gretchen parlato

GRETCHEN PARLATO “THE WISE ONES”

As the 2010s dawned, acclaimed singer and composer Gretchen Parlato released a pair of albums that redefined the possibilities of vocal jazz in the post-millennium era. In a Dream (2009) and The Lost and Found (2011) didn’t merely expand the genre—they reshaped its contours, setting a new creative standard that continues to reverberate today. Now, with her eagerly anticipated new album The Wise Ones, Parlato returns to those formative roots, revisiting their kaleidoscopic beauty through a contemporary lens shaped by time, experience, and transformation.

More than a decade of profound personal, artistic, and global change has passed since those recordings, and The Wise Ones reflects both continuity and evolution. The album draws nourishment from the same soil that sustained her early work while allowing new branches to grow—reaching outward with deeper emotional resonance, refined perspective, and renewed curiosity. Reuniting with many of the trailblazing musicians who helped bring that original vision to life, Parlato revisits a sound that was once boldly new and now feels timeless, enriched by everything that has unfolded since.

 With those landmark early albums, Parlato forged a singular voice that honored the deep tradition of jazz while fearlessly advancing it—infused with luminous elements of R&B, soul, pop, West African, and Brazilian music. Her originality was immediately recognized, marking her as an artist not only fluent in the language of jazz, but capable of expanding it. That distinctive musical vocabulary continued to grow on 2013’s Grammy-nominated Live in NYC, followed by Flor (2021), a Brazilian-tinged release met with rapturous acclaim and earning her a second Grammy nomination. Her most recent album, Lean In (2023), brought a third nomination, celebrating two decades of creative partnership with Benin-born guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke.

While each successive release revealed new dimensions of Parlato’s wide-ranging vision, the foundational sound she pioneered fifteen years earlier never stood still—it matured, deepened, and evolved alongside her collaborators. At the same time, the early promise of In a Dream and The Lost and Found was fully realized as those albums went on to profoundly influence a new generation of creative musicians. The Wise Ones inhabits that lineage with grace, luxuriating in the beauty of its origins while extending the canopy—adding fresh emotional layers, lived-in wisdom, and a quietly powerful sense of arrival.

Scheduled for release September 11, 2026, via Edition Records, The Wise Ones reunites Gretchen Parlato with a core circle of collaborators from her earliest recordings, alongside fellow travelers from across her remarkable artistic journey. Robert Glasper, Gerald Clayton, and Mark Guiliana—each now firmly established among the most influential artists of their generation—return to the table, meeting Parlato on a shared plane, shaped by time, trust, and shared history.

 “I’m so grateful to have formed such profound bonds with the musicians on this album,” Parlato shares with a smile. “Beyond the artistry, we’re friends—humans on a deeply connected path. Creating this album felt almost effortless… almost. Of course, it required immense thought and care, fueled by love, admiration, and respect.”

Singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Alan Hampton—who also co-produced the album with Parlato—adds, “These songs were written at very different moments in our lives: some brand new, others nearly twenty years old. Gretchen had a beautiful vision of weaving them into one cohesive work—exploring time, love, loss, and personal growth, while honoring the shared history that connects us all.”

That sense of family extends to a powerful group of special guests, including vocalists Becca Stevens and Moonchild’s Amber Navran, both of whom cite Parlato as a formative influence. “Gretchen has had a huge impact on my artistry and musicianship,” Navran says. “In a Dream and The Lost and Found came out while I was in college, and we would sit together and listen to those records front to back, fully taking in every detail.” Stevens echoes the sentiment: “If you encounter a contemporary, jazz-adjacent vocalist—myself included—they’re influenced by Gretchen Parlato, whether they realize it or not. She raised the bar into entirely new stratospheres, especially through her deeply authentic reimagining and a vocal sound that could only begin with her.”

