Leo Parker

Born: April 18, 1925

Leo Parker was the proud owner of a big, beefy baritone sax tone and a fluent technique that struck a great match between the gritty, down-home feeling of R&B and the advanced harmonies of bebop.

At first, he studied alto in high school, even recording with Coleman Hawkins' early bebop band at age 18 on that instrument in 1944. Parker was very active during the 1940s in several bebop bands, like the Billy Eckstine Band, breeding ground for a lot of upcoming jazz musicians. When Billy needed a baritone saxophone player in his band, he gave one to Leo Parker, nicknamed The Kid, who played the alto sax up to that time. Another story says that he took up the baritone to be not mixed up with his namesake Charlie Parker seems to be far-fetched. He became an excellent baritone player in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Sir Charles Thompson and combined fine bebop elements with rhythm and blues licks.

Celebrating Art Pepper, Al Cohn and Marty Paich on their centennial.

by Larry Slater
August 15, 2025

It is hard to even imagine the history of jazz without the many musicians born 100 years ago.There were the icons, like Roy Haynes, Oscar Peterson, Gene Ammons and James Moody, as well as long forgotten artists like Dodo Marmarosa , Leo Parker and Sahib ShihabIn this hour, you'll hear gifted musician ...

Forgotten Saxophonists on their Centennial: Harold Ashby, Leo Parker, Sahib Shihab & Dave Pell

by Larry Slater
August 1, 2025

There are a remarkable number of important jazz artists born 100 years ago, and in this hour we'll celebrate saxophonists who have been largely overlooked.The tenor saxophonist Harold Ashby is best known for his years in the Ellington saxophone section. Though he recorded as a leader infrequently, he became a major soloist in the ...

Gravity and Resurgence: The Many Dimensions of Dexter Gordon

by Arthur R George
February 6, 2025

Long Tall Dexter; swinger, bebopper, saxophone balladeer; acting the dissipated genius expatriate who was not unlike himself in the movie Round Midnight; his dressed-up persona “Society Red;" the laconic elder statesman of his later years. Dexter Gordon is all those things, but more than a kaleidoscope of caricatures. Those who trace their lineages through ...

Rollin' With Leo

by Richard J Salvucci
July 14, 2024

Leo Parker may not be a name that instantly springs to mind in the world of late 1940s bebop. There was one point, in 1948, however, when serious people, like Barry Ulanov, regarded Parker as the best baritone saxophonist around--in company with Charlie Parker and Fats Navarro. That is fancy company, so it is worth asking ...

The Birth of Bop

By Charlie Parker

Label: Craft Recordings
Released: 2023
Track listing: The Birth Of Bop, Volume 1: Charlie Parker: Romance Without Finance; Dexter Gordon: Dexter��s Minor Mad;?J. J. Johnson: Jay Bird; Milt Jackson: Hearing Bells; Leo Parker: Chase ��N�� Lion (Chase��n The Lion); Stan Getz: Stan's Mood

The Birth Of Bop, Volume 2: Fats Navarro: Hollerin�� And Screamin�� (Fatso); Allen Eager: Church Mouse; Kai Winding: Always; Don Byas: Byas A Drink; J. J. Johnson: Jay Jay; Dexter Gordon: Long Tall Dexter.

The Birth Of Bop, Volume 3: Budd Johnson: Little Benny (King Kong); J. J. Johnson: Mad Be Bop; Milt Jackson: Bubu; Leo Parker: Solitude; Stan Getz: Don��t Worry ��Bout Me; Fats Navarro: Maternity (Lard Pot).

The Birth Of Bop, Volume 4: Allen Eager: Donald Jay;?Kai Winding: Saxon; Budd Johnson: Dee Dee��s Dance; J. J. Johnson: Coppin�� The Bop; Milt Jackson: Junior; Dexter Gordon: Dexter Digs In.

The Birth Of Bop, Volume 5: Allen Eager: Unmeditated; Leo Parker: The Lion��s Roar (Lion Roars); Eddie ��Lockjaw�� Davis: Stealin�� Trash; Roy Porter: Pete��s Beat;?Serge Chaloff: Pumpernickel; Morris Lane: Blowin�� For Kicks.

Craft Recording Celebrates the Enduring Legacy of Savoy Records and the Revolutionary Bebop Era with 'The Birth of Bop'

January 8, 2023

Featuring Painstaking Recreations of the Five 10-Inch LP Compilations That Were Originally Released by Savoy in 1952 and 1953, ?This Collection?Includes 30 Newly Remastered Tracks Spanning 1944�C1949 Craft Recordings?proudly celebrates the legacy of?Savoy Records?with an all-new collection that chronicles the groundbreaking era of?bebop?(or?bop) music. An essential introduction to this vital period in jazz music,?The Birth of ...

Anders Svanoe / Brad Townsend / Nick Zielinski: Mantis

by Mark Corroto
March 22, 2022

While taking a bit of a breather from releasing his State of the Baritone series, Anders Svanoe joined forces with bassist Brad Townsend and drummer Nick Zielinski to record Mantis. Svanoe's compositions paired with two-thirds of Minneapolis' avant-fusion band ARP Of The Covenant (unplugged here) deliver an assorted mix of highly emotive styles. The trio upgrades ...

Hanksgiving: A Tribute to Hank Jones, Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 18, 2021

This year our seasonal Hanksgiving episode celebrates a musician of sumptuous elegance and sophisticated narrative and harmonic feel like pianist Hank Jones. As usual, we play a mix of albums that feature him as a leader, co-leader or sideman and renditions of his work by other musicians. Happy listening. PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo ...

Savoy Almost Gave Me a Migraine & More!

by Marc Cohn
June 19, 2020

I promised to play more from that fabulous 1968 Houston Person release this week--so yeh, that's here (Soul Dance, Prestige 7621) with Boogaloo Joe Jones). It's criminally out-of-print, as is our Carmen McRae centennial feature (the classic As Time Goes By on JVC, issued for 'a minute' as an LP on Catalyst in the US many ...