**Music critic reviews after bio**
Bio:
A native of New Jersey, USA (now living near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Kevin Parlor began playing bass in high school and quickly made a name for himself in bands performing around New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. During his junior year in high school, Kevin joined a group that went on to open for recording artists including musical greats Ashford & Simpson. In his senior year, Kevin moved to Atlanta, GA where he toured with platinum-selling R&B artist William Bell.
Before graduating high school, Kevin joined a group which later opened shows for Patrice Rushen, S.O.S. Band, Michael Henderson, Hamilton Bohannon and many others.
Several years later, Kevin returned to the New York area and helped form an R&B group named Miraj, which released a 12-inch single entitled "In The Pocket". Not long thereafter, Kevin found himself working alongside such recording artists as Mtume, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, jazz great Spyro Gyra, and with artists Invisible Man's Band and Mass Production.
As time went on, Kevin co-founded the dance music group House Rock, which released a 12-inch club single entitled "Our Love Is Thru" which 'Right On' magazine called a "scorcher".
Kevin enjoys performing various styles of music and has recorded everything from Funk, R&B, and Pop to Jazz (Contemporary, Traditional and Fusion), Gospel, Reggae, Rock and Latin. He has also traveled to Europe several times to perform Gospel, Jazz, R&B and Pop and has travelled with OFMB Records to China in 2004 & 2005. While there, he performed at one of the "7 Wonders of the World", The Great Wall. Other countries Kevin has visited as a musician include: Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, U.K., Liechtenstein Argentina and Poland.
Kevin has played on numerous tracks for various up-and-coming artists with major projects. In addition to the artists mentioned above, Kevin has recorded for and/or shared the stage with other artists like Gloria Gaynor, The Stylistics, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, The Family Stone, Ben Vereen, Ali Woodson (former lead singer of the Temptations), and has backed-up and recently produced music for saxophonist Benny Barksdale Jr.__formerly with Alicia Keys, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Gloria Gaynor, New Birth). Mark Adams (keyboardist for Jazz Great Roy Ayers), Sister Souljah, Aaron McLain (current lead guitarist for Marc Anthony).Kevin has also performed for former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York City. He's also currently the bassist for CHOPS The Band (Chops Horns full band) led by Darryl Dixon and Dave "Doc" Watson ( horn geniuses behind Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Police, The Stones and many others).
Reviews:
-Roland Kaschube, Editor, Bass Professor Magazine (Germany) said:
"Kevin Parlor dedicates his bass playing on the CD "Bassically Speaking" to a lyrical-melodic style. He doesn't put much importance on overly-flashy riffs, but rather shows how well the bass is suited to playing melodies. Kevin recorded most of the songs on his CD with a Warwick (Rock Bass-Corvette) bass which comes from right here in Germany. With his German bass, Kevin has developed his own tone which sounds beautifully gentle in your ears; especially since Kevin is not trying to imitate some of the bass masters. With that said, Kevin is masterfully continuing the tradition of this style of playing which was pioneered by such bass players as Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller. This is the absolute best Smooth Jazz which is well suited for American Jazz radio, but unfortunately played very rarely here in Germany."
-Derick Winterberg (Smooth Jazz music critic) said:
"Appearing on the horizon of the Smooth/Contemporary Jazz bass players' field is newcomer Kevin Parlor. His freshman offering, an album titled 'Bassically Speaking', is an admirable calling card to the listeners of the genre. Kevin obviously knows his way around the strings of his instrument"...But Kevin doesn't stop at Jazz, he's also comfortable with R&B, Funk, Pop, Rock and other styles!