Aaron Parks By All Means
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Pianist & composer Aaron Parks expands his trio with bassist Ben Street & drummer Billy Hart into a quartet with the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon to explore a new color palette on his luminous third Blue Note album By All Means.
Although Parks has made his band Little Big the center of his recorded output in recent years, he never stopped writing music that belonged to a different harmonic universe influenced by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Kenny Wheeler, Horace Silver, Duke Ellington, Joe Henderson, Kurt Rosenwinkel and others. By All Means presents seven new Parks original compositions including poignant dedications to his wife & son. — (via Label)
—
Over the past two decades, Parks has earned a reputation for pushing jazz’s aesthetic boundaries, applying his jazz training to music that boldly defies genre lines. On an album like his 2024 Blue Note return, Little Big III, the pianist led his band Little Big through electric music that blended jazz’s cutting edge with Radiohead, blues, electronica, krautrock and more.
Sometimes, in the midst of so much brilliant synthesis, it might seem easy to forget that Parks is still first and foremost a working jazz musician - a performer who adores a durable tune, a deeply swinging rhythm section and a great horn foil, and who feels most at peace in a dimly lit basement nightclub. By All Means is a gorgeous reminder of his lifelong devotion to swinging music, as well as an homage to a group he feels honored to share the bandstand with. It features one of today’s most soulfully connected rhythm sections (Hart and Street) along with a newcomer (Solomon).
Still, for all their wonderful evocations of 20th-century jazz, the seven original compositions that make up By All Means are unmistakably the work of Aaron Parks. “I don’t conceive of this as being so utterly distinct from past projects,” he says. “It’s another book of songs that felt like they were calling for their own context, for a certain group of musicians to bring them to life.”
“This is a record that loves the jazz tradition, the tradition of Black American Music,” he adds. “It’s not about nostalgia or preservation. It’s about being alive within that lineage, that continuum. That’s what the title points to - it’s a big yes, a way of saying ‘absolutely, let’s join that party.’”
Although the album - co-produced by Parks and Street - came together quickly following a fiery run at the Village Vanguard, its roots reach back decades. Parks, Street and Hart first came together on record for 2017’s Find the Way, which subsumed their chemistry into the well-defined aesthetic of the ECM label. When a new opportunity emerged with Blue Note, Parks decided to reorient the lineup so that this great piano trio could become a great rhythm section and enjoy the art of supporting a soloist. Or, as Parks says with a laugh, “I just wanted to comp. And I knew the special way that Billy played with horn players.”
Parks’ new album is a kind of heartfelt thank-you note: to his influences, his family, his bandmates - and to jazz itself. “More than anything it’s about the joys of playing together, improvising with one another over a song form,” Parks says. “This record is simply about loving the music.” — (via Label)
—
The 1960 Reid Miles-like typography on the sleeve art of Seattle native pianist Aaron Parks’ third Blue Note release By All Means – perhaps in emulation of Jackie McLean’s It’s Time – gives a clue as to Aaron Parks’ tip of the hat to the bygone modernist jazz era.
Parks, who’s known for his forward-thinking post-jazz Little Big ensemble and the co-led SF band James Farm starring Joshua Redman, corrects any perceived misinterpretations of his intentions in the album’s PR blurb: “It’s not about nostalgia or preservation. It’s about being alive within that lineage, that continuum”.
The quartet here delivers in that respect. It features the bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart who Parks formed a trio with in 2017 for the ECM release Find the Way, and an upcoming saxophonist Ben Solomon. If there is a precedent for this recording it might be Parks’ standards jazz harmony-fuelled trio (with Matt Brewer and Eric Harland) on 2021 releases Volume One and Two. — (via JazzWise)
—
Pianist Aaron Parks returns to Blue Note with By All Means. The quartet includes drummer Billy Hart and bassist Ben Street who, as a trio, recorded 2017's excellent Find the Way on ECM. The newcomer is saxophonist Ben Solomon, best known for his stint with Wallace Roney's band between 2012 and 2017; he joined this group in 2023. Simply put, By All Means is a straight-ahead jazz date. Parks has been pursuing the creation of a body of compositions in his own post-bop vernacular. He did it first with drummer Eric Harland and bassist Matt Brewer on the self-released Volume One and Volume Two in 2022. While each of those albums contained standards and tunes by the trio's members, By All Means was composed entirely by the pianist.
