Christopher Parnis - Everything You Could Be (2024) [Hi-Res]

LINER NOTES
Back in early 2019 I had a call from Neil Swainson asking if I’d like to take on a student from Humber College. Neil had been teaching him for a while, but he thought it might be good for him to get together with me just to hear my thoughts on playing the bass and music in general. Neil is one of the great bass players in the world, but he and I do approach things differently.
Chris impressed me from the very beginning. He’d only played bass for a couple of years but had great musical instincts that always seemed to lead him to just the right notes at the right time. He was also lucky enough to have big strong hands which is necessary to be able to play the way he obviously wanted to play but what got to me more than anything else was his enthusiasm and passion for the music and playing the bass. It was clear that he was obsessed with music and wanted to learn everything about it.
We spent a lot of time on the bass but probably more time listening to all kinds of music and talking about composition. It’s my belief that composing music is really the most important thing a musician can do. There are hundreds of great musicians in the world but only a handful of great composers and without them there would be no music for the rest of them to play.
Chris took me very seriously. In the following years he’s become a fine bass player and could easily have a successful career as such but it’s as a composer I feel that he stands out from the crowd. I’ve recently been hearing a lot of music written by young jazz composers that is lacking in melody and harmony. It often sounds to me like the introduction to a tune that never seems to get played. Chris’ music is full of beautiful melodies and consistently interesting harmony and it’s always his own original music reflecting everything he’s been doing in his musical life.
The musicians on this CD are excellent. Brian Dickinson is one of Canada’s greatest musicians and having him on piano would make any band sound great, but one person can’t do it alone. Trumpet player Christian Antonacci plays perfectly in the ensemble and contributes beautiful solos. Matt Greenwood on guitar is the same, simply beautiful on every track and drummer Aaron Blewett makes everything sound easy.
This is a great CD written and produced by one of my favorite young musicians.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do,
Don Thompson (C.M.)

Tracklist:
1.01 - Christopher Parnis - Unsettlingly Blue (Unblinking) (4:31)
1.02 - Christopher Parnis - Opportunity (4:39)
1.03 - Christopher Parnis - D.D.Q. (5:04)
1.04 - Christopher Parnis - Guitar Intro (1:51)
1.05 - Christopher Parnis - Measured Response (5:15)
1.06 - Christopher Parnis - Everything You Could Be (5:46)
1.07 - Christopher Parnis - A False Start (6:50)
1.08 - Christopher Parnis - The Cradle (9:04)