Biography Horace Parlan

Horace Parlan (January 19, 1931 – February 23, 2017) was an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.

He is noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots, a.o..

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1931, in his birth year Parlan was stricken with polio, resulting in the partial crippling of his right hand. The handicap, though, has contributed to his development of a particularly "pungent" left-hand chord voicing style, while comping with highly rhythmic phrases with the right.

Between 1952 and 1957, he worked in Washington DC with Sonny Stitt and then spent two years with Mingus' Jazz Workshop. In 1973, Parlan moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. He later settled in the small village of Rude in southern Sjælland, Denmark. In 1974 he did a State Department tour of Africa with Hal Singer.

His later work, notably a series of duos with the tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp, including the album Goin' Home, is steeped in gospel music.

He was recipient of the 2000 Ben Webster Prize given by the Ben Webster Foundation.

He died in 2017, in Korsør, Denmark.

Discography

As leader

Movin' & Groovin' (Blue Note, 1960)

Us Three (Blue Note, 1960)

Speakin' My Piece (Blue Note, 1960)

Headin' South (Blue Note, 1960)

On the Spur of the Moment (Blue Note, 1961)

Up & Down (Blue Note, 1961)

Happy Frame of Mind (Blue Note, 1963)

Arrival (SteepleChase, 1974)

No Blues (Steeplechase, 1975)

Frank-ly Speaking (Steeplechase, 1977)

Goin' Home (Steeplechase, 1977)

Trouble in Mind (Steeplechase, 1980)

Blue Parlan (Steeplechase, 1978)

Hi-Fly (Steeplechase, 1978)

Musically Yours (Steeplechase, 1979)

The Maestro (Steeplechase, 1979)

Pannonica (Enja, 1981)

Like Someone in Love (Steeplechase, 1983)

Glad I Found You (Steeplechase, 1984)

Little Esther (Soul Note, 1987)

Alone (Steeplechase)

We Three (Teichiku, 1997)

Kojo No Tsuki (M & I Jazz, 1998)

Relaxin' With Horace (Stunt, 2004)

With Archie Shepp

Goin' Home (SteepleChase, 1977)

Trouble in Mind (SteepleChase, 1980)

Black Ballads (1992)

As sideman

With Gene Ammons

Gene Ammons in Sweden (Enja, 1973 [1981])

With Dave Bailey

One Foot in the Gutter (Epic, 1960)

Gettin' Into Somethin' (Epic, 1961)

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

Tough Tenor Favorites (Jazzland, 1962) - with Johnny Griffin

Goin' to the Meeting (Prestige, 1962)

Jaw's Blues (Enja, 1986)

With Lou Donaldson

The Time is Right (1959)

Sunny Side Up (1960)

Midnight Sun (1960)

With Pierre Dorge

The Jazzpar Prize (1992)

With Booker Ervin

That's It! (1961)

Exultation! (1963)

With Dexter Gordon

Doin' Allright (Blue Note, 1961)

Stable Mable (SteepleChase, 1975)

With Slide Hampton

Jazz with a Twist (Atlantic, 1962)

Explosion! The Sound of Slide Hampton (Atlantic, 1962)

With Langston Hughes

Weary Blues (MGM, 1958)

With Roland Kirk

Gifts & Messages (1964)

Slightly Latin (1965)

With Charles Mingus

Blues & Roots (Atlantic, 1959)

Mingus Ah Um (Columbia, 1959)

A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (Doxy, 1957)

With Zoot Sims

Motoring Along (1975)

With Idrees Sulieman

Bird's Grass (SteepleChase, 1976 [1985])

Groovin' (SteepleChase, 1985)

With Stanley Turrentine

Look Out! (Blue Note, 1960)

Comin' Your Way (Blue Note, 1961)

Up at "Minton's" (Blue Note, 1961)

Jubilee Shout!!! (Blue Note, 1962)

Salt Song (CTI, 1971)

With Tommy Turrentine

Tommy Turrentine

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