GIL PARRIS - Quick, music lovers. What do
David Letterman musical director Paul Shaffer, New York Yankees outfielder
Bernie Williams and trumpet legend Randy Brecker have in common? All are great
pals of Gil Parris, one of the most acclaimed and versatile guitar masters of
his generation who has won over audiences worldwide by never losing sight of his
primary goal every time he hits the stage: entertaining his audience.
In January 2007, Parris invited these great musicians to jam with him in an
extraordinary concert event at Irvington Town Hall Theatre (just outside NYC)
that celebrated the gifts of life, friendship and the joy of true
honest-to-goodness live ensembling. Featuring crackling new renditions of many
of the songs that have defined the guitarist’s rise in a multitude of genres
(rock, pop, jazz, blues, etc.) over the past ten years, the show perfectly
conveys the powerful emotional interaction between the super-charismatic Grammy
Award nominee and his energized audience. It’s an experience too good not to
share—as a gift to loyal fans and newcomers to the experience, he is giving away
a DVD of this once in a lifetime concert, Gil Parris and Friends, with the
purchase of any one of his five previous album releases. The concert shot for
Gil Parris and Friends is just one of over 200 SRO dates Parris will perform in
the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) this year. In an industry
where artists are increasingly generic and pigeonholed, Parris, like his heroes
Pat Metheny, David Sanborn and George Benson, stands out not only for his
distinctive tone and passionate style but also in his effortless ability to let
his fingers do the singing and adapt so well to so many musical situations
The versatile jazz/blues/rock influenced composer and performer’s latest album A
Certain Beauty is an exciting all-star set that marks the official launch of
Parris’ own independent label GPM Records. Comprised of seven new recordings and
eight previously released tracks from his popular albums Strength, Blue Thumb,
Live At The Next Door Café and the unreleased set Jam This, the eclectic set
features all star performances by an exciting array of pop and jazz all-stars.
After the leadoff track “It’s A Lie” featuring trumpet great Chris Botti, Parris
engages in an extraordinary Brazilian flavored romantic duet with singer Gloria
Loring on “Lost Without You,” a #1 R&B hit in 2007 for Loring’s son Robin Thicke,
who co-penned the song.
Parris also jams on A Certain Beauty with many performers he has worked with
throughout his lengthy career as a sideman and solo artist, including David
Sanborn, Randy Brecker (on “Duck Walk,” which spent two weeks at #1 on Music
Choice), Will Lee, Bob Baldwin, David Mann, Harvie S, Eric Alexander, Vaneese
Thomas (daughter of R&B legend Rufus) and Tommy “Pipes” McDonnell.
“For me, the most important thing is speaking through my instrument and not
limiting myself to a particular category. Whether I’m doing rootsy blues or
urban jazz grooves, I hear a panoramic sweep of many styles going on at once and
a common phrasing thread running through them.”
Parris is equally at home jamming alongside Dr. John and Duke Robillard on a
blues compilation; sharing bills with The Marshall Tucker Band, Bob James,
Joshua Redman, George Benson Spyro Gyra, Robben Ford and Chris Botti; and
playing straight-ahead jazz in midtown Manhattan. When fans buy tickets for the
latest Parris gig or catch his opening act, they love the fact that they never
know which part of his repertoire they’re going to hear. Parris has a rich
catalogue to choose from, starting with the funky urban tunes and soulful
ballads from Strength and his critically acclaimed 1998 debut. In addition to
the commercially released trad-jazz date Blue Thumb (2002) and the blues roots
project Live At The Next Door Café (2005), Parris also has a special unreleased
jam band project called Jam This!
In defying and transcending all genres, Parris blazes the trail and creates one
of his own.
“I always think of the great instrumental artists I grew up listening to,” he
says, “like Sanborn and Michael Brecker and Bob James, and how they were able to
fit their playing styles into so many settings yet always somehow have their own
stamp that was identifiable in a few notes. That’s what I’ve worked my whole
career for, finding a unique sound and tonal quality that rises above all types
of music. For me, it all comes down to putting on a great show where I can
expand upon the melodies I have written and recorded. My dad is a New York stage
actor, and I grew up with the whole showbiz thing, hanging out with guys like
Danny DeVito, John Lithgow and Mickey Rooney. So when I play live, that’s my
chance to be the actor with an instrument, totally committed to entertaining the
audience.”
