Lisa Parrott, photo by Brian Wittman
Growing up in Australia, one of baritone saxophonist Lisa Parrott's top 10 favorite records was "a used vinyl of the Gerry Mulligan big band live at the Village Vanguard (Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band at the Village Vanguard, Verve, 1961)."
On Sunday, March 1, 2026, Parrott will lead a quartet celebrating Gerry Mulligan and Women's History Month at the New Jersey Jazz Society's Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert at the Madison (NJ) Community Arts Center. "Our repertoire," Parrott said, "will include some Gerry Mulligan tunes, jazz standards that Gerry loved to play, and some originals by myself and (pianist) Roberta Piket." Parrott and Piket will be joined by bassist Andy McKee and drummer Billy Mintz.
What differentiates Gerry Mulligan from other bari players, Parrott said, "is his melodic approach. He was very much about melody. Even when he was playing bebop lines, he was incredibly melodic. You could tell that he was really hearing what he was playing."
Parrott came to New York in 1993 after receiving two Australia Council for the Arts grants to study with saxophonists/composers Steve Coleman and Lee Konitz. She spent many years with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra and also played with Jimmy Heath's Big Band, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Webber/Morris Big Band, among others.
In a review of her album, Round Tripper, (Serious Niceness Records: 2015), Dan McClenaghan of AllAboutJazz, wrote that, "She brings as much feeling, as much human emotion to the mix as anyone out there. It's a sound with a backbone, with a soul, with verve and resilience: a quartet dynamic born of a perfect confluence of disparate personalities gelling toward a common goal."
JazzTimes' Thomas Conrad, reviewing Piket's album, Roberta Piket: Solo (Thirteenth Note Records: 2013), called her "an under-the-radar pianist." AllAboutJazz's McClenaghan added: "It's clear that the New York-based pianist has established herself as an artist deserving wider recognition."
As a young bassist in Philadelphia, in the late '70s, McKee played with jazz giants such as trombonist Slide Hampton, vocalist Johnny Hartman, and tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley.
Mintz has performed with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, pianist/vocalist Mose Allison, and trumpeter Bobby Shew, among many others.
Lana Roberto, photo by Victoria Gaba
The Lisa Parrott Quartet will be preceded by a Rising Stars opening act featuring a trio led by Pequannock, NJ, High School pianist Lana Roberto, who was honored as an "Outstanding Jazz Musician" by Morristown's Mayo Performing Arts Center at MPAC's Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra performance on June 19, 2025. Roberto will be joined by two other Pequannock High School student musicians, alto saxophonist Damian Jiosi and vocalist Claire Badami.
The Madison Community Arts Center is located at 10 Kings Road in Madison, NJ. The Jersey Jazz LIVE! concerts begin at 3:00pm. Admission is $15 for NJJS members and $20 for non-members. Student admission is $5 with valid ID. There will be light refreshments for purchase. Tickets are available for purchase online.
Funding for Jersey Jazz Live! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of The National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has been provided by The Summit Foundation. Additional funding for this concert has been provided by The Gerry & Franca Mulligan Foundation.
