LORRE

ERROL PARKER
(original BRUNSWICK LP # 87914, FRANCE, 1963)

I always wondered why there is so little Raph Schecroun / Errol Parker posted in the blogworld.

There are many reasons probably.  First of all he was never that well-known outside of France. His earlier recordings as a bop-influenced pianist (and organist) under his real name of Raph Schecroun or as Errol Parker have often been overlooked and rarely re-issued. 

The albums he recorded during his second incarnation, as a bandleader / drummer mostly, on his own Sahara label in the US - are perhaps better-known in the small world of adventurous jazz aficionados.  These albums are often better known because of the participation of "names" - or future "names" as they weren't all that well-known at the time (Robin Eubanks, Wallace Roney, Donald Harrison, Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Philip Harper, Byard Lancaster, and Jimmy Owens, among others).

Most of the Sahara catalogue - if not all - has been re-issued on CD but is still pretty hard to find.

It is a shame because the two incarnations of Errol Parker are worth listening too.

It is hard to believe that it is the same musician who recorded this album and the one I posted a few months ago (A Night in Tunisia). 

For details of his life and career you can read this obituary published in LIBERATION (in french) or this article in english.

Or, even better provided that you can find a copy, read his autobiography A Flat Tire On My Ass, the Autobiography of Errol Parker,  also available in french as De bohème en galère : les pérégrinations d'un musicien de jazz à New York, Éditons Filipacchi, 1996.

 The album posted today is probably his most famous album, it contains the track LORRE which was a huge commercial hit. 

Tracklist:  lorre / goody goody / unison / I only have eyes for you / old folks / up and down b side three blind mice / stella by starlight / blue afternoon / I cover the waterfront / satin doll / pick up yoursel



Recorded in Paris May 9 & 10th 1963 with Georges LUCA bass and Kansas FIELDS drums.


Ripped and cleaned by Paul D.  WAV files.  So you know you can expect superb sound quality!
Don't forget to thank him, ripping and cleaning old scratchy LP is a labour of love.


I may post in the near future this other rare ERROL PARKER album that I found last year in a souk in Morocco. 
It still needs a good cleaning though.

A NIGHT IN TUNISIA

ERROL PARKER TENTET - A NIGHT IN TUNISIA
(Sahara Records, 1991)

 Algeria-born pianist/drummer /composer and arranger Ralph Schecroun (aka Errol Parker) ranks among the most underrated modern jazz creators.  He was a true original like Sun Ra and a few others, musicians who cannot be easily categorized and pigeonholed.
Mostly self-taught on piano, he moved to Paris in 1947 to study sculpture but was soon playing jazz. Parker (under his original name Raph Schecroun) recorded on sessions led by Kenny Clarke, James Moody, and Django Reinhardt, and played off and on with Don Byas during 1956-1958. He recorded some commercial music on organ in 1960 and then, to escape from an exclusive contract so as to record jazz versions of Top 40 material on piano, he used the pseudonym Errol Parker. The latter records sold so well that he permanently changed his name.  In 1963, Errol Parker was the victim of a car accident which let him badly injured and almost put a term to his career as a pianist due to a loss of dexterity and speed.  He didn’t give up music though.  In 1968, he emigrated to New York  and started experimenting with new musical forms.  Utilizing poly-tonality (playing in two keys at once), simultaneous soloing, and his own drumming (which achieves an African sound by substituting a conga for the snare drum), Parker's tentet sounded unlike any other group.  Although he kept on playing piano occasionally, especially electric piano, he became more and more interested in percussions and reconverted as a drummer, a bit out of necessity as he couldn’t find a drummer who could play his complex rhythmic structures.

 In 1982, while teaching at the Williamsburg Music Center, he formed a big band that eventually became his tentet. Due to the eight horns he utilized, Parker stopped playing piano except for solo engagements and stuck to drums. His recordings (which include a solo piano tribute to Thelonious Monk) utilized such sidemen as Robin Eubanks, Wallace Roney, Donald Harrison, Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, Philip Harper, Byard Lancaster, and Jimmy Owens, among others. Parker died of liver cancer on June 2, 1998.
(Source: Scott Yarrow-AMG and Wikipedia and Errol Parker's autobiography).


Errol Parker Tentet - A Night in Tunisia (1991), OOP CD.

If you 're interested in knowing more about the life and career of Ralph Schecroun / Errol Parker, read his autobiography.