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Joe Locke

Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices of his instrument. He has performed and recorded with a diverse range of notable musicians, including Grover Washington Jr, Kenny Barron, Eddie Henderson, Cecil Taylor, Dianne Reeves, Ron Carter, The Beastie Boys, the Münster Symphony Orchestra and the Lincoln, Nebraska Symphony.

Long known to be a soloist capable of stunning physical power and broad emotional range, it was not until the last decade that he emerged as the composer, bandleader and conceptualist that he is considered today. This is in no small part due to his solo projects of the last decade. “Four Walls of Freedom” (Sirocco), a 6 movement suite based on the writing of the monk Thomas Merton, which he composed as a vehicle for tenor saxophonist Bob Berg, garnered high praise from the critical community as a major work and won several international polls. “Live in Seattle” (Origin), by The Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group, won the 2006 EarShot award for “Concert of the Year”. This group is well loved and emulated by younger musicians looking for direction and inspiration. The overwhelming success of his recent quartet, “Force of Four” (Origin), can be attributed to the talents of his young cohorts and to the leader’s musical philosophy, which is to honor tradition while keeping both feet planted in the present and future. His 2011 album, the captivating, immersive album “VIA”, is the result of a reunion of Storms/Nocturnes, the transatlantic trio with Geoffrey Keezer and Tim Garland.

In 2011 Joe joined the Motéma label for four intrinsically different albums bearing witness of his immense stylistic versatility and ability to create artistic depth in a variety of contexts:

After Signing, the long-awaited follow-up studio album of Live In Seattle, 2012 also saw the release of Joe Locke’s first ever symphonic project, Wish Upon A Star, featuring Locke‘s Quartet with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra (NE), and the Jazz radio charts #1 Blues & Ballads album Lay Down My Heart in 2013. In 2015 Locke released Love Is A Pendulum – a suite based on a poem by Barbara Sfraga – is already being hailed the most important work of his career.

Locke’s latest album, Subtle Disguise (Origin Records, 2018) represents “the total expression of who I am as a musician and human being.” and features Jim Ridl, Lorin Cohen and Samvel Sarkisyan as part of the core quartet, plus guests Raul Midón, David Binney, Adam Rogers and Alina Engibaryan.

Gino Amato: Latin Crossroads

Read "Latin Crossroads" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 24, 2024

The urge to take advantage of a successful commercial genre never really dies. Back in the 1960s, a studio orchestra nominally assembled by bandleader Glen Gray released a recording, Sounds of the Great Bands in Latin (Capitol, 1964). It took tunes like “Early Autumn" or “A String of Pearls" and added a “Latin" flavor with jazz enhancements. No doubt, this was an early recognition of the success of Cal Tjader. The vinyl may or may not have done well, but ...

Album Review

Bevan Manson featuring Tierney Sutton with The Hollywood Studio Orchestra: Talking to Trees

Read "Talking to Trees" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
October 4, 2024

Bevan Manson is an artist who has a creative duality. As a pianist, composer/arranger and educator, he's been successful in classical and jazz environments. With Talking to Trees, Manson provides an array of both originals and jazz standards, most with an arboreal tint, as the title indicates. The work is a validation that his pen, guiding the talents of vocalist Tierney Sutton and L.A.'s premium players, can make the familiar fascinating and the novel intriguing. Miles Davis' ...

Album Review

Darden Purcell: Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood

Read "Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
February 1, 2024

Darden Purcell's album Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood (OA2 Records, 2023) shows her keen ear for the subtleties and nuances which define the West Coast cool jazz vocal sound. Purcell's album comprises eleven tracks which blend the laid-back, sophisticated rhythms and melodic inventiveness that characterize the style with beautiful singing and nimble playing. Purcell is joined by an ensemble of musicians whose contributions are pivotal to the album's charm and success. On six tracks the ensemble ...

Album Review

Joe Locke: Makram

by Neil Duggan
April 20, 2023

One of the leading vibraphone specialists of the 21st century, Joe Locke has won multiple awards and performed with artists as diverse as the Beastie Boys and Ron Carter. It's not just his musicianship on the vibraphone that sets him apart. He is a highly versatile arranger, incorporating soul and international influences. Named after the Lebanese bassist Makram Aboul Hosn, Makram is an eclectic mix of the comforting, the challenging and the familiar. Locke's customary quartet features pianist ...

