Gene Parker

Gene Parker’s professional career includes many performances; the highlights are listed below. He currently teaches jazz studies at Ohio Northern University and Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.

Musical Director, Composer, Arranger, Pianist, Multi-instrumentalist – Toledo Jazz Orchestra

Guest Artist – The Toledo Symphony, Detroit Symphony

Leader/Co-Leader – Gene Parker Quartet, Parker-Wolkins Big Band, Parker-Cook Quintet

Performed with J.C. Heard, John Trudell, Dizzy Gillespie, Bess Bonnier, Toledo Jazz Orchestra, Lou Rawls, - Montreaux Jazz Festival, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Jazz Festival

Discography – Bess Bonnier - 1983, Winston Walls/Jack McDuff – 1994, Masters of Music Big Band Vol. 1 – 2006,  Masters of Music Big Band Vol 1&2 – 2007,  The Tartarsauce Traditional Jazz Band Plays the Arrangements of Chet Bogan & the Wolverine Jass Band - 2007   

Toured/Backed/Performed with Dizzy Gillespie, J.C. Heard, Jack McDuff,  Lou Rawls, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Billy Eckstein, Nancy Wilson, Jack Jones, Diane Carroll, Gladys Knight, Sammy Davis, Jr., Clark Terry, Bill Cosby, Wayne Newton, Buddy Greco, Steve Allen, Mel Torme, Ira Sullivan, Louis Bellison, and others

Leader of House Band – Degage Jazz Cafe, Rusty’s Jazz Cafe; Bozo’s Jazz Cafe; additional appearances at Bird of Paradise, Ann Arbor, The Vineyard (with Dizzy Gillespie and J.C. Heard), Detroit, Mich.

Featured Musician – numerous summer concerts, jazz clubs and jazz festivals.

Toured with “The Three Irish Tenors” playing flute, piccolo, cornet and penny whistles.

Currently performing four to six times a week with his combo and freelancing.