Leon Parker is a jazz percussionist and composer. He studied drums from age 11 and had classical training in his teens. He went on to study jazz under the tutelage of Barry Harris

Barry Harris

Barry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...

. His recording debut would be with Harvie S, His first wife Lisa is a flautist and he had worked with her musically. He often plays "pared down" drum kits, sometimes consisting of only one cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...

.

His highest charting album might be 1998's Awakening, for Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, which made it to 20th at Billboard (magazine)

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

's "Top Jazz albums."

As leader

• 1994: Above & Below (Epicure)
• 1996: Belief (Columbia)
• 1998: Awakening (Columbia)
• 2001: The Simple Life (Label M)

As sideman

With Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....

• Choices
  Choices (Dewey Redman album)
  Choices is an album by American jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman featuring performances recorded in 1992 for the Enja label. The album features the recording debut of Redman's son Joshua Redman.-Reception:...
  
  (Enja, 1992)

Web sources