It's all about the bass for Kali T. Parkin - whether that's guitar or double

She is performing in her first concert in Nerja this Friday but has a music career spanning more than five decades in the UK

Jennie Rhodes

Nerja

Friday, 24 January 2025, 10:16

Kali T. Parkin describes herself as a "bass player, session musician, songwriter, studio engineer and producer", but according to her sister Linda there's no end to her talents. She's also a civil engineer who has won awards for street lighting design at Heathrow Airport (she went to Downing Street to collect one of them) and she's run her own stained-glass business.

"She never blows her own trumpet," Linda interjects as SUR in English rounds off an interview seasoned with some classically dry Yorkshire humour, much self-deprecation and a real insight into the musical circles in which Kali has moved since she first picked up a guitar as a youngster.

SUR in English caught up with the musician ahead of her first concert on the Costa del Sol, this Friday, 24 January. Since Linda moved to Andalucía five years ago (first to Almeria and more recently to Nerja), Kali has been coming to stay regularly. In fact she has fallen in love with the area and also plans to come here to live next year when she hits retirement age, as she puts it.

Knowing that she wants to make a life for herself in Spain, one of the first things she did when she started to visit Linda was to get involved with the local music scene and in particular the open mic sessions in Nerja and Torrox. Kali is drawn to the lifestyle here and especially "waking up to blue skies" and "the fresh orange juice".

The bassist was an instant hit at the sessions and was soon getting invitations to play with other musicians, including Dimensión Desconocida Trio, with whom she is performing tonight at the Centro Cultural in Nerja.

"It's not what I've done before. It's just lovely music," she says of the gypsy jazz, bolero and swing on tonight's programme.

Singer Dana Andrews, Gianni Piras (acoustic guitar) and Manuel Rodríguez (flamenco guitar) are already well-established musicians in Nerja and have played at the town's cultural centre before. Kali says of her involvement in the local music scene, "I just love it because I want to get involved in Spanish music."

Although she has experience with many areas of music production, Kali's first and main love is the bass guitar. She also plays double bass and admits that she'll play "anything with strings on with a bass. I'll get a tune out of a rubber band if I can," she laughs.

Originally from Yorkshire, Kali says that rock "is ingrained in my DNA" and explains how her two brothers taught her how to play the guitar. "I took to it like a duck to water," she recalls. She started listening to bands like Free and then got into the group Chic "who were very bass heavy" and later discovered Paul Young.

At 16, in the mid 1970s, Kali and her group Presence were doing a mix of their own original songs and also tributes: "That's where the money was," she admits. However, tragically the lead singer was diagnosed with cancer and died at the age of 18, and, despite being told by their then manager that they were destined for a great future, the band "torpedoed" after the loss of their singer.

She moved down to London and got involved in working in studios as professional recording engineer and five decades of working in the music business ensued. The musician has had recording and publishing deals with DJM Music, Warner/ Chappell Publishing, EMI Parlophone and Revolver Records and has spent more than five decades working on albums, singles, musical shows, television, radio and advertising for some well-known names in the business.

Collaborations have included several well-known musicians, bands and producers such as Guy Pratt who worked with the likes of Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson, Hugh Burns who has worked with George Michael and Paul McCartney and a long list of etcs.

One of the last projects Kali worked on was with Sisters Of Mercy and she played the Ealing Blues Festival with a band called the Vampirettes. When she's in London, where she says she lives on a boat, she explains that she currently plays with a six-piece jazz group.

Now as she's planning to move here permanently, Kali is looking to meet fellow musicians to collaborate with in the area. Anyone interested can contact Kali by email: kalionbass@outlook.com.

Tonight's concert starts at 8pm and tickets are available at the Centro Cultural or on Tomaticket.es and cost 15 euros.

Top 50

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para suscriptores.

Reporta un error en esta noticia