Chicago-based duet partners on multiple levels, vocalist Joanie Pallatto and pianist Bradley Parker-Sparrow honor a late friend with “Jim De Jong” on their latest release, SONG (Southport).
Not exactly a second city, Chicago has always been a music mecca with a personality all its own. And the Windy City’s first couple of jazz — vocalist Joanie Pallatto and pianist Bradley Parker-Sparrow — certainly doesn’t lack in personality. The two are also co-engineers and producers at Sparrow Sound Design Recording Studio and co-owners of Southport Records, and were named among the Jazz Journalists Association’s annual Jazz Heroes in 2016.
On their latest Southport recording SONG, the married couple offers both risk-taking improvisation and well-crafted composition over the course of 12 vocal-and-piano duets. “Jim De Jong,” written by Pallatto as a poem to honor a deceased friend and catalyst for Chicago arts, is a case in point.
“Jim De Jong, jazz man,” the singer whispers as an introduction before Sparrow plays an atmospheric, unaccompanied piano passage. What follows is an intimate call-and-response, as the duet partners alternately set up and answer each other, Pallatto through her poetic lyrics and scat-singing; Sparrow through sometimes-improvised but always subtle melody and harmony. “Sing along, Jim De Jong,” Pallatto sings near the coda, echoing Sparrow’s elegant chording in a touching tribute.
The couple’s Southport catalog runs deep, with ample participation by purveyors of the Chicago sound like Von, George and Chico Freeman, Fred Anderson, and Willie Pickens. Pallatto’s 1993 album Who Wrote This Song not only features Sparrow, but also Garaj Mahal guitarist Fareed Haque and former Bela Fleck & the Flecktones keyboardist/harmonica player Howard Levy. All are also present on her albums It’s Not Easy (2008), As You Spend Your Life (2011) and My Original Plan (2021).