Radio & Podcasts

Brave New Year!

by Michael Ambrosino
February 25, 2023

2023 enters with the bang of the drumbeat of many new remarkable albums. Hear some of the most exciting voices featuring the music of Joe Locke, Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter, Malcolm Strachan, Nicholas Payton, Elio Villafranca, Manzanita Quintet, Bobby Watson, Richie Goods & Chien Chien Lu, Tawanda, Snarky Puppy, Lakecia Benjamin and much, much more! ...

Album Review

Oscar Hernandez & Alma Libre: Vision

by Edward Blanco
February 27, 2022

Multiple Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz pianist/composer and band leader Oscar Hernandez and his group, Alma Libre (Free Spirit) issue another shoulder-moving album presenting more of the rhythms he and his bands are so well known for. A true Latin music legend, Hernandez is best regarded for his direction of the 13-piece Spanish Harlem Orchestra that has gathered three Grammy Awards. This album was, in essence, a product of the pandemic situation. Hernandez says: “Recording this album was a way to ...

Album Review

Luba Mason: Triangle

by Jim Worsley
October 6, 2020

The rather smarmy “Bach, Stevie Wonder, and Janette Monae" opens this live performance. While disconcerting, the tide shifts dramatically with The Beatles' John Lennon-Paul McCartney classic “Ticket to Ride." It is reimagined in a sultry and just short of brilliant manner. Luba Mason's vocal phrasing brings an entire new essence to this tune. Bassist James Genus plays a line throughout which is a slow groove with a lot of feeling. Vibraphonist Joe Locke solos in spectacular fashion, while percussionist Samuel ...

Recording

Joe Locke Discovers His Lingua Franca On Subtle Disguise

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
September 21, 2018

Available on November 16, 2018 from Origin Records CD Release Celebration: Nov. 17 @ Scullers, jny: Boston, MA For several years now vibraphonist/composer/bandleader Joe Locke has had two musical purposes: one, to speak in a vernacular which reaches people, and two, to continue challenging himself as a player, writer and arranger. In 2013 Locke released Lay Down My Heart (Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1), which dealt with the first directive. Then in 2015 he completed the astounding Love ...
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Recording

Coming Soon! Motema Music Proudly Announces The Release Of Joe Locke's Most Personal & Emotive Work To Date, "Love Is A Pendulum"

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
April 27, 2015

Motema Music Proudly Announces The Release of Joe Locke's Most Personal & Emotive Work To Date Love Is A Pendulum Available May 26, 2015 Available for pre-order on iTunes Now! Featuring Joe Locke (compositions, vibes), Robert Rodriguez (piano), Ricardo Rodriguez (bass), Terreon Gully (co-producer, drums) With Special Guests Rosario Giuliani, Donny McCaslin (saxophones), Paul Bollenback (guitar), Victor Provost (steel pan) and Theo Bleckmann (voice) Joe Locke is a musician's musician, an artist for the ages, a man who has been ...
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Recording

Motema Music Proudly Announces The Release Of Joe Locke's Most Personal & Emotive Work To Date, "Love Is A Pendulum"

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
March 20, 2015

Available May 26, 2015 Featuring Joe Locke (compositions, vibes), Robert Rodriguez (piano), Ricardo Rodriguez (bass), Terreon Gully (co-producer, drums) With Special Guests Rosario Giuliani, Donny McCaslin (saxophones), Paul Bollenback (guitar), Victor Provost (steel pan) and Theo Bleckmann (voice) Joe Locke is a musician's musician, an artist for the ages, a man who has been gracing stages and studios with his immense talent, and uplifting spirit, since he was fifteen. Locke is a man who has gathered no moss as he ...
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Recording

Motéma Music Takes Flight In Its Tenth Year With Steady Stream Of Breakthrough Albums

Source: GoMedia PR
July 18, 2013

Harlem-Based Label Makes Waves on International Sales, Radio and Tastemaker Charts and Polls Celebrations planned at Monterey, Exit 0 & London Jazz Festivals, As Well As at Events in Detroit, NYC and Paris Motéma Music's tenth anniversary year is in full swing, and as the summer heats up, the Harlem-based label has much cause for celebration. The month of July kicked off with vibraphonist Joe Locke's May release, Lay Down My Heart, spending two weeks in the #1 slot on the ...
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Recording

