Brian Krock

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Brian Krock
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Born (1989-02-10) February 10, 1989 (age 35)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
GenresJazz, big band, experimental, new music
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • Arranger
  • Musician
InstrumentsAlto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, piano, guitar, recorders
Associated actsBig Heart Machine
Websitewww.briankrock.com

Brian Krock is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader based in New York City. Krock leads the ensembles Big Heart Machine and liddle.[1] He is also active in Broadway theatre, performing in orchestras on a multitude woodwinds.

Early Life

Krock was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shortly thereafter his family relocated to Arlington Heights, Illinois, where he began studying saxophone simultaneously with classical and electric guitar. In 2003, he formed the progressive Metal band Lorna Sue and began gigging around the Chicago suburbs. In 2006, Lorna Sue released Fishwim, featuring four of Krock’s early original songs.

Career

From 2007-2011, Krock attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Jazz Studies with a Business minor. He studied jazz saxophone with Chip McNeill, who fostered his interest in composition and arranging. In 2011, the U of I Concert Jazz Band recorded Freeplay on which Krock received an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award for his composition “Yes, It’s True.”[2] Krock also studied classical saxophone with Debra Richtmeyer and Noa Even and classical composition with Reynold Tharp.

In 2011, Krock moved to New York City to obtain his Master’s in Music from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied composition with Jim McNeely. While attending MSM his composition “String Quartet No. 1” received the Manhattan Prize. He co-founded the band Life Size, who released the studio album Bright Size Life.

In 2012, Krock began working on Broadway, playing a variety of instruments for The Book of Mormon (musical). He also worked with musical artists Adam Neely, Miho Hazama, Anna Webber, and Jamie Cullum. From 2013-2015, he toured internationally with Broadway shows while composing the book of music that would constitute his big band album Big Heart Machine. He attended the Metropole Orkest Arrangers Workshop, studying with Vince Mendoza, in 2013.

In 2018, Krock released Big Heart Machine (Outside In Music), the self-titled debut album of his big band Big Heart Machine, to critical acclaim. In the New York Times, Giovanni Russonello said, “The suspenseful, layered music can sound like migration in motion or a wisp of twisting smoke. And if you’re looking for musical-historical references, there are plenty — from progressive metal to Carnatic music to late-20th-century Western classical.”[3] Jazz critics Nate Chinen and Giovanni Russonello profiled Big Heart Machine in articles focusing on a resurgence in big band music.”[4] The album was featured on the Best Jazz on Bandcamp.[5] Krock was also profiled in Downbeat Magazine[6], Stereogum[7], and the Chicago Reader.[8]

In 2019, Big Heart Machine’s performance at NYC Winter Jazz Fest prompted good reviews in The Atlantic[9] and the New York Times. Shortly thereafter, Krock toured for seven weeks with Ethan Iverson and The Mark Morris Dance Group, playing clarinet and soprano saxophone in Pepperland.[10]

His 2019 follow-up recording liddle featured Big Heart Machine alumni along with pianist Matt Mitchell (pianist) and bass guitarist Simon Jermyn. The album was a Downbeat Editor’s Pick[11] and one of All Music’s Best Jazz Albums of 2019.[12] The band liddle toured the U.S. culminating in a live recording at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic halted performances so Krock created a YouTube channel called Score Study, devoted to his favorite composers.[13] The series quickly grew in popularity, allowing him to feature guest artists like Steve Swallow, Ethan Iverson, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Adam Guettel. Krock also self-released two live recordings in 2020, Big Heart Machine’s Live at The Jazz Gallery,[14] and liddle’s Viscera. Krock attended the Bang on a Can Summer Workshop in 2020, receiving a commission to write a new piece of chamber music. He wrote a piece for bass clarinet, flute, and ensemble called anti-jazz, dedicated to and culling musical materials from Eric Dolphy.

From 2021-2022 Krock is touring the U.S. as the onstage clarinetist with the Tony Award Winning musical The Band’s Visit.[15]

Awards and honors

Year Award
2020 ISJAC Relief Commission
2019 Best Jazz Albums of 2019 (All Music)
Best Newcomer Musician (El Intruso)[16]
Best New Artist (Jazz Times Critics Poll)
Keio Light Music Society Commission
ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award
2018 Aaron Copland Recording Grant
2012-13 EtM Con Ed Composer Residency
2011 Manhattan Prize in Composition
ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award

Discography

As a leader:

Year Title Artist Label
2020 Viscera Brian Krock's liddle toof music
Live at The Jazz Gallery Big Heart Machine toof music
2019 liddle Brian Krock Outside In
2018 Big Heart Machine Big Heart Machine Outside In

As a co-leader:

Year Title Artist Label
2014 Bright! Life Size self-released
2007 Fishwim Lorna Sue self-released

As a sideman, composer, or producer:

Year Title Artist Role
2022 Two Takes Vol. 2 Jared Schonig composer
2021 Bombardment Sound Struggle saxophonist
2020 Truth Seth Weaver Big Band producer
2019 Outside in Music (Live at Pinch Recording), Vol. 3 Various Artists saxophonist, composer
2011 Freeplay University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band saxophonist, composer

References

  1. West, Michael J. (22 May 2019). "Brian Krock: The Cardiac Kid". JazzTimes.
  2. "ASCAP ANNOUNCES 31 RECIPIENTS OF THE 2011 YOUNG JAZZ COMPOSER AWARDS". nmbx.newmusicusa.org. New Music Box. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  3. Russenello, Giovanni. "13 Pop, Rock and Jazz Concerts to Check Out in N.Y.C. This Weekend". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  4. Russenello, Giovanni. "'They're Doing It Out of Love': The Big Band Rises Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  5. Sumner, Dave. "The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: August 2018". Bandcamp. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. Oullette, Dan. "Brian Krock's Big Heart Machine Rumbles to Life". Downbeat Magazine. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  7. Freeman, Phil. "Ugly Beauty: The Month In Jazz – August 2018". www.stereogum.com. Stereogum. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  8. Margasak, Peter. "Arlington Heights native and saxophonist Brian Krock leads a Chicago-based lineup of his big band Big Heart Machine". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  9. Graham, David A. (19 January 2019). "What Jazz in 2019 Will Sound Like". The Atlantic.
  10. Selby, Anna. "Pepperland". www.arbuturian.com. The Arbuturian. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  11. Cantor, Dave (May 2019). "Reviews". Downbeat Magazine.
  12. Collar, Matt. "Liddle Review by Matt Collar". www.allmusic.com. All Music.
  13. Krock, Brian. "Score Study". www.youtube.com. YouTube. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  14. Chinen, Nate. "Big Heart Machine, "Pareidoliac"". WBGO. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  15. "Credits". www.ibdb.com/. Internet Broadway Database.
  16. "12th Annual Critics Poll". www.elintruso.com. El Intruso.

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