A native of Bloomington, Indiana, Chris Parker is a jazz drummer, composer, bandleader, and educator. He holds a Bachelor of Music (Jazz) from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studied privately with Steve Houghton, Sean Dobbins, and Greg Ward. Prior to the pandemic, Parker split his time between New York City and the Midwest where he performed/recorded with Dave Stryker, Rich Perry, Scott Wendholt, Randy Brecker, Greg Ward, Chris Potter, Jim Ridl, Amanda Gardier, Charlie Ballantine, Jamey Aebersold, Frank Glover, Jim Snidero, and Rob Dixon.
Parker’s musical upbringing in Bloomington, IN facilitated his study of multiple instruments apart from the drums, including euphonium/trombone, bass, saxophone, guitar. As a bandleader and composer, he has released two recordings: “Moving Forward Now” (self-released, 2017) and “Interstate EP” (Instru-Mental, 2020).
While in Bloomington, Parker was heavily involved in the organization “B’Town Jazz”, a jazz society serving south-central Indiana. Serving in several roles (president, vice-president) he coordinated the 2021 B’Town Jazz Festival (featuring Randy Brecker) and orchestrated multiple educational outreach initiatives for local youth music programs.
From 2015-2019, Parker was on the staff & faculty of the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops. He served as a liaison to guest artists, directed a student combo, and led nightly jam sessions for participants. He also served as the student jam session coordinator for the Jazz Education Network’s annual conferences from 2015-2019, and was on the JENerations Jazz Festival committee.
Now living in Vienna, Austria, Parker enjoys performing with many musicians in its thriving music scene. He is a member of the trio ELMO NERO featuring guitarist Christoph Helm and bassist Gina Schwarz, as well as contemporary improvised piano trio ZEINER/LIND/PARKER (Verena Zeiner, piano and Kristian Lind, bass). In 2025, he received his Masters Degree in Jazz Drums from Kunstuniversität Graz (AT).
