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Zeena Parkins
American musician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp".[1] Parkins performs on standard harps, several custom electric harps, piano, and accordion. She is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow and professor in the Music Department at Mills College.[2]
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Life and career
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Born in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, Parkins studied at Bard College and moved to New York City in 1984.[3] Her work ranges from solo performance to large ensembles.[2] Besides standard and electric harps, her work also incorporates Foley, field recordings, analog synthesizers, samplers, oscillators and homemade instruments.
She has recorded six solo harp records[2] and recorded and performed with Björk,[4] Matmos, Ikue Mori, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Christian Marclay, Yoko Ono,[5] John Zorn (including in Cobra performances),[3] Chris Cutler, Pauline Oliveros,[6] Nels Cline,[7] Elliott Sharp,[8] Lee Ranaldo,[9] Butch Morris,[10] Tin Hat Trio,[11] William Winant,[12] Anthony Braxton, Bobby Previte,[13] Courtney Love's band Hole,[14] and others. She has also been a member of a number of experimental rock bands, including No Safety,[15] News from Babel,[16] and Skeleton Crew.[3]
Parkins worked with dance companies and choreographers, including the John Jasperse Company, Jennifer Monson,[17] Neil Greenberg, and Emmanuelle Vo-Dinh, and has won three Bessie Awards for her achievement in composition for dance.[2]
She provided scores for filmmakers including Abigail Child,[18] Isabella Rossellini,[19] and Cynthia Madansky.[20][2]
Parkins received a 1997 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.[21]
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Discography
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As leader
Collaborations
- with News from Babel
- Work Resumed on the Tower (Recommended, 1984); Parkins, Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, Dagmar Krause
- Letters Home (Recommended, 1986); Parkins, Cutler, Cooper, Krause ft. Robert Wyatt, Dagmar Krause, Sally Potter, Phil Minton
- with Ikue Mori
- Parkins & Mori, Phantom Orchard (Mego, 2004)
- Phantom Orchard, Orra (Tzadik, 2008); ft. Cyro Baptista, Makigami Koichi, Josh Quillen, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje
- Phantom Orchard Orchestra, Trouble In Paradise (Tzadik, 2012); ft. Sara Parkins, Shayna Dunkelman, Ratkje, Maggie Parkins, Hild Sofie Tafjord
- Phantom Orchard Ensemble, Through the Looking Glass (Tzadik, 2014); ft. Sylvie Courvoisier, S. Parkins, Ratkje, M. Parkins
- with No Safety
- This Lost Leg (RecRec Music, 1989); Parkins, Chris Cochrane, Doug Seidel, Ann Rupel, Pippin Branett
- Spill (Knitting Factory Works, 1992); Parkins, Cochrane, Seidel, Rupel, Tim Spelios
- Live at the Knitting Factory (Knitting Factory Works, 1993); Parkins, Cochrane, Seidel, Rupel, Spelios
- Live in Italy (Cuneiform Records, 2021)
- with Elliott Sharp
- Elliott Sharp / Zeena Parkins, Psycho–Acoustic (Victo, 1994)
- Psycho-Acoustic, Blackburst (Victo, 1996)
- with Skeleton Crew
- The Country of Blinds (Rift, 1986); Parkins, Fred Frith, Tom Cora
- Free Dirt (Live) (Klanggalerie, 2021); Parkins, Frith, Cora
- Other collaborations
- OWT (Parkins & David Linton), Good As Gold (Homestead Records, 1989)
- Joane Hétu / Diane Labrosse / Parkins / Danielle P. Roger / Tenko, La Légende De La Pluie (Ambiances Magnétiques, 1992)
- William Hooker / Lee Ranaldo / Parkins, The Gift Of Tongues (Knitting Factory Works, 1995)
- Chris Cutler / Parkins, Shark! (Megacorp, 1999)
- Parkins / Nels Cline / Thurston Moore, Live At Easthampton Town Hall (JMZ, 2001)
- Weightless Animals (Parkins, Kaffe Matthews, Mandy McIntosh), Weightless Animals (Annette Works, 2004)
- Parkins, Frederic Rzewski, James Tenney, Music for String Quartet & Percussion (New World Records, 2013); with Eclipse Quartet (S. Parkins, Sarah Thornblade, Alma Lisa Fernandez, M. Parkins) and William Winant
- Parkins / Pauline Oliveros, Presença Series #01 (Lucky Kitchen / Fundação de Serralves, 2015)
- MZM (Myra Melford, Parkins, Miya Masaoka), MZM (Infrequent Seams, 2017)
- Green Dome (Parkins, Ryan Sawyer, Ryan Ross Smith), Thinking in Stitches (Case Study Records, 2019)
- Parkins / Brian Chase, Live at San Damiano Mission (Chaikin Records / Case Study Records, 2019)
- Parkins / Wobbly, Triplicates (Relative Pitch Records, 2019)
- Parkins / Jeff Kolar, SCALE (Two Rooms, 2019)
- Parkins / Mette Rasmussen / Ryan Sawyer, Glass Triangle (Relative Pitch, 2021)
As instrumentalist
With Björk
- Telegram (One Little Indian, 1996)
- Vespertine (One Little Indian, 2001)
- Drawing Restraint 9 (One Little Indian, 2005)
- Biophilia (One Little Indian, 2011)
With Alex Cline
- For People in Sorrow (Cryptogramophone, 2013)
With Nels Cline
- The Inkling (Cryptogramophone, 2000)
- Destroy All Nels Cline (Atavistic, 2001)
- Macroscope (Mack Avenue, 2014)
- Lovers (Blue Note, 2016)
With Fred Frith
- The Country of Blinds (Rift, 1986) as Skeleton Crew
- Step Across the Border (RecRec, 1990)
- That House We Lived In (Fred, 1991 [2003])
- Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire (I Dischi di Angelica, 1999)
- Traffic Continues (Winter & Winter, 2000) with Ensemble Modern
- Ragged Atlas (Intakt, 2010) as Cosa Brava
- The Letter (Intakt, 2012) as Cosa Brava
- Z Sides (Klanggalerie, 2024) as Cosa Brava
With Maybe Monday
- Unsquare (Intakt, 2008)
With Yoko Ono
- Blueprint for a Sunrise (Capitol, 2001)
With Marc Ribot
With John Zorn
- Cobra (Hat Hut, 1987)
- John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory (Knitting Factory, 1997)
- The Bribe (Tzadik, 1998)
With Tin Hat Trio
- Book of Silk (Ropeadope/Rykodisc, 2004)
With Bobby Previte
- Terminals (Cantaloupe, 2014)
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Notes
External links
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