House Is Open,
Going Dark
Music From The Sole · Matt Parker · August 2025
In August, Matt Parker premiered House Is Open, Going Dark — a new work created with Music From The Sole, the tap dance and live music company led by Brazilian choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and composer Gregory Richardson.
Music From The Sole celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots — its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance, house dance, and passinho — incorporating samba, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and Brazilian funk into something that refuses to stand still. Lincoln Center, Jacob's Pillow, Kaatsbaan, Tap in Rio. House Is Open, Going Dark is exactly the kind of work BYNK Records exists to support.
WWUH with Steve Bulmer & The Hall Monitors
West Hartford, CTOn September 9th, Matt Parker joined Steve Bulmer and Chuck Obuchowski at WWUH — the University of Hartford's beloved jazz radio station — for a live session with The Hall Monitors. Connecticut jazz radio has been a consistent home for this music, and these sessions are a reminder of how important local public radio remains to the ecosystem.
Lead Tenor Chair
Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra · The Side Door Jazz ClubIn September, the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra invited Matt Parker to take the lead tenor chair as the 17-piece big band launched its monthly residency at The Side Door Jazz Club in Connecticut. The Side Door is one of the finest listening rooms in New England, and a monthly residency there is the kind of ongoing commitment that builds real audience relationships over time.
The SNJO has been making serious noise — radio chart success, Kennedy Center, Birdland. This residency puts them in front of the Connecticut audience they deserve.
The Candy Shop Boys Return
15 Years Later · BYNK Records · 2026Fifteen years after the original recording, The Candy Shop Boys album is coming back — remixed, remastered, and expanded with tracks that have never been released to the public. BYNK Records is proud to bring this record to a new generation of listeners who may only know the group from their contribution to the opening sequence of John Wick.
The remix and mastering sessions happen with the legendary Dave Darlington — whose credits span decades of the music that matters. When you want something to sound right, you call Dave.
Murray Little Christmas
Alice Tully Hall · Lincoln Center · December 2025For the 15th consecutive year, Mr. Showbiz himself — Murray Hill — invited Matt Parker to be part of the famous Murray Little Christmas show at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Fifteen years. Same invitation. That says everything about the nature of the collaboration and the trust that's been built over a decade and a half of shared stages.
The same week, Matt performed with the Dan Pugach Big Band at the Manchester Jazz Festival — and later that same night, back with Steve Bulmer's Hall Monitors at the same festival. A proper Connecticut jazz weekend.
Back at Firehouse 12
Richard X Bennett & Matt Parker · Full-Length Album · 2027In January 2026, Richard X Bennett and Matt Parker returned to Firehouse 12 in New Haven — one of the finest recording spaces in the Northeast — for a full-length album session. Joining them this time: Jonathan Barber on drums and Matt Dwonszyk on bass. A quartet, a serious room, and a run of Bennett compositions that the duo has been developing since Parker Plays X.
This is the full-length follow-up to Fire Tornado. Expected release: 2027. More details as the record comes together.
The Ambient Series Begins
Matt Parker · BYNK RecordsIn February 2026, Matt Parker recorded the first piece in a new series of ambient compositions — a project that sits far outside the post-bop vocabulary of his previous work, and deliberately so. Details to follow. For now: it exists, it's beautiful, and it will surprise you.
What's Still Coming
Two projects remain in active development at BYNK Records.
Richard X Bennett & Matt Parker. Recorded at Firehouse 12. The full-length album sessions in January mark a significant step toward release.
Julio Monterrey · Reggie Watkins · Matt Parker. Composition, improvisation, and storytelling. More to share soon.
Matt Parker · Richard X Bennett · Reggie Watkins. Three BYNK Records artists. One stage. Hartford, Connecticut. This is the one.
It's been a full season — performances, recordings, announcements, and a few things that won't be public for a while yet. The label is building something, one release and one relationship at a time. We're grateful you're along for it.
Spring issue coming soon. In the meantime, the catalog is there whenever you need it.
BYNK Records Simsbury, CT · Est. 2013
