Jeff Parker News

The Chicago Philharmonic Society has announced the addition of 15 new musician members for the 22/23 Season. With the addition of these new members, Chicago Philharmonic has expanded its pool of the Midwest's finest musicians to 209.

​​​​​​​Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast and creative team for the upcoming production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, staged by celebrated director Henry Godinez in the Courtyard Theater, October 21–November 27, 2022.

The newly formed Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture (ACTC), home to Chicago’s oldest continuously operating off-Loop theatre, is pleased to announce its reopening under new leadership with a reinvigorated mission and a renewed commitment to the community.

Angel City Arts will present the 14th Annual Angel City Jazz Festival October 1 - 15 with performances from Highland Park to Brentwood at REDCAT, 2220 Arts & Archives (formerly the Bootleg), LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), the Lodge Room, the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, and the Ahmanson Ballroom at the Skirball Center.

The album’s lead single “Frank's Tune” (AKA “De’Jeff’s Tune”) is available to stream or download today. Deciphering The Message will be released November 19 and can be pre-ordered now on vinyl, CD, and digital download.

The Music Center launches the third season of its digital series, For the Love of L.A., which celebrates the creativity of Los Angeles and supports L.A.-based artists in the disciplines of music, dance, visual culture and more.

The TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Vancouver's signature Festival, celebrates its 35th edition this summer from Friday, June 25 to Sunday, July 4.

The Music Center’s digital series, For the Love of L.A., celebrates the creativity of Los Angeles and supports L.A.-based artists representing the disciplines of music, dance, visual culture and more. In its first season, For the Love of L.A. provided more 35 L.A. artists with a platform to express their views of Los Angeles that are relevant and reflective of the current time.

The International Bluegrass Music Association's (IBMA) 2019 Entertainers of the Year, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, announce the departure of founding member Mike Terry.

The Music Center's digital series, For the Love of L.A., celebrates the creativity of Los Angeles and supports L.A.-based artists representing the disciplines of music, dance, visual culture and more. For the Love of L.A. is providing 35 L.A. artists with a platform to express their views of Los Angeles.

Former Artistic Director Michael Wilson will return to Hartford Stage in March to direct the original play which inspired the Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech. Written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter David Seidler, the play tells the true story of King George VI, his speech therapist Lionel Logue, and a friendship that helped steer the course of history. The King's Speech will run Thursday, March 19, through Sunday, April 19.

At the end of the evening, sitting in the National Theatre, I was impressed with the care the cast and creative team took to present this story onstage. It's not your standard political drama, and it's not your standard inspirational porn about a person with a disability either. It's a compelling story about a complex man - complex like all of us. As a person who stutters, I may have identified with Bertie's struggles in a more personal way than many theatergoers and appreciated that his voice - his true voice - could be heard and not stifled. However, at the end of the day, don't we all just want to be heard and seen and valued for who we are?

The wisdom of folk lore pronounces that bad things happen in threes, but February 8 at 8 p.m. at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) Exile Follies consisting of John Doe(LA band X), Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses)  and Grant-Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) prove that a very good thing happens when these three alt-rock icons take the stage together at SOPAC.

David Seidler's original play THE KING'S SPEECH will make its D.C. debut at the National Theatre from February 11-16, 2020.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's Weimar Republic: Germany 1918-1933, through two wide-ranging and dramatic programs led by Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, explores the musical culture of Germany's politically charged Weimar era. These concerts are given context by Weimar Variations, a collection of ancillary events curated by Stephanie Barron and Nana Bahlmann.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker's Suite for Max Brown will be released on January 24, 2020 via a newly formed partnership between International Anthem and Nonesuch Records. The album, named for and dedicated to Parker's mother, features nine original songs as well as “Gnarciss,” an interpretation of Joe Henderson's “Black Narcissus,” and John Coltrane's “After the Rain.” Parker plays the majority of the instruments on the record and also engineered most it at home or during his 2018 Headlands Center residency in Sausalito, CA. The album track “Go Away” debuted today.  Parker performs at this year's Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN on March 27, as well as spring dates in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, among others; the full schedule is below.

Check out the lineup of upcoming events at The Bell House.

On November 13th, TuneIn will debut its latest original podcast - Place In Sound. The series will focus on the musical DNA of one city, exploring its history, trailblazers and current landscape. On the first season of Place in Sound, DJ and radio host Anthony Valadez (KCRW, FUSE TV, TuneIn) explores the musical DNA of Chicago. The entire series can be heard now on TuneIn or listen to episodes released weekly via Apple Music, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Today the LA-based DJ/producer PBDY (pronounced Peabody) releases “Tears or Rain”, his brilliant new single featuring the vocals of Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring (whose previous collaborations include BADBADNOTGOOD, Madlib, and Clams Casino). Watch the accompanying video directed by Diego Navarro. “Tears or Rain” arrives as the third single from PBDY's (real name Paul Preston) debut album Careworn to be released digitally via Brainfeeder on 15 November 2019.  

Chicago Shakespeare Theater's North American Premiere production of David Seidler's The King's Speech opened last week in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare and runs through October 20, 2019. Directed by Michael Wilson, the production stars Harry Hadden-Paton as Bertie and James Frain as Lionel Logue. Read the reviews below!