JD Parran

J D Parran is a multi-woodwind player, composer, and educator from St. Louis whose work ranges across jazz and free improvisation. He began on tenor saxophone, then expanded to clarinets, flutes, and other reeds. During his college years, he helped establish St. Louis's Black Artists Group. His career took him to New York, then back to St. Louis to teach at Southern Illinois University, before his return to New York in 1977. He has performed or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, The Band, and Lena Horne, and has worked with the Douglas Ewart Clarinet Ensemble and Hamiet Bluiett's Clarinet Family. At Greenwich House Music School, Parran directs Dance Clarinets, an ensemble he developed from a small student group into a clarinet orchestra with rhythm section that performs big-band repertoire. His work in education has also included the Harlem School of the Arts and the City University of New York. Parran chooses from his many instruments according to each project's needs rather than claiming a single favorite.

J D Parran performs on the Royal Global Firebird Soprano and MAX Low C Bass clarinets, paired with a Firebird 65 mm barrel and Brian Corbin (bass) and Vandoren, Fobes, and Chedeville (B-flat) mouthpieces. He is also a Jody Jazz artist. He praises the B-flat Firebird for its "superior wood, keywork, and intonation," viewing it as an "affordable upgrade in playability and compact tone color." Regarding the MAX bass, he celebrates its "superior composite body's imperviousness to weather, keywork, and intonation," calling it "finally, an affordable professional quality composite instrument." For Parran, Royal Global provides "a true alternative" for both himself and his students.