Stevens joins Parlato and Hampton on a haunting reinterpretation of Tears for Fears’ 1982 classic “Mad World,” transformed here into a devastating reflection of our times. What begins as a stark, mantra-like repetition slowly unfolds through layered vocals and the shimmering resonance of West African kora. Stevens and Parlato first crossed paths during their New York City years—mutual admirers whose creative connection eventually grew through shared collaborator and longtime friend Taylor Eigsti.

Though Parlato’s collaboration with Amber Navran is a first, their chemistry feels immediate and assured. Their co-written song blossomed into the album’s title track, “The Wise Ones”—not a declaration, but a question. The song reflects a process of becoming, a theme made explicit in Parlato’s lyrics.

“Having recently turned 50, I feel like I may be right in the middle of my lifetime—balanced between my younger self and my future elder,” Parlato reflects. “I try to stay grateful and present, without clinging or drifting too far ahead. There’s a necessary acceptance in honoring every version of who we were, are, and will become. Everything changes. Everything transforms. I wrote the first line of the song as a reminder to myself: someday this will be long ago. That phrase instantly shifts me into gratitude and presence. It opens my heart.”

Continuing the album’s expanding web of connection is guest singer-songwriter and producer Josh Mease, a longtime friend and collaborator. Mease attended Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alongside Glasper and Hampton, before all three continued their studies at The New School in New York City. Introduced to Parlato in 2004, Mease contributes two compositions to the album: “Landslide” and “In My Bed,” the latter revived from a demo Parlato first heard in 2005, recorded by Mease and Glasper during their student years—another thread lovingly pulled forward through time.

The moment the opening track, “Capricorn,” emerges, the listener is gently pulled into a world of return and rebirth—soulful, hushed, and luminous. Composed by Alan Hampton with lyrics co-written by saxophonist Matt Parker, the song immediately spotlights Hampton’s gift for atmosphere and emotional economy. Jacob Mann’s shimmering synth textures and Gerald Clayton’s introspective soloing deepen the sense of awakening, setting the tone for what unfolds.

Throughout The Wise Ones, the duets between Hampton and Parlato form a subtle emotional spine. Bandmates and creative partners for more than twenty years, their voices move together with an ease that only long familiarity allows—intertwining, yielding, and lifting one another in ways that feel instinctive rather than arranged. There is a shared breath to their singing, a tenderness that reveals how deeply their musical languages have grown side by side.

That intimacy returns later in another Hampton original, “It’s You,” where his songwriting again takes center stage. Draped in a soft, enveloping bed of sound, the lyrics ache and spiral around the residue of past love, carried by the blend of their voices—warm, vulnerable, and quietly devastating. In moments like these, The Wise Ones makes a compelling case for Hampton not only as a trusted collaborator, but as a songwriter of rare emotional clarity—one whose voice, at last, is being heard in full.

Meeting in the New York City jazz scene in 2004, Robert Glasper was one of Parlato’s earliest collaborators, contributing his most memorable arrangement of SWV’s “Weak” and composing the title track, “In a Dream”, to which Parlato added the lyric. Their partnership deepened with their arrangement of Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years” and Bill Evans’ “Blue In Green” for Parlato’s follow up CD, The Lost and Found, which he co-produced before rising to the peak of the Jazz and R&B worlds.

“Gretchen Parlato is easily one of my favorite singers to collaborate with,” shares Glasper. “She understands, honors, and respects all the genres of music she touches. She’s not singing at it, she’s singing in it. It’s a rare thing to be able to cross over and get the attention of people in R&B music. That’s not something you really learn, that’s a gift that is given to you. Gretchen definitely has that gift.”

When Parlato invited him to reconnect for The Wise Ones, Glasper responded with unmistakable enthusiasm, appearing on more than half of the album. Together, they co-wrote the luminous “Rainbow,” a song that uses imagery from the natural world to reflect emotional states—acknowledging the present moment, the inevitability of change, and offering a radiant expression of gratitude and pride. Another collaboration, “Block the Sun,” is a meditation on creative flow and interconnectedness: a reminder to step out of one’s own way and allow shared creative energy to move freely, without obstruction.

