Florida native Walter Parks, the long-

time sideman to Woodstock legend

Richie Havens, is excited to present

swamp jazz – his take on America’s

great art form. Via his new group

The Golden Honey Blade, Parks lets

jazz do what it does best–interpret

contemporary music while honoring

the past and inspiring the future.

Both original and cover songs are

built upon danceable swampy-blues

beats set aflight by operatic soulful

vocal melodies all manifested with

the old-school instrumentation of

upright bass, guitar and drums.

Walter is a prolific writer HBO and

The Discovery Channel soundtrack

credits. Whereas half of Walter Parks

and The Golden Honey Blade songs

are originals, Parks also re-imagines

recent music by Radiohead and

Death Cab For Cutie. There are clas-

sic interpretations of I Love Paris,

Mavis Staples’ Eyes On The Prize and

Ellington’s In A Sentimental Mood. A

fan of electronic music, Walter even

delivers the Richie Havens classic

Freedom with a techno pulse yet or-

ganically, without samples and en-

capsulated in a jazz delivery. Icing on

the cake is a reverence to the music

made in Southeast Georgia’s

Okefinokee Swamp near where

Parks grew up. Walter has reworked

the backwoods hollers to breathe

new life into near lost American folk

treasures.

Born and raised in Jacksonville,

Florida at a time when classical

music was offered in public schools,

Parks began his music career

studying the viola in the sixth grade.

Succumbing to his parent’s advice

that he lay the foundation for a more

stable career, Parks enrolled in

business school at the University of

Georgia in Athens. “The best the

thing about college was serving in

the Student Union organization that

WALTER PARKS

BIOGRAPHY

& T H E G O L D E N H O N E Y B L A D E

promoted big concerts. Our budget

was astronomical, our allegiance was

to quality and most shows made

money. I was fascinated by concert

booking and production and I stayed

beyond the end of every show to

help the roadies. I learned that great

reward could follow extra effort.

After a Dixie Dregs show I was given

the opportunity to play Duane

Allman’s 1959 sunburst Gibson Les

Paul, which at the time was in pos-

session of The Dregs’ road manager

Twiggs Lyndon. I still feel the power

and magic of that cherished guitar,

which is now on display in the Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Guitarist and singer Walter Parks

moved to New York from

Jacksonville, Florida to find his own

sound. In short order respected peers

noticed in his playing a swampy

uniqueness already present

ironically, one for which he had

travelled so far to find.

After 10 years of performing with

cellist Stephanie Winters in an

acoustic group called The Nudes,

Parks was weary and in search of a

new perspective. He spent a summer

at Plum Village, Tich Nat Han’s

Buddhist monastery in France. “I

told no one that I was a musician in

order to find out what was left of me,

without the guitar as my identity.”

In 2000 Parks returned to New York

with a re-ignited urge to perform

and he was asked to tour the world

and record as sideman to Woodstock

legend Richie Havens. “Accompany-

ing Richie from 2001-2011 and hear-

ing his wonderful voice at his side on

stages all over the world was an

incomparable honor. The grandest

shows were at Madison Square

Garden, Carnegie Hall, The Cannes

Film Festival in France and The

WOMAD.”

Parks’ primary influences: Jaco

Pastorius, John Scofield and Daniel

Lanois

FOR INTERVIEWS:

margo@parksarts.com

917-586-3957

www.walterparks.com

AN ADVENTURE IN SWAMP JAZZ ToHonor the past Play the present Inspire the future