Released: 24 January 2020
Album Rating: 4/5
Favourite Songs: Gnarciss; Go Away; Max Brown
Jeff Parker’s Suite for Max Brown is a cheery and wholesome record, flitting and flirting between the realms of jazz and hip hop. The multi-instrumentalist has pooled together the full extent of his craft and worked with a combination of brilliant musicians - including Paul Bryan on bass, Makaya McCraven on drums, Josh Johnson on alto sax as well as his daughter Ruby Parker to provide vocals - to create a thoughtful tribute to his mother Maxine Brown.
Many know Jeff Parker as the long-time guitarist for the Chicago-based quintet Tortoise, whose genre-bending style feeds into the spirit of the album. Reflecting on the record, Parker remarked that “I’m always looking for ways to be surprised…when I make music…I’m trying to get away from [patterns] – the things that I know”. To help avoid falling into musical monotony, Parker constructs his compositions through producing beds of beats and samples, followed by laying down either a guitar, keyboard and percussive lines before inviting his friends to improve over what he has produced. Some may think that this style of working could remove the heart and feel of the record. Yet, the record brims with soul, compassion and tenderness.
Suite for Max Brown is an informal companion piece to Parker’s widely renowned 2016 record The New Breed. Parker's latest release follows on from where The New Breed left us, as Ruby Parker greets us with beautifully layered vocals paired with a soft hip-hop-inspired bed beneath. The fittingly named ‘Fusion Swirl’ sees Parker channel the power of repetitious bass and humming synth lines to create an infectious and hypnotic affair. ‘Fusion Swirl’ is a viewpoint into the way he which Parker creates his compositions and arrangements, as it feels very loop heavy, but also the way in which he cleverly uses textures with space to create contrasting moments of climax and calm.
Along with nine original compositions, Parker has also included a soft variant of John Coltrane’s ‘After the Rain’, as well as a fantastic reinterpretation of Joe Henderson’s ‘Black Narcissus’ called ‘Gnarciss’. ‘Gnarciss’ glows with style and charm, beginning with a popping hip hop drumbeat as Rob Mazurek provides a bouncing trumpet line which is mimicked by Parker’s synth. ‘3 for L’ is a slower moment of the album, characterised by Parker’s lazy blues guitar and Jay Bellerose’s laid-back drums. In sharp contrast, ‘Go Away’ is a faster groove-heavy tune set by Makaya McCraven’s drums and Paul Bryan’s bass whilst Parker’s pinging guitar sits neatly over the top. The tribute to Parker’s mother, ‘Max Brown’, is the final song on the album. The homage begins with dark synths, percussive clicks and Parker’s gliding guitar, whilst the sax of Josh Johnson and the trumpet of Nate Walcott pass the main melody between them. Filled with intricate individual lines which swell and fall, the final composition is sophisticated and rich, a wonderful way for Parker to finish his tribute to his mother.
Suite for Max Brown is an enchanting tapestry of reflection, manifestation and love. Weaving together loops, beats, memories as well as the essence of jazz (both past and present), Jeff Parker has produced an imaginative work which is an eloquent homage towards his mother. Parker’s record is a must-listen work which sets an optimistic setting for 2020 and the decade ahead.
You can keep up-to-date with Jeff Parker via his website and socials:
Track Listing & Personnel:
1) Build a Nest (feat. Ruby Parker)
Jeff Parker - drums, vocals, piano, electric guitar, Korg MS20
Ruby Parker - vocals
2) C’mon Now
Jeff Parker - sampling, editing
3) Fusion Swirl
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, bass guitar, samplers, percussion, vocals
4) After the Rain
Paul Bryan - bass guitar
Josh Johnson - electric piano
Jeff Parker - electric guitar and percussion
Jamire Williams - drums
5) Metamorphoses
Jeff Parker - glockenspiel, sequencer, sampler, Korg MS20
6) Gnarciss
Paul Bryan - bass guitar
Josh Johnson - alto saxophone
Katinka Kleijn - cello
Rob Mazurek - piccolo trumpet
Makaya McCraven - drums and sampler
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, JP-08, sampler, midi strings
7) Lydian, Etc
Paul Bryan - bass guitar
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, pandeiro, midi programming, etc.
8) Del Rio
Paul Bryan - bass guitar
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, mbira, sampler, Korg MS20, drums, electric piano
9) 3 for L
Jay Bellerose - drums and percussion
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, Korg MS20
10) Go Away
Paul Bryan - bass guitar and vocals
Makaya McCraven - drums
Jeff Parker - electric guitar, vocals and sampler
11) Max Brown Paul Bryan - bass guitar Josh Johnson - alto saxophone Jeff Parker - guitar, Korg MS20, JP-08 Nate Walcott - trumpet Jamire Williams - drums
Commentaires