Leon Parker

On Awakening, his second album for Columbia Records, Leon Parker continues to shake things up, mixing worldbeat and funk with hard bop. It's an ambitious record but one that is surprisingly successful; it reveals more upon each listen, becoming a thoroughly enchanting record.

The Simple Life features the internationally renown rhythmist Leon Parker on 15 performances that bring his "vocal-body-rhythms" style (one that makes his voice and body his instrument) to the forefront of jazz. Merging the concept of music, dance, and theater, this is Parker's first release since 1998 and it combines performances recorded in unusual venues such as the streets of New York City, in a loft, live, and in the studio. Leon Parker's core group, vocalists Elizabeth Kontomanou and Ugonna Okegwo, are joined by several guest artists, including Steve Wilson and Sam Newsome on saxophones, Jacky Terrasson and Xavier Davis on piano, Tom Harrell on trumpet, and Adam Cruz taking over the percussion duties on "Ray of Light (Revisited)." Steve Wilson turns in a spectacular alto saxophone solo on "Belief," a live version recorded at the Village Vanguard.

Leon Parker continues to be one of the true originals of the day. Though it's doubtful if his spare less-is-more approach to the drum kit will be widely influential-it's likely to remain his exclusive territory-Parker's effectiveness is certain to give pause to aspiring drummers who take note; and it's liable to give drum manufacturers the shakes along the way. Declaring himself solely a percussionist, Parker has shed the perceived encumbrances of the full drum kit. To shape and round his muse here he employs the additional percussion of Adam Cruz and regular bandmate Natalie Cushman, who join the leader at the heart of this date. They are surrounded by bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and on several tracks the saxophones of regular bandmate Steve Wilson, plus Steve Davis' trombone, and Tom Harrell's trumpet and fluegelhorn. Further percussive color is lent by berimbau, marimba, and steel pan.

For the past two decades pianist Aaron Goldberg has crisscrossed the globe, spreading his music and absorbing local knowledge along the way. True to the jazz mentality, he learned to embrace serendipity as an artistic muse. Five years ago this month, in an historic chateau at the exact geographic center of France, Goldberg was reunited with an early influence. Soon a new project began to take shape. Goldberg’s latest recording, At The Edge of The World, documents this recent collaboration with drummer and percussionist Leon Parker, a brilliant innovator and performer, in a new trio along with the gifted bassist Matt Penman.