group disbanded in 1974 and reformed in 1981 on a part-time basis, with...

The thing about getting to know Jason Gray is that you immediately want to share him with other people. In that way Jason is a lot like a good movie, or a great book, or some barely discovered band whose music makes you remember what it was you liked about music in the first place. Which brings us full circle, because Jason’s unique brand of emotional, thought-provoking, alternative-pop is that sort of music, and listening to it isn’t much different than having Jason Gray sitting in your living room and telling you what’s on his mind. In either case, you...