J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer known for his work in jazz and free improvisation. He plays a wide range of instruments, including various saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and unique instruments like the bamboo saxophone and nagaswaram. Parran studied music at Webster University and Washington University in St. Louis, where he joined the Black Artists’ Group with Hamiet Bluiett. He moved to New York City in 1971, later serving as chair of the music department at The Harlem School of the Arts and teaching at CUNY and Greenwich House Music School. Parran has recorded with artists such as Stevie Wonder and John Lennon, and has been a key member of the experimental woodwind trio New Winds, as well as Anthony Braxton’s ensembles. He has also collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Leroy Jenkins, Peter Brötzmann, and Joëlle Léandre.