Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Matthew Parrish was born on October 14, 1969 in central California into a family that loved music that listened to jazz, rock and classical music. He started playing trumpet in middle school but switched to bass just prior to an audition at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. Accepted into the music program as a n acoustic bass student in jazz studies.

Matthew’s career began in Philadelphia during his teens and early twenties playing with Shirley Scott, Mickey Roker, Bobby Durham, Cecil Payne, Johnny Cole, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Jimmy Oliver, Danny turner and fellow youngsters Orrin Evans and Byron Landham. He went on to tour with Al Grey and performing with Clark Terry, Marion McPartland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Joe Cohn, Savion Glover and Bill Charlap.

He has continued to pursue his career playing and/or recording in the bands of Greg Osby, Jon Jang, James Newton, Stefon Harris, and Regina Carter. A gifted composer and arranger Parrish has recorded his own compositions on his debut album Circles on the Hipnotic Records label as well as on the recordings by David Leonhardt, Denise Montana, Ben Schacher and Carter.

With several milestones under his belt having performed with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Wynton Marsalis, James Williams, Paquito D’Rivera and Etta Jones to name a few more, he currently tours around the world with Freddy Cole, Houston Person and Vana Gierio. With his own band he gives concerts in Philadelphia, featuring Amazonian performers and is no stranger to the club scene in New York, Boston and DC. As an educator he teaches and mentors young children through adult age in assemblies, master classes and lectures throughout the United States.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ed Cherry was born in New Haven, Connecticut on October 12, 1954. Moving to New York City, the guitarist began a long association with Dizzy Gillespie playing in his quartet, big band and the United Nation Orchestra from 1978 until shortly before the trumpeter’s death in 1993. During this tenure he was a part of the Grammy winning recording Live At Royal Festival Hall.

Ed recorded his debut album as a leader in 1993 titled First Take and was a part of the recording session for Paquito D’Rivera’s Havana Café. His sophomore project A Second Look was released in 1995.

As an educator Cherry has taught guitar at Essex Community College in Newark, New Jersey, at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, has been a faculty member at Montclair State University, School of Fine and Performing Arts for J.O.Y. (Jazz Opportunity for Youth) and is currently a staff member at Jazzmobile in New York City.

When not leading his own groups he is in the studio holding down sideman duties working with Paquito D’ Rivera, Jon Faddis, John Patton, Hamiet Bluiett, Henry Threadgill, Mark Weinstein, C.I. Williams and Paula West to name a few. He has recorded several albums as a leader, more than a dozen as a sideman and continues to perform with his current trio.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jon Ballantyne was born on October 8, 1963 in Saskatchewan, Canada and started playing piano at a very early age with formal study at the age of six. His father Fred a pianist and both parents jazz enthusiasts, he was listening to Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington records from the time he was born. His mother also took him to see Oscar Peterson when he was five.

After the early years of trying to understand his father’s blues-based approach to piano, classical piano studies, and a stint in a garage rock band as a young teenager, Jon decided to immerse himself in jazz and won a scholarship to North Texas State University. As an honors student there, he was asked to play in small group formats with visiting artists Elvin Jones, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, Nat Adderley, Michael Brecker, Emily Remler, Bob Mintzer and Peter Erskine.

He went on to study at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada with Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Ed Blackwell, Lee Konitz, Cecil Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Don Thompson, Julian Priester, Karl Berger, Eddie Marshall and Steve Coleman. He also studied in New York with Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Richie Beirach, Hal Galper and JoAnn Brackeen.

This led to a performance career sharing the stage and studio with Joe Henderosn, Roy Haynes, Dewey Redman, Pepper Adams, Billy Hart, Paul Bley, Phil Woods, Bill Goodwin, Drew Gress, Don Braden, Joe LaBarbera, Ray Drummond, Bennie Wallace, Avishai Cohen, Clark Terry, Jimmy Guiffre, P. J. Perry and a host of others.

An educator, Jon has conducted clinics at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Northern Colorado, McGill University, University of Toronto and Concordia University in Montreal. He has recorded nine jazz albums and received two Juno Awards. Based in Manhattan, pianist Jon Ballantyne continues to perform, record and lead a quartet featuring bassist Boris Kozlov, drummer Jeff Hirshfield and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Douglas Yates.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Aaron Parks was born on October 7, 1983 in Seattle, Washington. He studied piano at the University of Washington at the age of 14 through the Transition School and Early Entrance Program as a double major in computer science and music. At 15 he was selected to participate in the GRAMMY High School Jazz Ensembles, which inspired him to move to New York City and transfer to the Manhattan School of Music.

During his final year in school Aaron began touring with Terence Blanchard’s band and recorded three albums with him for Blue Note Records, including the Grammy-winning A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina). He went on to tour with Kurt Rosenwinkel, and he has recorded for Blue Note as a leader. He is a member of James Farm, a quartet with saxophonist Joshua Redman, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland.

Parks has seven albums to his credit as a leader, and more the two-dozen as a sideman working with Daisuke Abe, Amanda Baisinger, Walter Smith III, Kendrick Scott, Christian Scott, Gretchen Parlato, Lage Lund and many others. He can be heard on the soundtracks to Their Eyes Were Watching God and Spike Lee films Inside Man, She Hate Me and When The Levees Broke.

He won first place as a Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and third place at the Jas Hennessy Piano Solo Competition at Montreux and in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Pianist Aaron Parks continues to compose, record, perform and tour.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Steve Swallow was born October 4, 1940 in Fair Lawn, New York. As a child, he studied piano and trumpet before turning to the double bass at age 14. While attending a prep school, he began trying his hand in jazz improvisation. While attending Yale and studying composition he left oin 1960, settled in New York and began playing in Jimmy Guiffre’s trio with Paul Bley. By 1964 he was with Art Farmer’s quartet where he began to write and during this period his long association with Gary Burton’s various bands commenced.

The early 1970s saw Swallow switching exclusively to the five-string electric bass guitar, encouraged by his favorite drummer Roy Haynes. Along with Monk Montgomery and Bob Cranshaw was one of the firsts to do so. He was an early adopter of the high C string and use of the upper register.

In 1974-76 Steve taught at the Berklee College of Music, contributed several of his compositions to the Berklee students who assembled the first edition of The Real Book. He later recorded an album of the same name, with the picture of a well-worn, coffee-stained Real Book on the cover. By 1978 he became an essential and constant member of Carla Bley’s band and her romantic partner since the 1980s. He toured extensively with John Scofield in the early Eighties, returning to this collaboration several times over the years.

Swallow has consistently won the electric bass category in Down Beat yearly polls, both Critics’ and Readers’, since the mid-80s. His compositions have been covered by, among others, Bill Evans, Chcick Corea, Stan Getz, Gary Burton and Jim Hall, who recorded his very first tune, Eiderdown. He has performed or recorded with Don Ellis, Dave Douglas, Steve Kuhn, Pete La Roca, Joe Lovano, Michael Mantler, Gary McFarland, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Jimmy Raney, Zoot Sims, Tore Johansen and George Russell.

Bassist Steve Swallow, who performs in the genres of cool, fusion, avant-garde, free, post-bop and hard bop jazz, has fourteen albums to his credit as a leader an co-leader and continues to perform, compose, record and tour.

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