“I was so happy to create with Rob again - it was a perfect example of what has become a theme and feeling of the album. There was a tacit understanding of trust, ease, and adoration between every single person in the room. We were able to turn the essence of an idea into something significant and bring fully composed music to fruition. It’s a beautiful gift to experience humans creating solely for the sake of art and connection. No ego, no motive, just undivided attention in making music.”

The album also revives Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic,” featuring a simmering Glasper arrangement that the pair performed only once years ago, but never recorded. Its inclusion feels like a long-overdue moment—both a nod to their shared history and a striking continuation of Parlato’s signature reimagining, shaped by Glasper’s now unmistakable and instantly recognizable sound.

Navran and her Moonchild bandmate Max Bryk co-wrote “Already Gone” with Parlato, building on Bryk’s initial track. “Max and Amber provided an incredible harmonic groove for me to write a melody and lyric. As the song took shape, I found it necessary for me to make the lyrical statement about acceptance of relationships, circumstance and the parallel process of moving on. Someone’s absence can feel final, though we may still hang on or be affected very deeply. It’s a song of empowerment and letting go.”

Mark Guiliana—one of the most inventive and influential drummers of his generation—serves as the connective thread woven through every track on the album. A beloved and fearless re-imaginer of his instrument, Guiliana brings a rhythmic language that is at once grounded, elastic, and serenely radical. As with Alan Hampton, Guiliana has been a featured presence on Parlato’s past recordings and touring projects, but The Wise Ones marks the first time his contribution extends to the album’s core foundation. Here, his playing does more than support the music—it helps shape its architecture, guiding the sound, feel, and forward momentum of the entire project. His sensibility anchors the album with subtle authority, allowing space, texture, and groove to coexist with striking emotional clarity. “I’ve been a fan of Gretchen‘s music since before we even met and I have been lucky to see her evolution up close.” confesses Mark. “This album is undoubtedly her most personal and strongest statement yet. She somehow managed to look back and collect experiences and collaborators from the past and make a statement that feels very present while vividly looking forward.”

Regarded as a mentor and visionary, Meshell Ndegeocello has deep roots intertwined to the group, adding her voice and bass to “Never Come Down” written by Parlato, Guiliana, and Hampton. Guiliana met Ndegeocello in 2007 and began touring with her in 2008. She later co-produced his debut album, A Form of Truth. After hearing Hampton during a soundcheck for Arte TV in Paris, the legendary bassist - along with Pino Palladino -joined Gretchen’s quartet on stage for their final song. Parlato was introduced to Meshell through both musicians in 2009. “I was starstruck, flashing back to seeing her perform at The Roxy in Los Angeles in the 90’s. She’s legendary, yet she couldn’t be humbler and more inspiring. Meshell is pure magic and soul and simply being in her presence is a true masterclass. Whether I am listening, or on the rare occasions I’ve been lucky enough to sing with her, I get chills. My whole body feels calm and warm - like I’m both grounded and floating at the same time. We have endless gratitude for her artistry and energy on this track.”

“Never Come Down” builds upon Guiliana’s layered percussion, with lyrics that reflect an inner dialogue - balancing between motivation and discipline pushing back against fear and hopelessness. The track underscores the album theme of seeking balance and maintaining middle ground. That sense of steadiness is exemplified by a continuous three note bass line, expressed with the soulful nuance and singular touch that only Ndegeocello can bring.

In this way, The Wise Ones feels both like a homecoming and a threshold. It is an album shaped by patience, trust, and a deep listening to time itself—one that honors the roots of Gretchen Parlato’s artistic voice while allowing new branches to reach outward with clarity and grace. “I have always been patient with my creativity, allowing the waveto come in due time,” Parlato reflects. “Looking back, I realize that everything has led to this. This moment used to be my future and will someday be my past. So, I want to hold it, suspend it, and make art of it.” With The Wise Ones, she does exactly that—capturing a rare moment of balance between reflection and possibility. The album stands as a pinnacle of decades of connection and growth, while opening the door to what comes next: “This album is a culmination,” she adds, “and also just the beginning of my next chapter.”