Jazzman keeps it carefree

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based trombonist

Rick Parker

insists that all of his music is born of personal experiences, so one might assume that the eponymous three-part suite that anchors his second album, "Finding Space," is about the composer discovering his way in the world or something similarly emotional.

Turns out Parker is far more literal-minded than that.

"I wrote 'Finding Space' when I was living in Manhattan in this really tiny studio," he explained over the phone from Shanghai, China, where his fiancée has been studying. "I felt like I was bouncing off the walls all the time, so that's where the melody came from."

Whatever its origins, Parker's intricately arranged pieces cull an impressively large sound from a small group: His core unit is a quintet comprising saxophonist Xavier Perez, pianist Sam Barsh, drummer Kyle Struve and bassist Gavin Fallow (who will be replaced at Thursday's show by Dan Loomis), augmented on the CD at times by a trumpet and second saxophone.

Parker calls his group a Collective because he strives to maintain a cooperative feel, the sense of a cohesive unit rather than five soloists.

"I've chosen people for my band who understand my concept and who are really able to fulfill the concepts that I'm writing," he said.

"So when I'm writing something, it's basically writing for these guys, because I know that they're already connected with what I'm trying to do."

Connected a little too closely in the case of that title track: Parker shared an apartment with Barsh and Struve for more than a year upon his arrival in Manhattan in 2001, which surely brings the idea of limited space close to home.

Parker was born in New York and grew up in Greenwich, Conn.

He picked up the trombone in sixth grade simply because it was a requirement to learn an instrument. He chose that one because the trombonists sat in the front row of the band at the college basketball games that Parker would watch with his father.

When he got to high school, one of the other trombonists turned him on to the music of jazz legend J.J. Johnson. Blown away, Parker immediately bought a Johnson CD - the only CD, at that time, that he owned.

"I really didn't listen to much music before listening to jazz," Parker said, "and I started listening to only that CD, for three months at least, before getting John Coltrane's 'Blue Train.' After that I was playing a lot."

Bitten by the jazz bug but not yet decided on it as a career, Parker majored in economics at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., his father's alma mater.

Almost immediately, however, he joined the big band of trumpeter Thad Wilson, which enjoyed a regular Monday night gig at a local club.

That stint with Wilson remains a huge influence on Parker's large-scale compositions.

"Thad became my mentor," Parker said. "He didn't have a car, so I would drive him home after gigs and we'd discuss music. He would encourage me to write for the big band and critique some of the stuff I was writing."

Not yet 30, Parker leads not only his Collective but also an electronic improvising group called Ambient Assault.

He's rapidly developing into a major voice, which he credits at least in part to the fact that he came to music so casually.

"I just really enjoyed doing it," he said. "It was never the focus; it was always the thing on the side. As a result, that joy was always there . . . .

"So when I got to actually go to music school, it was like being at summer camp. A lot of the other people who were taking these music-theory classes were burnt out a little bit on it, but for me it's always been something really fresh and exciting." *

Send e-mail to bradys@phillynews.com.

Rick Parker Collective, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 9 p.m. Thursday, $8, 215-568-3131, www.chrisjazzcafe.com.