Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins plays the harp, piano, accordion, and sampler in a variety of improvised, new music, modern composed, and avant-garde jazz settings. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she studied dance, harp, and classical piano, and earned a Fine Arts degree from Bard College. Parkins moved to N.Y.C. in 1984, where she began collaborating with other musicians in downtown's avant-garde music scene. She performed in Butch Morris' ensembles and in John Zorn's Cobra. She also formed Skeleton Crew with renowned improviser Fred Frith and versatile cellist Tom Cora, and toured Europe, Japan, the U.S., and Iceland with them. From 1986 on, Parkins composed scores for theater, dance, and films, commissioned by performers, venues, and organizations such as Meet the Composer, NY State Council for the Arts, and The Rockefeller Foundation. She's remained interested and involved in staging multimedia performances, and gave workshops for dancers and musicians at N.Y.C.'s Movement Research and in Vermont, at Bennington College. As a leader, Parkins has performed and recorded solo -- as with No Way Back, on Atavistic -- as well as with her Gangster Band. Gangster Band, which includes relatives Sara and Margaret Parkins, has recorded her compositions for the Avant and Tzadik labels, including the chamber piece for Isabelle Eberhardt, Isabelle (1995), and 1999's Pan-Acousticon, which she co-produced with longtime collaborator Elliot Sharp (she performed in his group, Carbon, too). The Gangster Band has performed at festivals in Europe, and at a variety of N.Y.C. venues, from the Lincoln Center to the Knitting Factory. Parkins has performed and recorded in a wide realm of settings, from working with Pauline Oliveros and Anthony Braxton, to an MTV Unplugged concert with the rock band Hole. She has played at new music and jazz festivals around the world, including The Moers Festival (Germany), Switzerland's Taklos Festival, Music Merge in Tokyo, and Quebec's FIMAV. After a somewhat quiet period, a live recording featuring improvisers Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and Nels Cline (Geraldine Fibbers), appeared on JMZ Records.
© Joslyn Layne /TiVo
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Discography
14 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Traffic Continues
Ensemble Modern, Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori
Chamber Music - Released by Winter and Winter on Jan 28, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glass Triangle
Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen, Ryan Sawyer
Free Jazz & Avant-Garde - Released by Relative Pitch Record on Feb 26, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bobby Previte: Terminals
Zeena Parkins, Greg Osby, Nels Cline, Bobby Previte, John Medeski, So Percussion
Classical - Released by Cantaloupe Music on Oct 28, 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Three Harps, Tuning Forks & Electronics
Classical - Released by Good Child Music on Jan 27, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mouth=maul=betrayer
Alternative & Indie - Released by Tzadik on Aug 20, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Opium War: A Radio Play
Alternative & Indie - Released by Einstein Records on Apr 12, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Adorables
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cryptogramophone on Mar 19, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pan-acousticon
Alternative & Indie - Released by Tzadik on Sep 21, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ursa's Door
Classical - Released by Les Disques VICTO on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SPACE
Alternative & Indie - Released by 2024 S.B.E Music by PIL ltd on Feb 27, 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo