The great Jeff Parker shares five diverse selections from psychedelic jazz to visionary hip-hop.

Jeff Parker is a musician that deals in many worlds. Equally adept at soloing through a jazz standard as he is crafting the perfect riff in a post-rock masterpiece, Parker is what music heads would describe as someone “who’s got it.” Beats, minimalism, musique concrète, free improvisation, Parker adapts to every situation in his own way, remaining true to his musical expression in each iteration of his craft. If we were to point to a specific moment, obviously, his arrival in Tortoise led to one of the seminal post-rock albums of the 90’s with TNT.

Unsurprisingly, Parker is a massive record head. When he joined us this past summer at Neuehouse, his listening sessions featured the great jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby, De La Soul’s Stakes Is High, and Ghost Town DJ’s curiously meme-ified bass classic “My Boo.” It was possibly the most diverse set of the entire series and ended fittingly with a dance party to Parker’s late night selections.

Jeff Parker’s latest albums are also a testament to the breadth of his work. In 2021, Parker released two albums on International Anthem: Forfolks and JP’s Myspace Beats. One is a deeply expressive solo guitar work while the other shines a light on Parker’s “other side” of beat making and production, which was surely honed in his many years as a record collector and DJ in Chicago.

If you haven’t already, definitely listen to Forfolks and Myspace Beats:

Next Monday, January 10th, Parker will be joining us on our Vans Channel 66 radio show. As a teaser, here are 5 Selects from Jeff Parker along with notes from the man himself. Don’t miss the show!

Tune in January 10th, 4-6pm: https://www.vans.com/channel66

Ahmed Abdul-Malik – Jazz Sahara

This record was way ahead of its time, featuring Johnny Griffin blowing bop over a North African chamber ensemble from 1958. 

Entourage Music and Theatre Ensemble – Entourage 

Sun Ra meets Soft Machine meets Gastr Del Sol meets ??? Beautiful emotive music.  

Doug Hammond & David Durrah – Reflections In The Sea Of Nurn

Bright lydian harmonic choices and psychedelic sounds for Black liberation. 

Marley Marl – In Control, Volume 1

The greatest sampling producer and one of the first to do it – a true visionary and a pioneer. Come for the history, stay for the funk. 

Biz Markie – The Inhuman Orchestra feat. TJ Swann

Choice Marley Marl production with the hottest MC on the set.