Marc Copland
Biography Marc Copland
Marc Copland
was born in Philadelphia in 1948. Up until the mid-1970’s he played the alto saxophone. Copland was a master on the instrument. Throughout this period he worked with such already-established colleagues as Ralph Towner, Chico Hamilton, and John Abercrombie. Yet at a certain stage he felt that something wasn’t right. “The music that I was playing was not the music I was hearing in my head.” From one day to the next he laid his horn down, completely left the scene, and began to probe the mysteries of the ivories. He was out of the picture for ten years, practiced incessantly, and studied the styles of other pianists. In 1985 he finally felt he was ready to start another career. How strange—how absurd that someone transforms himself from one extreme to another! A virile top dog is transposed into a quiet spiritualist. ”Yet I always had the feel that I was doing the right thing.” And with Pirouet he found the label that fit, that allowed the necessary freedom that a free spirit like himself needed. Each one of his recordings brings to light undiscovered facets of this friendly chameleon, whether it’s Another Place (2008), the wonderfully hymnal collaboration with his old musical companion Abercrombrie, the mystical journeys of discovery with trumpeter Tim Hagens (Beautiful Lily, 2005, and Alone Together, 2008), the intimate discourse in quartet with Jason Seizer (Fair Way, Serendipity and Time Being), or the celebrated New York Trio Recordings (with such loyal confederates as Paul Motian and Gary Peacock both of whom have already achieved legendary status). Copland is the most versatile, exciting contemporary jazz pianist, notwithstanding a Keith Jarrett, a Brad Mehldau, or a Herbie Hancock! (Reinhard Köchl in Jazzzeit 76/2009)
Jochen Rueckert
was born in 1975 in the town of Düren, near Cologne, Germany. He began playing drums at the age of six. From 1993 until 1995, he studied at the Conservatory for Music in Cologne, and after his graduation moved to Brook- lyn, N.Y. In 1998, while still living in Brooklyn, he recorded his debut album, Introduction. The band members included Hayden Chisholm, Ben Monder, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, and Johannes Weidenmüller. In 2000 Rueckert received the award for musical achievement from North- Rhine-Westphalia. He has played on some 80 albums, and toured Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Austra- lia. Rueckert has worked with such bands and musicians as the Marc Copland Trio, Nils Wogram’s Root 70,the Kurt Rosenwinkel Group, the Mark Turner Band, the Sam Yahel Trio, the John McNeil/Bill McHenry Quartet and the Will Vinson Quartet, Chris Cheek, Drew Gress, Jason Seizer, John Abercrombie, Kevin Hays, Madeleine Peyroux, Mark Turner, Thomas Rueckert and Tim Hagans. Besides his work as a jazz musician, Rueckert has played with such rock bands as Bonny Lundy, and Seems So Bright. He also is involved with electronic music, working with Marcus Schmickler, Jochen Bohnes, and Burnt Friedman. He pro- grams, mixes, and produces electronic music under the pseudonym Wolff Parkinson White.
Drew Gress
Born in Yardley, Pennsylvania in 1959, bassist/composer Drew Gress performs extensively with artists on the cutting edge of contemporary improvised music. In the mid-1980’s, he quickly established his reputation in the New York jazz scene. Gress, along with Phil Haynes, Ellery Eskelin, and Paul Smoker, formed the Joint Venture-Quartet, which, along with its success, produced several albums over the following years. In 1998 Gress founded his own quartet, Jagged Sky. He can also be heard with the ensembles of John Abercrombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Mark Feldman, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby, and John Surman. Drew Gress has toured North and South America, Europe, and Asia. He has served as Artist-in-Residence at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia and at the Paris Conservatoire. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and Chamber Music America. Gress currently resides in New York. He is a sideman on many Pirouet-CDs, including Bill Carrothers’ Joy Spring, Marc Copland’s Night Whispers, Some Love Songs, and Another Place, and Tim Hagans’ Alone Together and Beautiful Lily.
