Photos by Jess Kate Photographic
Parallel Structures believes the raw simplicity of punk bands like Black Flag exists neither below or above, but rather next to the beautiful lush harmonic ideas of Duke Ellington. The freedom of John Coltrane’s playing is no greater or nor less than the intricate structure of Bach’s chorales. Despite living in the sonic landscape between Ornette Coleman, The Meters and Skrillex, Parallel Structures has found themselves staying busy since their formation in winter 2023, having played downtown street corners, fancy jazz clubs, a Christmas tree lighting, a pop-up comedy club and much more around central Ohio.
Parallel Structures is bassist Will Strickler, alto saxophonist Billy Wolfe, tenor/bari saxophonist Jake Smith and drummer Kyle Rowland. The lack of chords from a guitar or piano creates an open canvas for the quartet to weave melodies together and opens space for the supposedly “wrong” notes to be made right. Traditional acoustic tones from Wolfe and Smith’s saxophone blend together over psychedelic frequencies from Strickler’s bass and multitude of effects pedals, all held together by Rowland’s drumming, which stretches between deep in the pocket and deep in outer space. Their debut studio album will be released spring 2024.
