Aaron Parks Trio at Sam First

This show is made possible through a generous Music in Action grant from the Live Music Society, supporting small venues and listening rooms across the country. Pianist and composer Aaron Parks whose influential 2008 Blue Note debut Invisible Cinema helped shape the sound of modern jazz returned to the label with Little Big III (2024), the latest from his genre-blurring quartet Little Big, and followed it with By All Means (2025), expanding his celebrated trio with Ben Street and Billy Hart into a vibrant quartet with saxophonist Ben Solomon. Parks first emerged on Blue Note as a member of Terence Blanchard’s band, appearing on Bounce, Flow, and the GRAMMY winning A Tale of God’s Will before launching his own path as a leader...

read more

This show is made possible through a generous Music in Action grant from the Live Music Society, supporting small venues and listening rooms across the country. Pianist and composer Aaron Parks whose influential 2008 Blue Note debut Invisible Cinema helped shape the sound of modern jazz returned to the label with Little Big III (2024), the latest from his genre-blurring quartet Little Big, and followed it with By All Means (2025), expanding his celebrated trio with Ben Street and Billy Hart into a vibrant quartet with saxophonist Ben Solomon. Parks first emerged on Blue Note as a member of Terence Blanchard’s band, appearing on Bounce, Flow, and the GRAMMY winning A Tale of God’s Will before launching his own path as a leader. His music, rich with cinematic drama, rhythmic innovation, and influences ranging from Wayne Shorter to Radiohead and Björk has continued to evolve through acclaimed releases on Blue Note and ECM, as well as collaborations with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Dhafer Youssef, Marcus Miller, and the collective James Farm with Joshua Redman. With a career marked by continual reinvention, Parks remains one of the most imaginative and widely admired voices in contemporary jazz.

show less