Bradley Parker-Sparrow

Born in 1954 in Chicago, Bradley Parker-Sparrow is a prolific pianist, composer, producer, recording engineer and label owner. Sparrow composed music for the ballet, various theatrical productions, films and documentaries. He produced over 300 albums for many labels including AECO Records, Concord Jazz, Flying Fish (2), Universal, SteepleChase and Delmark Records. He participated at the Chicago Jazz Festival on piano in 1978-1979. In 1977, at the age of 23, Sparrow established Sparrow Sound Design Recording Studio, where many prolific artists had been recording since, including The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Yusef Lateef and Richie Cole. In 1979 he opened his own recording label Southport Records, which is dedicated to documenting Chicago's versatile and fruitful jazz scene. In late 1990s, Sparrow launched Southport's sister label Northport.