This kind of ambition started early, when Parris was in his first semester at
Berklee School Of Music, attending on a prestigious Al Di Miola jazz master’s
scholarship; he auditioned for a European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, got
the gig and never looked back. He officially launched his career after being
discovered in 1990 by hard rock producer and impresario Mike Varney, who
featured the young prodigy in his “Spotlight” column in Guitar Magazine. He
immersed himself on the NYC session scene and began playing with the proverbial
who’s who of contemporary pop and jazz: David Sanborn, Bob James, Will Lee, Eric
Alexander, Bob Malach, David Clayton-Thomas, Toni Braxton.
Parris’ career was in burgeoning overdrive by 2001. He had released his solo
debut to great acclaim and had recorded a follow-up; had been touring the U.S.
with the legendary rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears for a year; and had just
earned a Best Folk CD Grammy nomination for his arrangement of “Pop Goes The
Weasel” from the compilation “Public Domain.” Then everything came crashing to a
halt one fateful night while on the BST tour. Parris was hanging out, having a
drink in the hallway of a bar just outside of NYC when he was hit from behind
and knocked unconscious. When he came to in the barroom doorway, his hand was
broken in three places—a trauma that ground his burgeoning career to a temporary
halt.
As Parris went through the process of rehabilitation leading up to
reconstructive surgery in 2005, he did a lot of soul searching and was inspired
by another one of his guitar idols, Larry Carlton, who came back from an even
more serious violent attack on his life in the late 80s. “Going through all of
this has made my playing more succinct, and I always want to get to the meat and
potatoes of the music more quickly,” he says. “I was a practice fanatic growing
up and always emphasized physical technique, so I had to relearn a lot of things
since the motor skills are so finely tuned. But in the end, doing this increased
my musicality. Writing and recording Strength was truly a cathartic and
cleansing experience and I think I have come back stronger than ever.”
That’s an understatement, considering the whirlwind schedule he’s been keeping
these past few years. In addition to his recent recording and performing
triumphs, he is a monster in the lucrative field of musical instruction books
and DVDs, teaching his guitar technique to a new generation of players. His
first artist-driven Hot Licks video “Modern Blues Guitar” has been a bestseller
for several years and he performs on the company’s Masters of the Statocaster
project alongside superstars Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, Robin Trower,
Mick Taylor, Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl. Parris also performs the Audio CD
lessons that accompany Robert Garland’s instructional book Jazz For The Blues
Guitarist: Incorporating Jazz Into Your Blues Solos.
In 2006, Parris released his first solo instructional video project called
“Inside Out,” a 4 CD-ROM course featuring 20 private lessons guaranteed to
seriously overhaul a budding guitarist’s technique and sound; the set is
available from www.truefire.com. He is also the author of The Double Stop Guide:
A Whole Music Approach For Guitar, in which he gives a thorough overview of
double-stops on the guitar. In addition, Reverend Guitars also recently emerged
with its first Gil Parris Signature guitar, a versatile model created from his
own specifications that seamlessly takes the player’s tone from NYC to L.A. to
Nashville. He has also scored TV commercials for La Spa, New Kitchen, Taibo and
other companies, and recently began putting his boyish good looks to work by
doing print modeling for designer Arnold Brandt.
Gil Parris and Friends would be an exciting concert souvenir under any
circumstances, but it’s even more compelling when seen in the light of the
guitarist’s journey from the dark days of uncertainty to his current degree of
success on so many levels. Putting viewers and listeners in the front row, it
showcases Parris’ affinity for blues, jazz, rock and pop on twelve tracks; these
include eight powerful Parris originals, two songs composed by saxman and
frequent collaborator David Mann (who produced the Strength CD) and cool twists
on the familiar pop classics “Make It With You” (featuring the soulful lead
vocals of Vaneese Thomas) and a showstopping “Georgia” (sung by R&B singer and
Blues Brothers member Tommy “Pipes” McDonnell). The host for the performance was
Carolyn Kepcher, a prominent businesswoman and author who is best known for her
longtime role on ABC-TV’s “The Apprentice.”
In line with the very intimate vibe of the show, Kepcher prefaces her
introduction of Parris by explaining that the two met in the early 90s when she
was a waitress at a New York club he was playing. “The show was really a party
collaboration featuring fun snippets from various aspects of my career,” he
says. “It was a wild night and we had the hall rocking like it was a Metallica
concert! One of the things I love most is having the chance to turn every gig
into a party, with me as the host. That’s the spirit behind the Gil Parris and
Friends Live DVD and every show I perform.”
