By All Means Aaron Parks

• 1 A Way 06:08
• 2 Parks Lope 05:08
• 3 For María José 04:54
• 4 Dense Phantasy 06:23
• 5 Anywhere Together 05:33
• 6 Little River 06:51
• 7 Raincoat 06:27
• Total Runtime 41:24

Info for By All Means

By All Means is the new album from Aaron Parks due for release on November 7, 2025 via Blue Note Records, expanding the acclaimed Parks-Street-Hart jazz trio into a luminous acoustic quartet with the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon. This set of seven original compositions explores Parks’ signature mix of modern jazz innovation and tradition, highlighted by tender dedications to his wife and son and the sly, swinging lead track “Parks Lope”.​

With By All Means, Aaron Parks invites listeners into a renewed acoustic landscape, building on the refined chemistry of his long-time trio—Ben Street on bass and Billy Hart on drums—by adding saxophonist Ben Solomon for a textured, conversational quartet sound. Released by Blue Note Records, the album marks Parks’ third for the label and demonstrates his ongoing devotion to both innovation and the core values of Black American Music. Following the genre-bending approach of 2024’s Little Big III, Parks returns here to the elemental pleasures of swinging rhythm sections, melodic lyricism, and spontaneous interplay—a space where tradition is not preserved but enlivened and continuously reimagined.​

Written largely as dedications to close family and key influences, the album’s seven pieces balance intricately woven tunes and soulful improvisation. Tracks like “Parks Lope” set the tone with playful sophistication and articulate phrasing, while others offer moments of warmth and personal reflection, underscoring Parks’ skill in crafting music that resonates on both individual and communal levels. Co-produced with Ben Street, much of the material emerged from a high-energy run at the Village Vanguard; Parks seized the opportunity to transform the trio’s dynamic, highlighting Billy Hart’s legacy of playing with horn players and deepening the group’s conversational rapport.​

Parks is unambiguous about the project’s roots: to celebrate the ongoing life of jazz and to honor the lineage in which he’s immersed. “This is a record that loves the jazz tradition… not about nostalgia or preservation,” Parks explains, “but being alive within that lineage, that continuum.” The result is a set that avoids flashy gestures in favor of the quiet joys of interaction, ensemble playing, and mutual improvisation over durable song forms. As a heartfelt thank-you to influences, bandmates, and the music itself, By All Means stands as both love letter and statement of purpose—affirming the vital, unbroken thread of the jazz tradition in a contemporary frame.​

Ben Solomon, tenor saxophone
Aaron Parks, piano
Ben Street, bass
Billy Hart, drums

Aaron Parks
Born in California in 1983 and raised in Seattle from age 3, Parks is a former prodigy now in full artistic bloom. By age 15, he was already attending the University of Washington with a triple-major in math, computer science and music; three years later, he was the champion Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. Parks appeared on three Blue Note albums by trumpeter-composer Terence Blanchard before making his own album for the label as a leader with the quartet set “Invisible Cinema” – which BBC Online declared “one of the great albums of 2008,” describing the pianist as “a master of melody, and a composer and arranger of protean skill and dexterity.” Parks has also recorded in the ongoing collective James Farm with saxophonist Joshua Redman, as well as contributed to albums by guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, trumpeter Christian Scott, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, drummer Kendrick Scott, trumpeter Philip Dizack and guitarist Mike Moreno, among other leading musicians. The Guardian has lauded Parks’ “independent vision,” calling him a “fast-rising star.” The New York Times has praised the pianist for being “a step ahead of everyone else.”

This album contains no booklet.