Joe Locke To Release Lay Down My Heart (Blues & Ballads, Volume 1) On May 14

Source: GoMedia PR
March 28, 2013

Vibraphonist's Third Release for Motéma Music Further Illustrates the Depth and Breadth of his Talent Lay Down My Heart, the third release from the prolific vibraphonist Joe Locke since his signing to Motéma Music in 2012, marks a complete and deliberate contrast from his two previous releases: the small-group outing Signing, his critically lauded 2012 label debut with The Joe Locke Geoffrey Keezer Group, and the large- scale Wish Upon A Star, which was recorded with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra and ...
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Recording

Vibraphonist Joe Locke Debuts on Motema with New CD from The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, Signing

Source: GoMedia PR
March 16, 2012

CD Will Be Released April 10 in the US and Europe In a career moving from one milestone to the next with accelerating regularity, the past decade has represented particularly extraordinary artistic growth for vibraphonist Joe Locke as a composer and leader. Beginning in 2001 with the Storms/Nocturnes Trio collaboration with Geoffrey Keezer and Tim Garland, and moving forward with projects under his own leadership—ranging from the Four Walls of Freedom group and Milt Jackson Tribute Band to the more ...
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108

Radio

The Jazz Session #156: Joe Locke

Source: Michael Ricci
April 2, 2010

153

Interview

Vibraphonist Joe Locke Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
February 15, 2010

Vibraphonist Joe Locke has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of his career, but especially over the last decade, where he's led/co-led a number of fine groups ranging from the intimate chamber jazz of his duo with pianist Frank Kimbrough and straight-ahead swing of his Milt Jackson tribute band to the electrified near-fusion of the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer group.

Locke returns to another area close to his heart--vocal music--with For the Love of You (E1, 2010). Featuring Keezer, ...
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196

Performance / Tour

Joe Locke - "For the Love of You" @ Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

Source: Michael Ricci
January 6, 2010

Joe Locke and his band will launch “For The Love of You" with a week-long engagement at New York's world-famous Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, January 26th through January 31st, 2010. Please come join us! VIBES: Joe Locke VOCALS: Kenny Washington PIANO: Geoffrey Keezer BASS: George Mraz DRUMS: Clarence Penn For Reservations please call: 212.258.9595 Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola Jazz at Lincoln Center Broadway ...
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116

Recording

Jazz Master Joe Locke's New Album "For the Love of You" to be Released by E1 Music on January 26

Source: DL Media
December 14, 2009

JAZZ MASTER JOE LOCKE'S NEW ALBUM “FOR THE LOVE OF YOU"TO BE RELEASED BY E1 MUSIC JANUARY 26th, 2010 E1 Music announces the release of a new album from vibraphonist Joe Locke. For The Love of You will be released on January 26th, 2010 and features vocalist Kenny Washington. Joining Locke and Washington is an all-star rhythm section: Grammy nominated pianist Geoffrey Keezer, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Clarence Penn. Locke, a top radio charting jazz artist, is highly regarded ...
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“In the select group of contemporary vibes players, Locke has claims to head the list.” — Penguin Encyclopedia of Jazz

“Joe Locke’s playing and writing have been an absolute joy to this vibist’s ears that have been starving to hear a player who challenges himself on every tune. Joe is constantly pushing the envelope musically. The cat is going into orbit soon …. I love it!” — Mike Mainieri

“Locke has secured a spot among the world’s top jazz vibists – and one of the most popular. Without sacrificing his jazz integrity or intent, Locke still manages to engage even casual listeners with a mixture of edgy attitude and artistic purity.” — Neil Tesser, Chicago Examiner

Primary Instrument

Vibraphone

Location

New York City

Credentials/Background

Hon ARAM & International Vibraphone Consultant (visiting) at the Royal Academy of Music, London Further teaching engagements at University of Utah, SLC (USA) The Royal Conservatoire, Birmingham (UK) The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (UK) The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow (UK) Prins Claus Conservatoire, Groningen (NL) and more...

Clinic/Workshop Information

Classes in jazz improvisation, arranging, composition, ensemble playing, etc Masterclass "The Spirituality of Imperfection", which resonates with students and teachers alike This masterclass discusses how our shortcomings and weaknesses are as important to our creative development as our accomplishments