Horace Parlan

He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1911}} In his birth year, Parlan was stricken with polio, resulting in the partial crippling of his right hand. The handicap contributed to his development of a particularly "pungent" left-hand chord voicing style, while comping with highly rhythmic phrases with the right.

Between 1952 and 1957, he worked in Washington, D.C., with Sonny Stitt, then spent two years with Mingus' Jazz Workshop. In 1973, Parlan moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. He later settled in the small village of Rude in southern Zealand. In 1974, he completed a State Department tour of Africa with Hal Singer.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma1BpsFE1WoC&dq=hal+singer&pg=PA6|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz|first1=Leonard|last1=Feather|first2=Ira|last2=Gitler|page=6|date=18 November 1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972907-4|access-date=October 3, 2021|via=Google Books}}

His later work, such as a series of duos with the tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp included the album Goin' Home (1977), steeped in gospel music.

Parlan received the 2000 Ben Webster Prize awarded by the Ben Webster Foundation.

He died at a nursing home in Naestved, Denmark at the age of 86. He had been suffering from multiple ailments, including diabetes and failing eyesight.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/7709341/horace-parlan-jazz-pianist-obit|title=Horace Parlan, Jazz Pianist Who Overcame Disability, Dies at 86|website=Billboard.com|access-date=October 3, 2021}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/horace-parlan-jazz-pianist-who-overcame-disability-dies-at-86/2017/02/25/80c68522-fb6e-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html |title=Horace Parlan, jazz pianist who overcame disability, dies at 86 - the Washington Post |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2020-10-20 |archive-date=2020-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022114729/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/horace-parlan-jazz-pianist-who-overcame-disability-dies-at-86/2017/02/25/80c68522-fb6e-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html |url-status=dead }}

Main source:{{cite web |title=Horace Parlan Discography |url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/horace-parlan/discography/ |website=jazzdisco |access-date=March 17, 2023}}

Documentary, released on DVD: Horace Parlan by Horace Parlan{{cite web |title=Horace Parlan by Horace Parlan |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200022848 |website=loc.gov |access-date=March 18, 2023}}

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With Dave Bailey

• One Foot in the Gutter (Epic, 1960)
• Gettin' Into Somethin' (Epic, 1961) – rec. 1960

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

• Goin' to the Meeting (Prestige, 1961) – rec. 1960
• Tough Tenor Favorites (Jazzland, 1962) also with Johnny Griffin
• Jaw's Blues (Enja, 1981)

With Lou Donaldson

• The Time Is Right (Blue Note, 1959)
• Sunny Side Up (Blue Note, 1960)
• Midnight Sun (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1960

With Booker Ervin

• That's It! (Candid, 1961)
• Exultation! (Prestige, 1963)

With Dexter Gordon

• Doin' Allright (Blue Note, 1961)
• Stable Mable (SteepleChase, 1975)

With Slide Hampton

• Jazz with a Twist (Atlantic, 1962) – rec. 1961
• Explosion! The Sound of Slide Hampton (Atlantic, 1962)

With Roland Kirk

• Gifts & Messages (Mercury, 1964)
• I Talk with the Spirits (Limelight, 1965) – rec. 1964
• Slightly Latin (Limelight, 1965)

With Charles Mingus

• A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (Bethlehem, 1957)
• Mingus Ah Um (Columbia, 1959)
• Blues & Roots (Atlantic, 1960) – rec. 1959

With Doug Raney

• I'll Close My Eyes (SteepleChase, 1982)
• Meeting the Tenors (Criss Cross, 1983) – rec. 1984

With Archie Shepp

• Splashes (L+R, 1987)
• Black Ballads (Timeless, 1992)

With Idrees Sulieman

• Bird's Grass (SteepleChase, 1985) – rec. 1976
• Groovin' (SteepleChase, 1986) – rec. 1985

With Stanley Turrentine

• Look Out! (Blue Note, 1960)
• Up at "Minton's" (Blue Note, 1961)
• Salt Song (CTI, 1971)
• Comin' Your Way (Blue Note, 1987) – rec. 1961

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With others

• Gene Ammons, Gene Ammons in Sweden (Enja, 1981) – rec. 1973
• Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Motoring Along (Sonet, 1975)
• Johnny Coles, New Morning (Criss Cross Jazz, 1982)
• Pierre Dorge, The Jazzpar Prize (Enja, 1992)
• Frank Foster, The House That Love Built (SteepleChase, 1982)
• Hugo Heredia, Mananita Pampera (Cote d'azur, 1976)
• Langston Hughes, Weary Blues (MGM, 1958)
• Tommy Turrentine, Tommy Turrentine (Time, 1960)
• Kai Winding and Curtis Fuller, Giant Bones '80 (Sonet, 1980)
• various artists, A Moon of Roses{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1793442-Various-A-Moon-Of-Roses|title=A Moon Of Roses (1994, CD)|access-date=October 3, 2021|website=Discogs.com|year=1994 }}

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{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02whftg BBC World Service - A Portrait of Horace Parlan]
• [http://hardbop.tripod.com/parlan.html Horace Parlan Hardbop Homepage]
• [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p7290/biography|pure_url=yes}} Biography at AllMusic]
• [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=670 Article at All About Jazz]
• [http://www.camoriginalsoundtracks.com/site/index.php?site=&path=cd&idcd=1167&label=SOUL&alpha=A Soul Note Catalogue]
• [https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/jazz/modern-era/horace-parlan/ Horace Parlan -Pittsburgh Music History]

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Category:1931 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:American jazz pianists

Category:American male jazz pianists

Category:Hard bop pianists

Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh

Category:Post-bop pianists

Category:SteepleChase Records artists

Category:Enja Records artists

Category:Blue Note Records artists

Category:Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania

Category:Ben Webster Prize recipients