Errol Parker

Errol Parker's music was quite fresh and original. Utilizing polytonality (playing in two keys at once), simultaneous soloing, and his own drumming (which achieved an African sound by substituting a conga for the snare drum), Parker's tentet sounded unlike any other group. Moving to Paris in 1947, he recorded on sessions led by Kenny Clarke, James Moody, and Django Reinhardt, and played off and on with Don Byas, under his original name, Raph Schecroun. For the purpose of recording jazz versions of Top 40 material on piano, he began using the pseudonym Errol Parker; the records sold so well that he permanently changed his name. Returning to New York in 1968, he formed the Errol Parker Experience and began doubling on drums himself. In 1982, he formed a big band that eventually became his tentet, with whom he stuck to drums. His final album, Compelling Forces, appeared in 1989.