6 August, 2021Print
Pioneering Hybrid Orchestra Nu Deco Ensemble & Acclaimed Jazz Pianist Aaron Parks Release Vibrant Live Performance Video & EP
Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live from Miami Out Today
August 6, 2021 - Today, innovative hybrid orchestra Nu Deco Ensemble and acclaimed jazz pianist Aaron Parks share an incredible collaboration together that brings home the joy of live music again. The EP Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live from Miami is out now, along with the video of their May 2019 performance here. Listeners can hear more about the collaboration on the Nu Deco Unfiltered podcast here.
Nu Deco Ensemble co-founder, composer, arranger and producer Sam Hyken - who has also collaborated with the likes of Bad Bunny, Wycelf Jean, Robert Glasper, Luke James - explains: “Jacomo and I were introduced to Aaron’s music through our keyboard player Jason Matthews and fortunate enough to meet him when he attended one of our concerts in Miami. We soon after fell in love with his music. It was inspiring to collaborate with Aaron on the orchestration of his incredible music, a process that always felt completely organic. Nu Deco was thrilled to highlight the colors and complexities of his writing and extraordinary musicianship, which in turn helped elevate our ensemble.”
Jacomo Bairos - Nu Deco Ensemble co-founder & conductor who has led orchestras including the Boston Pops, San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies - continues: “Genius composer, pianist and profound intellect Aaron Parks elevated Nu Deco to profound and musically dynamic heights. His music is so inspired and deeply moving, drawing inspiration from Greek Mythology to Thelonius Monk. Sam Hyken's arrangements transformed Parks’ music into poetic renderings with exhilarating performances by the musicians of Nu Deco. Aaron’s musicianship elevates anyone in its orbit and his artistry provoked us to be our best. These live performances with Aaron brought a new layer of quality to who we are and what we aspire to be.”
Aaron Parks has previously worked with veteran trumpeter Terence Blanchard - including on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s Inside Man and Grammy-winning opus A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) - and studied with eminent pianist Kenny Barron. He was named the 2001 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. Following his 2008 Blue Note debut Invisible Cinema, Parks also recorded with Christian Scott, Kendrick Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, and was an integral part of the James Farm Quartet with Joshua Redman, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland -- Nonesuch released their self-titled album in 2011.
“Collaborating with Nu Deco Ensemble has been a true pleasure,” Aaron Parks said. “Sam Hyken took my tunes and exploded them into full technicolor with wildly creative and masterful orchestrations, Jacomo Bairos brought embodied presence and dynamic leadership to the role of conductor, and the ensemble as a whole channeled both open-hearted joy and consummate badassery in every note they played. An unforgettable experience in every way.”
About Nu Deco Ensemble
Nu Deco Ensemble is a Miami-based, contemporary hybrid orchestra (called “a chamber orchestra for the 21st century by The New York Times) whose work has included collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Tune-Yards, PJ Morton, Macy Gray, Jacob Collier, Ben Folds and others. The Ensemble has reimagined versions of tracks by artists including Daft Punk, Outkast and classic rock artists as well as new music from some of today’s most exciting living composers. Nu Deco was founded by conductor Jacomo Bairos (who has led orchestras including the Boston Pops, San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies) and composer/arranger/producer Sam Hyken (a composer commissioned by orchestras and artists including Angelique Kidjo, Bad Bunny, Tank and the Bangas, and many others) — two of classical music’s most in-demand and adventurous figures.
Since its inception in 2015, Nu Deco Ensemble has exploded onto Miami’s eclectic musical scene, captivating audiences in both traditional concert venues and alternative local venues, and fusing innovative, genre-bending orchestral performances and collaborations with the highest levels of musical artistry — leading Billboard to call their music “sonically spellbinding.” The Ensemble released a self-titled debut album in 2019, and Humans vs Robots – An Orchestral Tribute to Daft Punk in 2020. Nu Deco is reimagining what an orchestra can achieve today. It is a flexible and innovative hybrid orchestra that celebrates living composers, reimagines all genres of music, provides education programs for Miami’s young people, and collaborates with a wide range of diverse musical guests, composers, choreographers, dancers, and mixed media artists.
About Aaron Parks
Pianist Aaron Parks is a forward-thinking jazz musician who came to the public's attention during his time with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. At the Manhattan School of Music, he studied with noted pianist Kenny Barron and received several competitive accolades, including being named the 2001 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. At age 18 he joined Blanchard's ensemble and subsequently recorded four albums with the veteran trumpeter, including 2003's Bounce, 2005's Flow, the soundtrack to the 2006 Spike Lee film Inside Man, and Blanchard's 2007 Grammy-winning opus A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina). Besides playing with Blanchard, Parks has performed with a variety of artists including trumpeter Christian Scott, drummer Kendrick Scott, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and others.
Parks has released several albums under his own name, including his 2008 Blue Notedebut, Invisible Cinema. He has also recorded with Christian Scott, Kendrick Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, and was an integral part of the James Farm Quartet with Joshua Redman, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland. Nonesuchreleased their self-titled album in 2011. The pianist subsequently signed to ECM and released the solo piano offering Arborescence in the fall of 2013. He also made sideman appearances on Will Vinson's Live at Smalls and Yeahwon Shin's Lua Ya, and Live in Japan with his own trio of Thomas Morgan and RJ Miller. Find the Way, his sophomore label date for ECM, featured bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart in the rhythm section and was inspired in part (according to Parks) by the music of Alice Coltrane and Shirley Horn (for whom Hart played); both of whom prioritized space and subtlety in composition and improvisation. (Matt Collar for AllMusic)
NU DECO ENSEMBLE ON THE WEB:
For more information please contact:
Shannon Cosgrove (scosgrove@shorefire.com)
or Rebecca Shapiro (rshapiro@shorefire.com)