March 2018: Featured Artist |
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Singer-Songwriter, Bandleader & Educator:
Najwa Parkins
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Photo Credit: Garth Woods
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Najwa Parkins is a jazz vocalist, bandleader, songwriter, composer and educator from Philadelphia, PA. Born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Najwa was raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Her musical journey formally began at nine years old when she started studying guitar privately and playing trombone in the elementary school band. She graduated from Temple University with a B.M. in jazz studies and vocal performance. In 2011, she released her self-produced, debut album, Not the Next Someone Else.
Najwa has performed as both a vocalist and trombonist throughout the U.S. and in Europe. She has shared the stage with a wide array of artists, including Benny Golson, Larry McKenna, Bob Dorough, Nellie McKay, Donn T, Houston Person, Nicholas Payton, Phil Woods and Branford Marsalis. She has performed as both a featured vocalist and trombonist with Phil Woods and the Festival Orchestra. She can be seen and heard on the Emmy Award-winning television show, Alex and the Kaleidoscope, which premiered in March 2014. In the winter of 2016, she toured nationally, portraying Rosa Parks in the Mad River Theater Works production of “Walk On: The Rosa Parks Story." Najwa currently leads her own trio and quartet and is an adjunct faculty member in the vocal jazz department at Temple University.
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"Najwa is a refreshing new voice - a little smooth, a little edgy and a whole lotta smoky - she brings her own special take to familiar jazz standards. With sweetness...and sass, Ms. Parkins also delivers wonderfully crafted, original tunes that are smart, insightful and sometimes even amusing." (The New Brunswick Jazz Project)
Najwa says, “I believe in the power of a good story. That’s why I was drawn to the stage, and it’s why I love reading and writing. Whether I’m performing my own compositions or a re-imagining of someone else’s music, I weave stories from my life experiences.”
Najwa Performing Aerial Hoop
Photo Credit: Mike O'Mahoney |
Myrna Haskell, executive editor, asked Najwa where she finds sanctuary.
I'm an avid reader, so reading was probably my first true sanctuary (and it still is a great sanctuary for me). However, for the past two and a half years or so, aerial arts have become my number one sanctuary. I was a competitive gymnast when I was younger, and when I looked through the windows of the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, I knew I had to try it. I do static trapeze, lyra (aerial hoop), and silks. Aerials especially helped me to keep my sanity during graduate school, and they continue to serve that purpose, while challenging me physically, mentally, and creatively at the same time.
In the last year, I've started to do performances as an aerialist as well. It's a great way for me to connect with my roots as a gymnast and dancer, while physically moving through my musicality as well. I'd love to combine my original music with aerial acts of my creation in the future. An all-female, Philadelphia-based, aerial dance company called Tangle Movement Arts recently asked me to perform in their upcoming spring production in March. They are an incredible and supportive group of strong women, and I'm honored for the opportunity they have extended to me. |
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UPCOMING PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
March 21, 2018
INC New Brunswick, NJ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm (New Brunswick Jazz Project is honoring women in jazz/women bandleaders throughout March) June 16, 2018 Deer Head Inn Delaware Water Gap, PA 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm June 29, 2018 The Philadelphia Museum of Art Details TBD August 9, 2018 MusikFest Bethlehem, PA 5:30PM—7PM |
Najwa Performing at the Deer Head Inn
Photo Credit: Joan Samra |
