Aaron Parks- Little Big III

Label: Blue Note Records, 2024

Personnel - Aaron Parks: piano; Greg Tuohey: guitar; David Ginyard Jr.: bass; Jongkuk Kim: drums.

The third installment of pianist and composer Aaron Parks’s Little Big quartet has arrived, featuring nine original compositions—five by Parks, three by guitarist Greg Tuhoey, and one by bassist David Ginyard, Jr. The group is rounded out by South Korean drummer Jonkuk Kim, who replaces Tommy Crane. There’s a strong sense of identity within the band, as they explore cohesive moods where jazz tradition seamlessly merges with contemporary sounds. At times, however, Little Big III feels a bit restrained, as if the group is holding back, casting a tentative, incantatory spell rather than delivering consistently memorable moments.

That said, the album has a promising start, with Parks’ “Flyways” launching the listener on an exhilarating journey through space. The pianist’s insistent chords throughout this boldly asymmetric piece—built on additive 10+9 beat cycles—enjoys positive contrast from Tuohey’s outgoing guitar work. Also from Parks, “Locked Down” and “Heart Stories” both lean into balladic storytelling, with the former infusing more elements of interest—in a fine blend of strange mystery and sweet resignation—than the latter, which, despite its melodic and harmonic poignancy, lacks spark.

Tuohey’s “Sports” gets underway with a 24-beat bass groove underpinning a gorgeous melody that hints at African inspiration. Park’s solo here is the warmest of company, while Tuohey’s could be further expanded. The funk-rock energy produced by bass and drums gets us quickly hooked, but the guitarist has other compositional offerings, spreading waves of Americana on his “Willamina”. Ginyard Jr. contributes “Little Beginnings”, bringing a fusion of smooth jazz and R&B with a peculiar bluesy feel. Stylist and fresh, it features a regenerative piano cycle, syncopated drumming, snappy bass lines, and a guitar solo tinged with a high-pitched, flute-like effect. 

The album concludes with Parks’ “Ashé”, a spacey, delicately brushed tune first recorded in 2007 and included on Terence Blanchard’s A Tale of God’s Will. Here, it’s infused with an added layer of dreamlike sensitivity, bringing the album to a fitting close that resonates with both nostalgia and quiet wonder.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Flyways ► 02 - Locked Down ► 04 - Sports

Aaron Parks' Little Big II - Dreams of a Mechanical Man

Label: Ropeadope, 2020

Personnel - Aaron Parks: piano, synthesizers, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, celeste, vibraphone, glockenspiel, chimes, voice; Greg Tuohey: guitar; David Ginyard: bass; Tommy Crane: drums.

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The second installment of pianist Aaron Parks’ Little Big project offers considerable improvements over the group’s debut. The quartet continues to embrace an organic blend of styles gleefully expressed with elements of jazz, electronica, folk and some psychedelia.

Both “Attention, Earthlings”, the record’s first track, and “My Mistake” are propelled by arresting, streamlined rhythmic pulses. Yet, while the former relies on a soulful piano harmonization and crystalline guitar melodies, the latter draws a mysterious magnetism that comes from darker piano voicings and ululating guitar cries, an inexhaustible source of remorse and anguish. 

“Where Now?”, one of the two fully improvised pieces on the album, feels like a dub exercise underlined by a groovy funk-hop rhythm. A vibey experimentalism is pulled off nicely here.

A few tunes will let the listener suspended in their soft gravitational auras, usually centered in melodies wrapped in reverie, yearning and wistfulness. While the notion of space steadily plays a key role, the group always finds room for improvisation, usually explored by Parks and guitarist Greg Tuohey. 

Commanded by a charming rhythmic touch, “Here” offers satisfying moments of relaxation and melancholy. An effortless deep bass interlocks with the moving piano chords in a formidable way. “Solace” - a melodious poem introduced by jazzy piano - was put together with a backdrop of vulnerability and hope, while “The Shadow and the Self”, featuring effective vocals from Parks, is a ripe, unhurried, wistful waltz influenced by the music of Pat Metheny Group and Blonde Redhead, as well as the work of philosopher Carl Jung.

The pianist disclosed the influence of another philosopher - the Armenian-born George Gurdjieff - on the cinematic “Dreams of a Mechanical Man”, a visually suggestive piece whose elegant storytelling progresses with a sense of fascination and enigma.

In turn, pieces like “The Storyteller”, the odd-metered “The Ongoing Pulse of Iseness” and “Friendo” are more fluid in rhythm. In the latter, an amiable funk joins the rock harmonic aesthetics, with bassist David Ginyard and drummer Tommy Crane in perfect consonance.

Sometimes paradoxical, sometimes purely logical, the music of Little Big won’t make you indifferent.

Grade B+

Grade B+

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Here ► 08 - Dreams of a Mechanical Man ► 09 - My Mistake

Aaron Parks, Ben Street, Billy Hart - Find The Way

Label/Year: ECM, 2017

Lineup – Aaron Parks: piano; Ben Street: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Find The Way, the second ECM outing by praiseworthy American pianist Aaron Parks, flows steadily and unhurriedly as it keeps creating generous settings, each of them with delightful nuances to be discovered and savored. Opposing to his previous Arborescence, recorded solo, the new work flourishes in a classic piano trio with bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart providing reliable substrative integrity.

Both “Adrift”, the opening tune, and “Unravel”, which expresses a doleful sincerity, shine with Park’s soft and nice touches, conveying a fluid lyricism over a dawdling melancholy that recalls the style of Steve Kuhn and sometimes Bobo Stenson. Hart’s percussive work is outstanding on that first tune as he molds his own textures, changes, and readapts them once more according to what’s happening around him.

Far more static and stripped to its essentials, “Hold Music” exhibits harmonic voicings in rotation with the bassist playing straight like in a pop/rock song and Hart losing himself in that percussive airiness that forces any sturdy surface to bend and quiver.

Covered with glossy splendor, “Song For Sashou” immediately detaches from the whole due to a rich combination of melody and harmony on top of a foundation carrying a gently brushed bossanova touch attached. This piece ranks right below “Alice”, a powerful piece inspired by the modal journeys of Alice Coltrane, in the competition for the most outstanding piece on the album. On the latter, one can find the bassist adventuring himself in unexpected portions of the song, always in the company of the inventive drummer, whose pulse acquires a rock flow that vehemently drives us to a dramatic finale. The liquidity in Parks’ progressions bestows the same effect as an oasis in a desert, irrigating and nourishing on all sides.

While “First Glance” craves a sluggish awake and fulfilling quietude, “Melquíades” results in a Bill Evans-like mood. Not that the breathable, spontaneous lines of Parks sound similar to the acclaimed pianist, but because of the harmonic movements and diaphanous suspensions.

The title track is the only cover on the album, closing it with abandoned benediction. It was composed by pianist Ian Bernard and popularized by Rosemary Clooney, for whom the song was written.

Aaron Parks and his trio don’t have to move fast to dazzle. Floating and never atonal, Find The Way sets the abstraction levels to the minimum and marks stretches as non-priorities. It’s a modern creative work with a profound, strong personality that will make many listeners feel good.

        Grade A-

        Grade A-

Favorite Tracks:
02 – Song For Sashou ► 06 – Alice ► 09 – Find The Way