Two Words: "Spontaneous" and "Cinematic"

If pianist Aaron Parks had to pick two words to describe his own music, he would choose "spontaneous" and "cinematic" (according to his bio, at least). Aaron's conception is documented on Invisible Cinema, his 2008 debut for Blue Note Records, as well as on recordings with the likes of Terrence Blanchard (who began employing Aaron at the tender age of 18), Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Ambrose Akinmusire.Like Luis Perdomo (who performs here Friday night), Aaron is a veteran of The Jazz Gallery, having led bands on our stage upwards of twenty times (he appeared most recently as a co-leader last weekend). We also commissioned Aaron as a part of The Jazz Gallery Composers' Series in 2007. Aaron chose to title his collection of works "Archetypes: Character Studies in Sound", noting that, "There is a curious parallel between an archetype and a jazz composition: both have a certain skeletal structure that remains constant, but is fleshed out differently in each instance."Aaron will be featuring a two keyboard lineup for his two night run, with Pete Rende (synthesizers), Dayna Stephens (saxophone), Thomas Morgan (bass), and Nate Smith (drums). For a glimpse at what the music might sound like, check out this recording from last fall (also featurng Rende) from our friends at NPR's A Blog Supreme.