For those unaware, Reunion is the forthcoming fifth album by pianist and composer Chris Parker, to be released March 6th, 2026 on Circle 9 Records in digital, CD, and vinyl formats.

Parker recorded the session on January 28th, 2023 at Trading 8s Studios in Paramus, New Jersey, co-producing the project with trombonist and Circle 9 founder Doug Beavers. The album was engineered by Chris Sullit and mixed and mastered by Beavers at Circle 9 Studio in Jersey City.

Across twelve original compositions written and arranged over more than four decades, Parker leads a septet featuring Beavers, alto and soprano saxophonist Alejandro Avilés, violinist Rob Thomas, baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Dave Riekenberg, acoustic and electric bassist Tony Marino, drummer Marko Marcinko and percussionist Luisito Quintero.

Rooted in Parker’s lifelong identity as a composer, the arrangements expand music shaped across decades of performance into fully realized ensemble works animated by collective improvisation and the rhythmic language of jazz and Afro-Latin tradition.

Months after completing the recording, Parker suffered a major stroke on August 18th, 2023, while on vacation in Cannon Beach, Oregon. He was airlifted for emergency care, and for days his survival remained uncertain. The stroke left him unable to walk and unable to play piano with his left hand — a rupture his wife Teresia describes plainly: “A piano player is not just a right hand and a left hand. It’s one instrument.”

Reunion stands as the final album Parker completed before the stroke reshaped his life and musicianship. “This album is a reunion with my musical past — the crossroads between what was and what will be,” Parker says. “It’s about looking for the beauty in life.”

1. EMY’S LOVE
2. SAY IT AGAIN
3. JUST A THOUGHT
4. STAGES
5. BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE
6. LEFT AT BINGEN
7. REUNION
8. STAND BACK
9. BOONCHAKA
10. HYMN
11. TO YOU (FOR TERESIA)
12. ONE FOR CB

Dedicated to his wife Teresia, his daughter Haley, and the extended family of friends and medical professionals who aided his recovery, the album opens on the joyfully crafted EMY’S LOVE and the enigmatic SAY IT AGAIN, and then we get the perkily flamboyant JUST A THOUGHT, the finger-snapping, foot-tapping delights of STAGES, and both the strident fare of BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE and the impassioned LEFT AT BINGEN.

Along next is the emotively dulcet REUNION and the spirited STAND BACK an hey are in turn backed by the flourishing sounds within BOONCHAKA, the heartwarmingly-sculpted HYMN, with the set rounding out on the gently stoic nature of TO YOU (FOR TERESIA), coming to a close on the Orlean’s-esque rhythms of ONE FOR CB.

The recording reached completion through the sustained care of musicians, friends, caregivers, and collaborators who carried both Parker’s recovery and the project forward. “Without everybody’s support, this thing would have still just been a bunch of tracks and a Google Drive somewhere,” Teresia Parker reflects.

The album is dedicated to her, to Parker’s daughter Haley, and to the extended circle of medical professionals and loved ones who aided his recovery.

PERSONNEL:
Chris Parker - piano; Doug Beavers - trombone; Alejandro Aviles - alto and soprano saxophones; Rob Thomas - violin; Dave Riekenberg - baritone saxophone & bass clarinet; Tony Marino - string bass, electric bass; Luisito Quintero - congas, percussion; Marko Marcinko - drums, bongos, percussion

Official Purchase Link

www.chrisparkerjazz.com