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Chris Parker
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| Birth name | Christopher Parker |
| Born | 1950 (age 73–74) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz fusion, smooth jazz, crossover jazz, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
Christopher Parker (born 1950)[1][2] is an American jazz/jazz fusion drummer.
Born in Chicago and raised in New York City, Parker is the oldest of five sons born to Dorothy Daniels and artist Robert Andrew Parker, all but one of whom went on to play drums professionally.[1][2]
During his childhood, his father, himself an amateur jazz drummer, attached wooden blocks to the hi-hat and bass drum pedals, so that Parker's feet could reach the pedals to play the drums along with records. His father introduced him to the music of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Leadbelly, Ray Charles, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. As a teenager, however, Parker began seeing the appeal of rock and roll and R&B, as he practiced with friends and listened to drummers like Roger Hawkins, D. J. Fontana and Al Jackson, Jr., as well as New Orleans icons such as Earl Palmer, Smokey Johnson and James Black.[3]
Simultaneously pursuing his interest in art, Parker attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and subsequently received a scholarship to New York City's School of Visual Arts.[1] It was while there that Parker's decisive pivot to music occurred, in the form of a "Drummer wanted" ad in Rolling Stone Magazine, which, in turn, led him to Woodstock, New York, where he joined a band called Holy Moses. Although the band survived scarcely long enough to record one album, Parker opted to remain in Woodstock, working at local venues with music icons such as Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Hardin, Rick Danko, Mike Bloomfield and Merl Saunders.[3]
Four years later he played in a band called Encyclopedia of Soul, which later on became known as Stuff, with bassist Gordon Edwards, guitarists Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale, and keyboardist Richard Tee. Later on, in the same band, he shared his drum with another rising star, Steve Gadd. It was during this period that Parker co-founded the Brecker Brothers, led by Michael and Randy Brecker and featuring Buzzy Feiten, David Sanborn, Don Grolnick, Steve Khan, and Will Lee. Parker toured and recorded three albums with the group, and over the years has performed and recorded with artists such as James Brown, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ashford & Simpson, Patti Austin, Cher, Michael Bolton, Quincy Jones, Freddie Hubbard and Salt n' Pepa.[3]
In 1986, Parker was invited to be a part of Saturday Night Live and served there six years. In 1988, he became a member of Bob Dylan's touring band, which included G.E. Smith, later SNL's music director.[4] Parker played on Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad album, which was nominated for (but did not win) the 1993 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
With Joe Beck
With Stephen Bishop
With Bonnie Raitt
With Sinéad O'Connor
With Cher
With Candi Staton
With Aretha Franklin
With Melanie
With Michael Bolton
With Bruce Cockburn
With Robert Palmer
With Judy Collins
With Melba Moore
With Natalie Cole
With Phoebe Snow
With Chaka Khan
With Irene Cara
With Teddy Pendergrass
With Art Garfunkel
With Elvis Costello
With Barry Manilow
With Donald Fagen
With Michael Franks
With Patricia Kaas
With Laura Nyro
With Maria Muldaur
With Mark Murphy
With Jackie Lomax
With Don McLean
With Taeko Ohnuki
After serving in the Army Air Corps as an airplane and engine mechanic, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1952. He then moved to New York City, where one of his prints was included in an exhibition of young artists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He taught art for a few years at the New York School for the Deaf, studied for a summer at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and built his printmaking skills at the Atelier 17 studio. [...] He is survived by his sons, Christopher, Anthony, Eric and Nicholas, all of whom play drums professionally, and Geoffrey, an artist, and by six grandchildren. His first marriage, to Dorothy Daniels, ended in divorce.
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