Jeff Parker Trio + Hanging Hearts
October 16 @ 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Doors at 8:00pm
8:30pm – Hanging Hearts
Chris Weller – tenor sax
Cole DeGenova – keyboards, synth bass
Quin Kirchner – drums, percussion
9:30pm – Jeff Parker Trio
Jeff Parker – electric guitar
Karl McComas-Reichl – bass
Chris Speed – tenor saxophone/clarinet
Jeff Parker is recognized as one of contemporary music’s most versatile and innovative electric guitarists and composers. With a prolific output characterized by musical ideas of angularity and logic, he works in a wide variety of mediums—from pop, rock, and jazz to new music—using ideas informed by innovations and trends in both popular and experimental forms.
Rooted in Chicago’s rich tradition of forward-thinking jazz and experimental music, Hanging Hearts is a progressive trio that thrives at the intersection of energy, groove, and improvisation. Melding jazz with rock intensity, electronic textures, and avant-garde sensibilities, Hanging Hearts embodies the genre-blurring ethos that has long defined Chicago’s creative music scene.
Jeff Parker
An integral part of what has become known as The Modern Chicago Sound, Jeff Parker is a longtime member of the influential indie band Tortoise, and a founding member of Isotope 217˚ and Chicago Underground. His extensive work as a collaborator and session musician highlights his versatility, with credits that include Andrew Bird, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joshua Redman, Toumani Diabaté, George Lewis, Bennie Maupin, Nicole Mitchell, Peter Erskine, Carmen Lundy, Makaya McCraven, Vijay Iyer, Yo La Tengo, Daniel Lanois, Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, Jason Moran, Joey DeFrancesco, Nels Cline, Charles Earland, Ken Vandermark, Dave Douglas, Fred Anderson, Tom Zé, Clipping, and many more.
Parker has released several acclaimed albums as a leader, including Like-Coping (2003), The Relatives (2005), Bright Light in Winter (2012), The New Breed (2016), Slight Freedom (2016), and Suite for Max Brown (2020). The New Breed and Slight Freedom were named two of the Top 10 Jazz releases of 2016 by The New York Times, and The New Breed was chosen as the Top Jazz Album of 2016 by The London Observer. His latest release, Suite for Max Brown (2020), debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Jazz Chart and appeared on numerous year-end “Best Of” lists, including WIRE Magazine, MAGNET Magazine, and The Guardian.
In 2017, the renowned contemporary music ensemble Dal Niente premiered Parker’s composition Water on Glass at the Ear Taxi Festival. Expanding into production, he has worked with Jeremy Cunningham (The Weather Up There) and Paul Bryan (Cri$el Gems). As a film composer, Parker has scored several documentaries and contributed music to feature films and video games.
Parker has been a member of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1995.
Hanging Hearts
“The Chicago-based band particularly shines in the space where the roads of avant-garde free improvisation, rock attitude, and the boundlessness of electronic experimentation intersect. Emerging from this crossroads, the entirety of Where’s Your Head At features shifting textures that are unpredictable yet feel so natural. The band places its head in some fascinating spaces.”
— Rob Shepherd, PostGenre
“It’s this kind of cross-pollination that makes Hanging Hearts so fun to listen to. The sheer joy of the musicians is almost palpable. Whether it is the soft-spoken For Those Who Need To Hear It, the trippy Horizon or the upbeat Rise, they always find a way to both challenge and support one another. None of them has the upper hand, but there is one clear winner: the listener.”
— Hans Werksman, Here Comes The Flood
“The vitality of punk rock fused with the carefree spirit of free jazz creates a raw musical energy, yet the trio crafts a different finale with Coltranean sax etchings over cymbal-toms textures and spacious synth embellishments. The trio’s progressive approach yields fascinating results, making Where’s Your Head At a memorable album and a standout in Hanging Hearts’ still small yet impressive discography.”
— Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail
hangingheartsmusic.com