Jazz Musician Aaron Parks Joins Nu Deco Ensemble For Fusion Performance Live in Miami
The more we dive into the catalog that this Ensemble has to offer, the deeper we want to go down this rabbit hole. On our latest peek into the indie world we are checking out a brand new live performance Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live from Miami, from you guessed it, Aaron Parks and the Nu Deco Ensemble. Aaron Parks is an incredibly talented jazz musician, who came to prominence after working alongside famed trumpeter Terence Blanchard. While studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Parks studied underneath famed pianist Kenny Barron, named the 2001 Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and earned numerous other accolades. Once he turned 18, Parks joined Blanchard’s ensemble and aided in the production of 4 successful albums, including Blanchard’s signature piece A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina). Parks has also produced plenty of albums under his own name, fleshing out his identity as a leading jazz musician.
An interesting beast themselves, the Nu Deco Ensemble is a Miami-based hybrid orchestra that burst onto the scene back in 2015. Their catalog includes collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Tune-Yards, PJ Morton, Macy Gray, Jacob Collier, and Ben Folds to name a few. Nu Deco has even released re-imagined versions of tracks by artists including Daft Punk, Outkast and classic rock artists as well as new music from today’s top composers. It is clear that if you want a unique neo-classical twist to your music, you need to reach out and connect with Nu Deco.
“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.” –NDE Co-Founder Sam Hyken
“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.” – NDE Co-Founder Jacomo Bairos
“Collaborating with Nu Deco Ensemble has been a true pleasure. 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.” – Aaron Parks
While at first you may think, wait Modern Neon, you enjoy classical music? Damn right we do. While none of us are classically trained pianists or anything similar, we appreciate the amount of emotion the is portrayed just through a combination of the right ivory keys. While we were just introduced to Nu Deco in the last few weeks, when they popped into our inbox again we knew we had to cover it. This live performance, known as Nu Deco Ensemble + Aaron Parks: Live From Miami (what a mouthful) was actually recorded back in 2019 and has been sitting in the archives for the right time to add it to the collection. Parks is a surprisingly moving musician in the jazz world, so with him taking center stage we were unsure what to expect from this collaboration. However, Nu Deco adapt and fall right into the world that Parks invited them to come and play in. If you are intrigued by the more ambient and downtempo music we cover here, you should find yourself right at home…well…Live in Miami.
Make sure you check out the entire live performance with Aaron Parks over on Facebook or listen to the performance on your favorite streaming service!
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Who am I? Just some guy who decided to start writing on the Internet years ago and now operates his own brand and site. Owner/Operator of Modern Neon Media, I make all kinds of niche content to suit my interests at the time. DIY Enthusiast, Brewmaster extraordinaire, and avid freak for geek culture. Follow on my socials for a more “on” version of me.
