Joe Locke

Biography

Born in north California but raised within the northeastern U.S., Joe Locke is definitely a difficult bop/post-bop vibist whose primary influences consist of Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson. Locke was a kid when he transferred from the SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Bay Region to Rochester, NY, where he began playing piano and drums at age group eight before taking on the vibraphone at 13. Locke, whose dad taught traditional music, began playing rock and roll but got intensely into straight-ahead jazz in his early teenagers. As an adolescent, he examined privately with pianist Phil Markowitz and bassist Steve Davis. Locke is at his early 20s when he transferred to NY in 1981, and 2 yrs later, he composed the rating for the unbiased film/documentary Un Salvador: Another Vietnam. The vibist’s initial many years in NY were challenging, but because the ’80s advanced, he discovered himself playing or documenting being a sideman for Kenny Barron, Freddy Cole, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Jerry Gonzalez, among others. Within the ’90s, he toured Japan with Eddie Henderson and was utilized on albums by Henderson, Cole, Eddie, Grover Washington, Jr., Dianne Reeves, George Wires, Barbara Dennerlein, Hiram Bullock, as well as the Charles Mingus Ghost Music group. Locke toured Russia four situations with tenor saxophonist Igor Butman, among the country’s best jazzmen. Being a head, Locke recorded many albums for the Danish SteepleChase label before signing up for Milestone/Fantasy’s roster with 1995’s Minute to Minute: The Music of Henry Mancini. His following Milestone schedules included 1997’s Sound Monitors (which focused on music from famous movies) and 1998’s Slander (AS WELL AS OTHER Love Music). Beauty Burning up followed in middle-2000; Storytelling made an appearance the following calendar year. In 2002 Locke came back along with his Storytelling music group for Condition of Spirit. For the Like of You found its way to 2010.

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