Horace Parlan contracted polio at the age of five and began to study the piano at eight as a therapy for his partially paralysed right hand. He overcame his physical disability to develop his own style of playing and became a world-renowned be-bop jazz pianist particularly known for his performances with Charles Mingus on the tracks 'Mingus Ah Um' (1959) and 'Blues & Roots' (1960). He started his musical career playing in a band with Sonny Stitt, and then spent two years with the Mingus Jazz Workshop. He was a prolific performer from the early 1960s until the later 1990s, recording and collaborating with a wide range of renowned jazz musicians including Gene Ammons, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Lou Donaldson and Booker Ervin.
As a band leader, Parlan released recordings with Blue Note Records, from 'Movin' & Groovin', 'Us Three' and 'Speakin' My Piece' in 1960, 'Up & Down' in 1961 and 'Happy Frame of Mind' in 1963. In 1973, he moved to Denmark and signed for SteepleChase Records who were based in Copenhagen. A series of recordings followed both as soloist and leader and alongside other musicians such as Dexter Gordon, Frank Foster and Michal Urbaniak. He also recorded a series of duets with saxophonist Archie Shepp including 'Goin' Home' (1977) and 'Trouble in Mind' (1980). Other notable recordings for SteepleChase include 'No Blues' (1975) with his own trio and 'Glad I Found You' (1984) with his quintet. He also released 'My Little Brown Book' (2007) with Christina von Bülow on Stunt Records. He toured extensively throughout his career, often with other artists such as Sonny Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie, but remained living in Denmark until his death in 2017.
