Joe Locke

One of America's great jazz improvisers and composers, Joe Locke was raised in Rochester, New York, where he studied classical percussion and composition at the Eastman School Of Music. Influenced by be-bop, his precocious talent on the vibraphone earned him early attention and while he was still at high school he was playing with jazz giants of the caliber of Dizzy Gillespie, Pepper Adams and Mongo Santamaria. In 1981 he moved to New York and his reputation grew further following appearances with Grover Washington Jr., Kenny Barron and the Mingus Big Band, and in time he developed his instrumental further in work with artists as widely varied as Rod Stewart, Beastie Boys and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, for which he won widespread acclaim as featured soloist on performances of Charles Mingus's Epitaph. Locke displayed his thirst for musical exploration further in a famous series of concerts with the great avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor. And his style blossomed further in the highly influential 4 Walls Of Freedom and the Tim Garland Trio, on which he collaborated with Garland and Geoffrey Keezer on the acclaimed Storms/Nocturnes (2001) and Rising Tide (2003). He collaborated further with Keezer to great effect on Summer Knows (2004) and Summertime (2005) and has continued to play live and record regularly, cementing his reputation as one of the vibraphone's most famous and best ever virtuosos.

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