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Aaron Parks came to the attention of Blue Note during his five-year tenure with Terence Blanchard, during which he appeared on three of the trumpeter's acclaimed Blue Note albums: "Bounce," "Flow" and "A Tale of God's Will." Parks is now delighted to follow the example of another Blanchard alum, Lionel Loueke, who debuted on Blue Note with the evocative album Karibu in March 2008. "I'm thrilled to be a part not only of the classic Blue Note legacy, but also the new legacy, which includes Terence, Lionel, Robert Glasper, Jason Moran, Cassandra Wilson and so many great artists," Parks enthuses.

For Parks to make such a strong showing at the tender age of 24 isn't surprising. At age 14 he enrolled in an early entrance college program; by 15 he was attending University of Washington with a triple-major in math, computer science and music. "Early on I never thought I could have a career in music," he recalls. "But then I started to have those experiences where you're playing and you completely lose yourself, and the music plays you. I got so addicted to that feeling. I think everyone who plays improvisational music tries to reach that state. Hopefully, if you do it more and more, you find the trick to make it more consistent."

At its core, Parks' breakout album, "Invisible Cinema," is an acoustic jazz record, yet it evokes other sonic and rhythmic frontiers with subtly added keyboards, meticulously varied guitar sounds and unorthodox beats.