Matt Parker
Saxophonist, Composer, and Improviser
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Teaching

Matt Parker seated on a vintage office chair, holding his tenor saxophone
Teaching

What took me 30 years to learn, reduced to the three things that matter, not the 300.

That's my saxophone in John Wick (2014), on screen and on the official soundtrack. I work across jazz, film and television: Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau Band, the Mingus Big Band, Postmodern Jukebox, Dorrance Dance. I served as musical director for Duane Park and founded BYNK Records in 2012.

Teaching has run alongside all of it, from the Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra to master classes and mentoring at William H. Hall High School in West Hartford. I teach what I use on the gig, and I show it on the horn.

Booking a school visit? Looking for lessons? Booking a concert?
For schools and programs

Master classes: book one, or both in a day

A. Saxophone and improvisation

The three things that matter, not the 300.

  • The practice habits that actually paid off, each one shown on the horn.
  • Improvising on real gigs: clubs, big bands, dancers, theater and sessions.
  • [THE THREE THINGS: Matt to name them]

B. Making a living in music today

The business side, from someone still doing it.

  • Where the money comes from now: gigs, sideman work, sessions, licensing, teaching and your own releases.
  • Getting the call, and the call back. Yes, no and what to charge.
  • Wins and failures from a working life, no names.

Perform with your students

  • Big band or combos: I sit in with your ensembles for a set, your charts or mine, sent ahead.
  • Featured soloist: a concert with your top band to close a residency.
One classAbout 60 to 90 minutes.
A dayBoth classes, plus private lessons in the afternoon.
A residencyTwo days, ending with a concert with your band.

Visits are paid engagements. Fees scale with the program, from a single class to a two-day residency with a concert. Send me your dates and I'll quote it.

Electives, one per visit or as a series: the touring life · music directing for dance and theater · production music libraries · running a label · big egos and late nights.

Ask about a visit
Private lessons

Lessons with Matt Parker

For every age and level, from a first year on the horn to working players getting ready for the next call. Take one lesson to start, or come every week.

In person in Connecticut and New York City, or online.

[LESSON RATE: e.g. "Lessons from $X."] Fill out the form and I'll reply with times and rates.

What we work on
  • Improvisation
  • Sound and tone
  • Practice habits
  • Technique
  • Reading
  • Harmony and theory
  • Audition prep
  • The working musician's toolkit
How I teach

Shown on the horn, then played

Every idea gets played for you first, then you play it back until it's yours. We start from your sound and the music you want to make, and we work on what a bandstand will actually ask of you: time, listening, reading the room, and getting called back.

Who I learned from

A bandstand education

Duffy Jackson was one of my first teachers, and Jimmy Cavallo became a mentor. I went to New World School of the Arts in Miami, spent a semester at Florida International University, and studied privately with Gary Campbell and Barry Harris. At The New School in New York I learned from Reggie Workman, Jane Ira Bloom, Junior Mance and Charli Persip. The rest came on the bandstand, starting in New Orleans in the summer of 1997, playing daytime sets six days a week at the Gazebo.

Teaching
  • 2003 to 2006Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra, New York
  • On tourMaster classes with Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau Band
  • 2016UMass Jazz in July
  • 2023The Hartt School, University of Hartford: senior seminar, working with student combos
  • OngoingWilliam H. Hall High School, master classes and mentoring
Concert programs

Book a show

For schools, series and presenters, from one horn to a full band.

  • Solo

    Solo saxophone

    [SOLO SAX LINE: Matt to write. Jazz solo, not Living Sound.]

  • Duo

    Duo

    With pianist Richard X Bennett, as on Parker Plays X (BYNK, 2023), or with bassist Matt Dwonszyk in Reeds and Bass.

  • Trio

    Matt Parker Trio

    With Matt Dwonszyk, bass, and Jonathan Barber, drums. The trio record Present Time (BYNK, 2016) made DownBeat's Best Albums of 2016, at four and a half stars.

  • Five piece

    New Orleans R&B with Tubby

    A Brooklyn-born collective that has played the music of Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Fats Domino and Little Richard for more than 13 years. Made to get people dancing.

  • Band

    The Coded Songbook

    A century of coded American songs, from King Oliver to Prince, and what they really meant. Built from Sugarfoot Stomp (BYNK, Oct 30, 2026), with the stories told from the stage.

  • Band and dancers

    Tap show

    [TAP SHOW LINE: Matt to write. Whose show and which dancers.]

  • Large ensemble

    Worlds Put Together

    The music of the 2013 debut album: DownBeat's Best Albums of 2014 and Something Else Reviews' Album of the Year.

Ask about a program
Questions

Before your first lesson

How long is a lesson?

[LESSON LENGTH: e.g. 45 or 60 minutes]

What should I bring?

Your horn, a few good reeds, and one thing you're working on: a tune, an étude or a solo you love.

How do online lessons work?

Zoom, with your horn about six feet from the laptop. Turn on Zoom's "original sound for musicians" so your tone comes through.

What if I need to cancel?

[CANCELLATION POLICY]

How do I pay?

[PAYMENT METHOD AND TIMING]

Get in touch

What do your students need to hear from someone outside the building?

mattparkermusic@gmail.com