Horace Parlan

Horace Parlan (born 1931 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.

Noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings "Mingus Ah Um" and "Blues & Roots", Parlan often bridges the divide between the chordal sophistication of the bop idiom and the African-American "roots."

His later work, notably a series of duos with the tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp, including the album "Goin' Home", display a sturdy architecture reminiscent of gospel music.

As a child, 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.

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hx6cmpp39f6o~T1 Biography at allmusic.com]