Knocky Parker was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist. He played primarily in the styles of ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

 and Dixieland jazz

Dixieland Jazz

Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...

.

Parker played in Western Swing

Western swing

Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...

 bands such as The Wanderers (1935) and the Light Crust Doughboys

Light Crust Doughboys

The Light Crust Doughboys is a quintessential American Western swing band from Texas organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II...

 (1937-39) before serving in the military during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the war he worked with Zutty Singleton and Albert Nicholas

Albert Nicholas

Albert Nicholas was an American jazz reed player.Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans. Late in the 1910s he played with Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez...

, then earned a Ph.D in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and taught at Kentucky Wesleyan College

Kentucky Wesleyan College

Kentucky Wesleyan College is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky, a city on the Ohio River. KWC is just 40 minutes east of Evansville, Indiana, 2 hours north of Nashville, Tennessee, 2 hours west of Louisville, Kentucky, and 4 hours east of St. Louis, Missouri...

 and the University of South Florida

University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

. Alongside this he worked with Doc Evans

Doc Evans

Paul Wesley "Doc" Evans was an American jazz cornetist.Evans was the son of a Methodist minister. He learned piano and drums as a child, and played saxophone in high school. He graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in English, and played with the Carleton Collegians dance band there...

, Omer Simeon

Omer Simeon

Omer Victor Simeon was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet....

, and Tony Parenti

Tony Parenti

Tony Parenti was an American jazz clarinettist and saxophonist born in New Orleans, perhaps best-known for his decades of work in New York City.-Biography:...

, among others, and as a solo artist. Early in the 1960s he recorded every Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

 rag, one of the first to do so. He recorded extensively, for the labels Texstar, Paradox, GHB, London

London Records

London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

, Audiophile

Audiophile Records

Audiophile Records Audiophile Records was a record label founded by Ewing D. Nunn . Between 1947 and 1969, when Nunn sold the company, Audiophile produced nearly 100 albums most of which were traditional jazz. Ewing was an audio enthusiast and inventor...

, Jazzology

Jazzology Records

Jazzology Records is a United States based record label specializing in traditional jazz.Jazzology was founded in 1949 by George H. Buck, who still runs it, now under the auspices of the George H. Buck, Jr. Foundation, dedicated to the preservation great jazz recordings...

, and Euphonic.