I have recorded three CDs: Intimate (2006), It's Christmas (2007), Dreams Are Meant For Two (2008).
As a jazz vocalist, I have performed or recorded with such artists as Jerry Bruno, Roy Cumming, Joel Frahm, Steve Gilmore, Harry Leahy, Keith MacDonald, Gary Mazzaroppi, Coleman Mellett, Geary Moore, Rich Reiter, Vinnie Ruggieri, Earl Sauls and Radam Schwartz. I have also been the featured vocalist for the opening act bands for John Pizzarelli and Harry Connick Jr., and have appeared in the annual Philadelphia Variety Club Telethon with Ben Vereen and Maureen McGovern. I was also the featured female vocalist in the big band show, "Your Seaside Ballroom," which received rave reviews at the Trump Plaza Theater in Atlantic City.
Latest News
My song "Dreams Are Meant for Two" co-written with my father, the late Thomas E. Parker, has made its film debut in Joe Basile's "West End", a compelling, New Jersey crime family drama starring Eric Roberts and Peter Onorati. The film was completed just months before the devastation of Superstorm Sandy that ravaged much of the Jersey Shore area that was captured in the film. For more on "West End": westendthemovie.com- more PJ Parker: pjparker.net
PJ Parker's Biography
A native New Yorker, PJ Parker has been performing live since she was five years old. After graduating from New York University, PJ toured with various show bands throughout the US and Caribbean.
She has performed in concerts, dinner theater, summer stock,
regional theater and musical revues, and has also been the featured vocalist with orchestras and bands from Atlantic City to New York City.
As a jazz vocalist, PJ has performed with such artists as Jerry Bruno, Roy Cumming, Steve Gilmore, Harry Leahy, Keith Mac-
Donald, Gary Mazzaroppi, Geary Moore, Rich Reiter and Radam
Schwartz. She has also been the featured vocalist for opening act
bands for John Pizzarelli and Harry Connick Jr., and appeared in
the annual Philadelphia Variety Club Telethon with Ben Vereen and
Maureen McGovern.
PJ's latest release, "Dreams Are Meant For Two" is an emotional collection of original and classic standards, including her own title track, plus "Black Coffee," "Moonglow," "Angel Eyes," her own "So What Do You Say?" and "Love's A Logistical Thing," plus nine others.
"Dreams Are Meant For Two," as a melody, remained virtually
undiscovered for over 50 years until two weeks prior to this recording.
According to PJ, "I was somehow drawn to a lone manuscript,
nestled amongst my Dad's beloved sheet music, carefully stored in
his piano bench. He had signed it, labeled it 'PIANO' and composed
it entirely in pencil. There were no lyrics." She brought it to her pianist, Vinnie Ruggieri. After an emotional rendering of this
lovely melody, they both agreed that if PJ could write lyrics, the song should be included in this recording. She did so, somehow sensing that her father had written the melody for her mother, before they were married, which indeed turned out to be true.
"The lyrics seemed to write themselves - a simple love song
written by a man who had finally found the love of his life." And
when PJ and Vinnie recorded it, just piano and voice, the last song
of the session, it was in the wee small hour of June 17, the anniversary of the wedding of Thomas and Gloria Parker. In their honor and celebration the collection is entitled, "Dreams Are Meant For Two."
Featured with PJ on "Dreams Are Meant For Two" are the stellar
musicians Vinnie Ruggieri on piano; Earl Sauls on bass, Tim Horner on drums, Coleman Mellett on guitar and Joel Frahm on tenor and soprano saxophone.
PJ's first CD, "Intimate," features her unique renditions of
selections from the Great American Songbook and her "It's Christmas"
CD debuted her own "Not Beneath the Tree" amid a mix of traditional and contemporary Christmas songs.
All CDs have received airplay on radio stations across the country.
Reviewers throughout the U.S. and Europe have embraced PJ.
Scott Yanow of L.A. Jazz Scene writes, "PJ has a very musical voice and her singing is full of honest emotions and subtle improvising."
Larry Taylor of JazzReview.com writes, "... (PJ) is in command,
slowly drawing the listener in with an attitude of majestic surrender."
Andrea Canter of JazzPolice.com said PJ Parker "rises above the sea
of promising vocalists as a true jazz singer who warrants serious
attention ... PJ makes every note and phrase a personal experiment."
Michel Bedin of Jazz Hot, Paris, France, writes, " 'Intimate' is a beautiful example of real jazz in the United States." And Carol Swanson of ChristmasReviews.com said PJ "brings considerable craft and color to each word and tone, making it a pleasure to absorb the emotional highs and lows."