Ray Parker Quartet New York City bassist swings into Akron as part of "Lake Erie Tour," featuring an all-star band including Jon Davis, George Schuller, & Gene Parker!

The Brooklyn-based Ray Parker Quartet, consisting of saxophone, piano, bass and drums, is a seamless blend of the entire gamut of jazz styles and history. The group, whose lineup has collectively performed and/or recorded with some of the biggest names in jazz (including Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Lee Konitz & more) delves deeply into the American Songbook while also exploring original music and compositions from masters and innovators like Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano and the Beatles — and an occasional toe dipped into the melodic avant-garde.
 
A decidedly acoustic band, the underpinnings of swing and the joy of playing that make jazz are never lost. Ray brings the bass to the forefront of the group, exploring an instrument traditionally in the accompanying role as a melodic voice.
 
Please join us for a special evening as we welcome this energetic, hard-swinging band in their BLU debut! Featuring Ray Parker (bass), Jon Davis (piano), George Schuller (drums), Gene Parker (saxophone).
 

About Ray Parker

NYC bass player, leader and sideman. His 2012-2013 trio project, “Swingin’ Never Hurt Nobody” charted highly and received great review. Now leading a quartet project in a few different configurations with plans to record late summer/early fall 2015. Recorded or played with: Dizzy Gillespie, Peter Erskine, Diego Urcola, Eric Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Jimmy Cobb, Nick Brignola, Tom Harrell, Makoto Ozone, Ira Sullivan, Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Maynard Ferguson, the Three Irish Tenors, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
 

About Jon Davis

Recorded and played with: Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, Tootie Heath, Eddie Harris, Mike Stern, Phil Woods, Frank Wess, George Garzone, Victor Lewis, Bob Mintzer, Joel Frahm, Anat Cohen, Marc Gross, Bob Berg, Milt Jackson, Bob Weir, Nora Jones, Victor Bailey, John Handy, Eddie Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Rosanna Vitro, Will Lee, Dave Binney, Don Byron, Toots Thielemens, Brian Blade, Larry Grenadier, Sonny Fortune, Ron McClure, Dennis Irwin, Claudio Roditi, Antonio Hart, Kenny Garrett, Adam Nussbaum, Dave Schnitter, Kenny Wolleson, Jeff Ballard, Donny McCaslin, Javon Jackson, Scott Colley, Oz Noy, Greg Hutchinson, Gianluca Renzi, Jaimoe, Gene Jackson, Don Braden, and many more.
 

About George Schuller

(Drummer, Composer, Arranger, Producer) has released several albums as a leader including Listen Both Ways (Playscape), Life’s Little Dramas (Fresh Sound) and JigSaw (482 Music). He leads several groups (Circle Wide, Schulldogs, George Schuller Trio) and co-leads several others (Conference Call, Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project). Schuller appears on Joe Lovano’s Rush Hour (Blue Note) and has also recorded and/or produced CD’s with Orange Then Blue, Ran Blake, Luciana Souza, Armen Donelian, Mike Musillami, Yard Byard, Russ Johnson, Mike Baggetta, Burton Greene, Peter Yarrow, Jason Robinson and Gunther Schuller.
 
Currently, Schuller has been touring with The Lee Konitz Qt (legendary alto saxophonist) and with The Armen Donelian Trio. Since graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1982, he has performed with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nnenna Freelon, Jaki Byard, Dave Douglas, George Adams, Fred Hersch, George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Mose Allison, J Geils, among many others. He was also a co- producer for the 2007 film documentary Music Inn, which was screened at the Tribeca, Berkshire, Galway, Munich & Prague Film Festivals.
 

About Gene Parker

Gene Parker has been a professional musician in the Toledo area for 50 years. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and studied under Carmen Campione of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Parker has been a private teacher since 1960 and began teaching jazz history and pedagogy in 1963, long before jazz education became integrated into curricula in the United States. A true multi-instrumentalist, Gene teaches saxophone, clarinet, flute, vibraphone, bass, piano, trumpet, trombone, B3 Hammond Organ, electronic keyboards, Latin percussion, and midi instruments.
 
Mr. Parker has served as saxophone instructor at Bowling Green State University, Director of Jazz Studies – University of Toledo, Director of the University of Toledo Jazz Faculty Ensemble, Director of the University of Toledo Jazz Band, Musical Director of the Toledo Jazz Society, Co-leader of the Parker-Cook Quintet, Leader of the Gene Parker Quartet, and Co-leader of the Parker-Wolkins Big Band. Gene has been a frequent clinician in Toledo and area schools. He has extensive studio experience in the Detroit and Toledo area, and been a guest Artist with the Toledo Symphony and other area orchestras and bands including a concert at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Gene has served as vice-president of the Toledo Federation of Musicians Union and is a member of the Detroit AFM. Currently, Mr. Parker is instructor of Jazz Studies at Ohio Northern University and Jazz saxophone instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
 
Mr Parker is highly in demand throughout the Mid-West and has worked with Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Billy Eckstein, Nancy Wilson, Jack Jones, Diane Caroll, Gladys Knight, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis Jr., Clark Terry, Wayne Newton, Buddy Greco, J.C. Heard, Mel Torme, Steve Allen, Joe Williams, The Four Freshman, The Spinners, The Four Tops, Louis Bellson, Zoot Sims, Bill Cosby, Ira Sullivan, Bill Watrus, Jimmy Whitherspoon, Jay McShann, Brad Goode, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Scott, Dizzy Gillespie The Spinners, The Four Tops, Rodney Dangerfeild, Soupy Sales, The Fifth Dimension, Bobby Vinton, Buddy Defranco and Dianne Reeves.

$15