Aaron Parks Quartet

Aaron Parks is a talented American jazz musician born on 7 October 1983 in Seattle, Washington. He is known for his skill as a pianist and composer and has left a significant mark on the world of contemporary jazz.

Parks began playing piano at an early age and showed exceptional talent from the start. At 14, he moved to New York to study in the prestigious jazz programme at the Juilliard School of Music, where he had the chance to hone his musical skills.

His professional career took off when he joined the band of famed trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Parks was part of Blanchard’s band for several years, which allowed him to develop his own unique style and collaborate with other leading musicians on the jazz scene.

Alongside his work with Terence Blanchard, Aaron Parks has led his own projects and released several albums as a leader. His music is defined by a fresh, contemporary approach to jazz, fusing elements from different musical genres such as rock and electronic music. His compositions tend to be complex and emotive, earning him critical acclaim and a loyal following.

Aaron Parks’s versatility as a musician has allowed him to explore different facets of jazz and experiment with new ideas. His contribution to contemporary jazz is highly valued, and his work continues to be a source of inspiration for musicians and jazz lovers around the world.

In Aaron’s own words:

I’m really looking forward to returning to the Barcelona Jazz Festival with this new quartet, with Ben Solomon on tenor sax, Kanoa Mendenhall on double bass and RJ Miller on drums. RJ and I have known each other for a long time. He’s one of the deepest, most subtle drummers I know, and I’m really happy to be playing with him again after many years. I’ve admired Kanoa’s work for a while now and we’ve had the chance to make music together several times. I’ve always found her bass playing to be thoughtful, solid, intuitive and full of surprises. And finally, I met Ben last year, but he’s quickly become one of my favourite saxophonists. The sound he gets out of his instrument is remarkably convincing, and he plays with a combination of rawness and delicate nuance that makes him an inspiring foil. All three of them bring out aspects of my own piano playing that don’t always surface in other contexts. In a way, this is the most straightahead group I’ve put together in a long time, but at the same time it also feels like one of the most adventurous.

I’m genuinely excited about the musical exploration this quartet has in store for me.