"A Way" introduces the album with Parks and Solomon in spacious Ellingtonian conversation on the tender, lilting head. Hart's brushed, breaking snare and hi-hat flutter in the backdrop as Street joins Parks in framing the melody. Toward the middle, spacier chord voicings come from the pianist, Hart deliciously syncopates, and Street extends into the lower register. Traces of modal dissonance appear and vanish as the band builds this elliptical, luxuriant ballad.
"Parks' Lope" nods at the hard bop era without going there. The swinging lyricism of the front line is not so much appended as expanded by the rhythm section before the band moves full tilt into fingerpopping modal hard bop (à la the Kind of Blue era). "For Maria Jose," composed for Parks' spouse, is a brightly shaded, midtempo ballad with short labyrinthine asides. Solomon is as sensitive as Coltrane in elucidating the lyric, while the pianist paints his changes and delivers a gorgeously illustrative solo.
On "Dense Phantasy," Parks delivers a painterly embrace of Bill Evans and Duke Ellington - combining tenets from both composers/players embraces their lyric gentleness while Solomon offers a sensitive solo. "Anywhere Together" was written by Parks during his teens. Here it consciously evokes mid-'60s jazz and the deep influence of saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s post-bop composing. The sly solo by Street is a gem. "Little River," composed for his oldest son, is a swinging lullaby with gorgeous lyricism from Solomon and rich colorful chord voicings from Parks anchored by Street's musicality; Hart's song-like snare and hi-hat add just enough foundation for his bandmates to explore a more physical improvisational space. The set closes with "Raincoat," the most understated ballad on the record. Parks offers his melody with sparse grace and unhurried expression. As it develops, Hart's crystalline cymbals and tom-toms add just enough weight for Street to frame the lyricism which begins circling outward with each chorus. Solomon's intimate, soulful playing recalls Charles Lloyd's.
Parks was quoted in the album's press release saying, "It's not about nostalgia or preservation. It's about being alive within that lineage, that continuum." His quartet certainly succeeds in that pursuit here. — (via Thom Jurek // AllMusic)
Vinyl Tracklist
A1 A Way
A2 Parks Lope
A3 For María José
A4 Dense Phantasy
B1 Anywhere Together
B2 Little River
B3 Raincoat
↓
Label: Blue Note
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 2025
Genre: Jazz
Style: Contemporary Jazz
File under: Blue Note
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- Regular price
- $48.00 SGD
- Regular price
-
- Sale price
- $48.00 SGD
- Unit price
- per
Couldn't load pickup availability
About
Pianist & composer Aaron Parks expands his trio with bassist Ben Street & drummer Billy Hart into a quartet with the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon to explore a new color palette on his luminous third Blue Note album By All Means.
Although Parks has made his band Little Big the center of his recorded output in recent years, he never stopped writing music that belonged to a different harmonic universe influenced by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Kenny Wheeler, Horace Silver, Duke Ellington, Joe Henderson, Kurt Rosenwinkel and others. By All Means presents seven new Parks original compositions including poignant dedications to his wife & son. — (via Label)
—
Over the past two decades, Parks has earned a reputation for pushing jazz’s aesthetic boundaries, applying his jazz training to music that boldly defies genre lines. On an album like his 2024 Blue Note return, Little Big III, the pianist led his band Little Big through electric music that blended jazz’s cutting edge with Radiohead, blues, electronica, krautrock and more.
Sometimes, in the midst of so much brilliant synthesis, it might seem easy to forget that Parks is still first and foremost a working jazz musician - a performer who adores a durable tune, a deeply swinging rhythm section and a great horn foil, and who feels most at peace in a dimly lit basement nightclub. By All Means is a gorgeous reminder of his lifelong devotion to swinging music, as well as an homage to a group he feels honored to share the bandstand with. It features one of today’s most soulfully connected rhythm sections (Hart and Street) along with a newcomer (Solomon).
Still, for all their wonderful evocations of 20th-century jazz, the seven original compositions that make up By All Means are unmistakably the work of Aaron Parks. “I don’t conceive of this as being so utterly distinct from past projects,” he says. “It’s another book of songs that felt like they were calling for their own context, for a certain group of musicians to bring them to life.”
