Matt Parker
Trio
Present Time
DownBeat ★★★★½. A smaller ensemble, unguarded. The challenge of stripping back to find what's essential.
After Worlds Put Together, Matt took on the challenge of writing for a smaller ensemble. The trio format — saxophone, piano, bass — demands more from each player and gives nowhere to hide. Present Time is the sound of that exposure embraced rather than avoided.
The album features vocalist Emily Braden on three tracks — one of the most distinctive voices in Matt's collaborator circle, and someone who brings a specific intimacy to the material. The album also includes a previously unrecorded Charles Mingus composition, "Song to Keki," making Present Time not just a personal statement but a small piece of jazz history.
JAZZIZ Magazine featured Matt in their Summer 2016 issue — a full interview with Bob Weinberg. Neon Jazz's Joe Dimino conducted an in-depth phone interview. DownBeat gave it ★★★★½ and named it one of the best albums of the year.
If Worlds Put Together was about assembling everything together, Present Time was about learning what remained when you stripped most of it away.
▶ Stream on Spotify
Personnel
- Matt Parker Tenor & Soprano Sax
- Emily Braden Vocals · 3 tracks
- Piano TBC
- Bass TBC
- Charles Mingus "Song to Keki" · Previously unrecorded
DownBeat ★★★★½. Stripped back to trio. Emily Braden on vocals. A previously unrecorded Mingus. This is what Matt sounds like with nowhere to hide.
Matt Parker and Richard X Bennett in conversation about their 2023 collaboration. The same creative energy that drove Present Time — just pointed in a new direction.