Jon Parker

About Me

began playing organ when he was 3. Ever since then, music has been a passion of his, and he's always sought out new ways to perform, jam and record. In 1995, Jon began playing professionally with groups and as a solo artist. From 1995 to 2002 he led his jazz trio, The Jon Parker Trio (JP3), through several live and recorded radio and TV appearances and opened for such acts as the Bob James Trio. In 1997, JP3 released their first CD titled "One Way" that received much airplay on Denver's KUVO jazz radio station.
Upon enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2002, Jon performed with the U.S. Army Bands and was with the 113th Army Band "Dragoons" at Fort Knox until July of 2005 when he was reassigned to the SHAPE International Band in Belgium. For nearly 2 years he toured Europe under the NATO flag spreading jazz and rock and promoting a positive diplomatic relationship between the 26 NATO countries. He frequently performed for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) GEN James L. Jones, as well as many other international senior military officials, Royalty, heads of state, international Ambassadors, and Senators from all over the world. Recording with the SHAPE Jazz Orchestra, he was involved in the production of a 2 CD tribute to all 26 NATO countries which should be completed sometime in 2007.
In addition to his position with the SHAPE International Band, Jon volunteered his time performing with the SHAPE Entertainment Center's community theatre program in Mons Belgium and was nominated for "Best Keyboard Accompanist" in the 2006 annual Tournament of Plays (TOPPERS) ceremony which was held in April 2006 in Heidelberg, Germany.
Since January, 2007 Jon has been studying Jazz piano and Conducting at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music. Studying under Jazz pianist Eric Gunnison, he has been attempting to uncover his own sound in contemporary music. He recently released a solo piano album which covers works by several great composers from George Gerswhin to Herbie Hancock, the album includes several original compositions by Jon Parker himself.
This exciting album can be purchased at CDBaby.com

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/17/2006
Band Website: portfolio.du.edu/jparke24
Band Members: Jon Parker, Piano, Keyboards
Influences: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Michel Camilo, Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Gene Harris, Duke Ellington, George Duke, Bob James, Weather Report, The Yellowjackets, Tested Rodney and many others!

I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.
George Eliot (1819 - 1880)Here is a trailer for a short film titled "Dreamer" that Jon Parker composed the music for. It was produced by Watson Films and was released on July 14th, 2007. You can view the film in its entirety at dreamerfilm.com .

Dreamer Teaser

Add to My Profile | More Videos
Sounds Like: Piano guy with a bow-tie over a Mai Tai.

Record Label: Overpass Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Best Original Composition

Greetings everyone. Last week I had the privilege of performing at the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival with the Lamont Vocal Jazz Combo. I was just trying to have a good time and enjoy the opportunity to ge...
Posted by Jon Parker on Fri, 02 May 2008 10:30:00 PST

Bad Websites!!!

There are a ton of BAD websites out there. I can’t believe the number of speling erors, as well as errors the grammatical (if you get my point).People! Please, if you are going to make a website...
Posted by Jon Parker on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:46:00 PST

Jazz Talk and Glenn Gould

I posted a new track called "Jazz Talk" the other day. It isn’t really music, but simply the thoughts I have about my progression into a jazz musician from the early stages and influences until ...
Posted by Jon Parker on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:23:00 PST

Editor’s Picks

I just checked out the newly released CD "Quiet Conscience" on the CDBaby.com website to find out that it got editor's picks in both the Modern Creative Jazz and the Contemporary Jazz categories. ...
Posted by Jon Parker on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:59:00 PST

Solo piano CD is released

My solo piano CD, Quiet Conscience, is finally released. It includes 6 original songs as well as cover material from George Gershwin, Herbie Hancock and others. Individual tracks are...
Posted by Jon Parker on Sun, 27 Jan 2008 10:20:00 PST

Solo CD Almost Done

My solo piano CD "Quiet Conscience" is almost finished. The discs are being pressed as we speak and should be available through cdbaby.com in a few weeks. Downloadable versions will be ma...
Posted by Jon Parker on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:47:00 PST

One of those long Questionaires

These things are floating around like crazy these days. I thought I should fill one out and post it...1.) If I were a doll, the accessories packaged with me would be:A grand piano and a tux with...
Posted by Jon Parker on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:08:00 PST

Keep the ACLU out of my life!

I just felt like I needed to have this posted in my own blog. I didn't write it, but I agree with it.Jon------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------From...
Posted by Jon Parker on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:03:00 PST

Quotes on Music

I was going over a few quotes and thought would share.A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it. Sir Thomas Beecham (1879 - 1961)I don't know anything about ...
Posted by Jon Parker on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:07:00 PST

Can you read this?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny55 plepoe out of 100 can.i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. Thephaonmneal pweor of the hmu...
Posted by Jon Parker on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:22:00 PST