“This is a record that loves the jazz tradition, the tradition of Black American Music,” he adds. “It’s not about nostalgia or preservation. It’s about being alive within that lineage, that continuum. That’s what the title points to - it’s a big yes, a way of saying ‘absolutely, let’s join that party.’”
Although the album - co-produced by Parks and Street - came together quickly following a fiery run at the Village Vanguard, its roots reach back decades. Parks, Street and Hart first came together on record for 2017’s Find the Way, which subsumed their chemistry into the well-defined aesthetic of the ECM label. When a new opportunity emerged with Blue Note, Parks decided to reorient the lineup so that this great piano trio could become a great rhythm section and enjoy the art of supporting a soloist. Or, as Parks says with a laugh, “I just wanted to comp. And I knew the special way that Billy played with horn players.”
Parks’ new album is a kind of heartfelt thank-you note: to his influences, his family, his bandmates - and to jazz itself. “More than anything it’s about the joys of playing together, improvising with one another over a song form,” Parks says. “This record is simply about loving the music.” — (via Label)
—
The 1960 Reid Miles-like typography on the sleeve art of Seattle native pianist Aaron Parks’ third Blue Note release By All Means – perhaps in emulation of Jackie McLean’s It’s Time – gives a clue as to Aaron Parks’ tip of the hat to the bygone modernist jazz era.
Parks, who’s known for his forward-thinking post-jazz Little Big ensemble and the co-led SF band James Farm starring Joshua Redman, corrects any perceived misinterpretations of his intentions in the album’s PR blurb: “It’s not about nostalgia or preservation. It’s about being alive within that lineage, that continuum”.
Pianist Aaron Parks returns to Blue Note with By All Means. The quartet includes drummer Billy Hart and bassist Ben Street who, as a trio, recorded 2017's excellent Find the Way on ECM. The newcomer is saxophonist Ben Solomon, best known for his stint with Wallace Roney's band between 2012 and 2017; he joined this group in 2023. Simply put, By All Means is a straight-ahead jazz date. Parks has been pursuing the creation of a body of compositions in his own post-bop vernacular. He did it first with drummer Eric Harland and bassist Matt Brewer on the self-released Volume One and Volume Two in 2022. While each of those albums contained standards and tunes by the trio's members, By All Means was composed entirely by the pianist.
"A Way" introduces the album with Parks and Solomon in spacious Ellingtonian conversation on the tender, lilting head. Hart's brushed, breaking snare and hi-hat flutter in the backdrop as Street joins Parks in framing the melody. Toward the middle, spacier chord voicings come from the pianist, Hart deliciously syncopates, and Street extends into the lower register. Traces of modal dissonance appear and vanish as the band builds this elliptical, luxuriant ballad.
"Parks' Lope" nods at the hard bop era without going there. The swinging lyricism of the front line is not so much appended as expanded by the rhythm section before the band moves full tilt into fingerpopping modal hard bop (à la the Kind of Blue era). "For Maria Jose," composed for Parks' spouse, is a brightly shaded, midtempo ballad with short labyrinthine asides. Solomon is as sensitive as Coltrane in elucidating the lyric, while the pianist paints his changes and delivers a gorgeously illustrative solo.
On "Dense Phantasy," Parks delivers a painterly embrace of Bill Evans and Duke Ellington - combining tenets from both composers/players embraces their lyric gentleness while Solomon offers a sensitive solo. "Anywhere Together" was written by Parks during his teens. Here it consciously evokes mid-'60s jazz and the deep influence of saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s post-bop composing. The sly solo by Street is a gem. "Little River," composed for his oldest son, is a swinging lullaby with gorgeous lyricism from Solomon and rich colorful chord voicings from Parks anchored by Street's musicality; Hart's song-like snare and hi-hat add just enough foundation for his bandmates to explore a more physical improvisational space. The set closes with "Raincoat," the most understated ballad on the record. Parks offers his melody with sparse grace and unhurried expression. As it develops, Hart's crystalline cymbals and tom-toms add just enough weight for Street to frame the lyricism which begins circling outward with each chorus. Solomon's intimate, soulful playing recalls Charles Lloyd's.
Parks was quoted in the album's press release saying, "It's not about nostalgia or preservation. It's about being alive within that lineage, that continuum." His quartet certainly succeeds in that pursuit here. — (via Thom Jurek // AllMusic)
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