Matthew Parrish is a sought after performer, arranger, composer, producer and instructor. Matthew’s warmth in his playing and loyalty to delivering heartfelt, passionate works is apparent in every note, every tune, and every interaction with his fellow musicians. Born in central California to hard-working, music-loving parents of four children, Matthew Parrish epitomizes the heart of jazz bass performance and livelihood. Matthew has performed and recorded with many of the top names in jazz such as Regina Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paquito D’Rivera, Clark Terry, Etta Jones, Miri Ben-Ari, James Williams, Harry Sweets Edison, James Newton, Gary Thomas, Greg Osby, Stefon Harris, and Orrin Evans. While on tour with Al Grey, Matt performed with Clark Terry, Marion McPartland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Joe Cohn, Savion Glover, Bill Charlap and many others. In addition to seven years of musical interaction, Matt has most recently been spending a lot of touring and concert time with the legendary Houston Person. Some of their international tour highlights include an extensive tour of India, European tours, and “The Joy of Jazz Festival” in South Africa. Domestic highlights include 7 years of “The Jazz Cruise”, world renowned club performances such as Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club, The Blue Note, and The Jazz Standard, and a live broadcast jazz concert at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA. Matt is also honored to have played on Houston’s most recent 2017 recording ‘Rain or Shine’.
Matthew has recorded over sixty works, including his debut CD “Circles” (2000) and his most recent recordings with Karine Aguiar, where Matthew was the producer, bassist and arranger (recorded in São Paulo Brazil). An additional recording is in development with Houston.
Studied Jazz Performance at Rutgers University Studied with Carolyn Davis (bass), Larry Ridley (bass), Charles Fambrough (Bass).
Recordings on Verve, High Note, Hipnotic, Blueland, Enja, Music Together, Bigbang, Contour, and many others.
Al Grey tour of Europe, Regina Carter tour of Thailand, Kennedy Center performance and recording with Stefon Harris, Greg Osby tour in England, Houston Person tour of India, Freddy Cole tour of Japan, Touring with Vana Gierig and Paquito D’Rivera including Chile and Mexico, Rose Hall Lincoln Center with Regina Carter, Recording and performing in São Paulo Brazil with Karine Aguiar, Hammerstein and Sondheim concert Yardley Pa. featuring Houston Person -presented by Matthew.
