Home » Jazz Musicians » Gary Peacock

Gary Peacock

Bassist Gary Peacock played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry}, {{Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists fifty-one CDs on which he is featured. He has collaborated frequently with Ralph Towner in duet format, and since the late '70s has played and recorded in a world-renowned trio with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette.

Peacock was born in Burley, Idaho, on May 12, 1935; He grew up in Yakima, Washington, where he attended Yakima Senior High School. In school, he played piano, trumpet, and drums, When he was 15, he attended a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert featuring Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown.

After graduating high school in 1953, Peacock attended the Westlake School of Music in Los Angeles but was then drafted into the Army. While stationed in Germany, he played piano in a jazz trio, but self-taught himself the bass. According to Peacock, he "just sort of figured it out".

Read more

Tags

20
Album Review

Francois Carrier Ensemble featuring Mat Maneri /Tomasz Stańko / Gary Peacock / Michel Lambert: Openness

Read "Openness" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Openness waited nearly two decades on a shelf (ok, probably on a hard drive) before being released for our listening pleasure. Recorded on May 5 & 6, 2006 at the Théâtre La Chapelle in Montréal, Canada, these three precious discs document a meeting between Canadian saxophonist François Carrier and Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. It is the Polish label Fundacja Sluchaj to thank for this release and the prior disc Unwalled (2022), with Carrier being joined by Alexander von Schlippenbach, John ...

Album Review

Albert Ayler: Summertime To Spiritual Unity Revisited

Read "Summertime To Spiritual Unity Revisited" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala


Tra gli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta del Novecento, una vorticosa accelerazione spinse le arti e alimentò la creatività verso esplorazioni audaci, esprimendo personalità e individualità di valore universale. Autentico visionario, tra urlo febbrile e tenera carezza, tra ruvida e profonda adesione alle radici afroamericane e tensione verso il futuro, tra riferimenti tematici trasfigurati, inni religiosi, marce bandistiche e dense campiture di puro suono che hanno la forza dell'espressionismo astratto, Albert Ayler attraversò come una meteora il firmamento della musica neroamericana, ...

5
Liner Notes

Bill Evans: Duos With Jim Hall & Trios '64 & '65 Revisited

Read "Bill Evans: Duos With Jim Hall & Trios '64 & '65 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


Although the evidence is circumstantial, it is more than possible that Bill Evans' collaborations with Jim Hall came about through proximity to George Russell. Even Alan Douglas, the producer of the duo's first album, did not claim credit for the liaison; and Douglas, who the same year brought together Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, was not shy about coming forward with similar (questionable) claims. Evans was the first to meet Russell when, in late 1955, ...

Album Review

Paul Bley Trios: Play Annette Peacock Revisited

Read "Play Annette Peacock Revisited" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini


Questi bellissimi quattordici brani sono stati registrati nel 1966 (i primi otto) e nel 1968 (i restanti sei). Tutti sono stati scritti da Annette Peacock e registrati dal trio di Paul Bley, assieme a brani di altri compositori, per poi essere pubblicati nei mesi successivi alla registrazione stessa. Questo eccellente CD della Ezz-Thetics estrae e raggruppa in un unico album i brani scritti dalla compagna di Paul Bley con una iniziativa geniale che mette in grande evidenza la singolarità della ...

14
Album Review

Albert Ayler: Summertime To Spiritual Unity Revisited

Read "Summertime To Spiritual Unity Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


This landmark reissue contains consummately remastered cuts of the killer (among killers) track from Albert Ayler's relatively unknown My Name Is Albert Ayler (Debut 1964) plus the justly celebrated Spiritual Unity (ESP-Disk, 1965) in its entirety. Summertime To Spiritual Unity Revisited starts with “Summertime" from the 1964 album. In his survey The Jazz Standards (Oxford University Press, 2012), Ted Gioia writes that over 400 jazz covers of George and Ira Gershwin's song were recorded in the 1950s ...

5
Radio & Podcasts

Jerome Kern The Jazz Standard

Read "Jerome Kern The Jazz Standard" reviewed by David Brown


This week we celebrate the 138th birthday of Jerome Kern. Born in 1885, Kern was an important composer of musical theatre and popular music in the early 20th century. Many of Kern's songs have been adapted by jazz musicians to become standard tunes. Featured interpreters of Kern's songs will include David S. Ware, Connie Crothers, Clifford Brown/Max Roach, Blossom Dearie, Morris Nanton, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett and Anthony Braxton. We'll also check out some new releases as well as a ...

1
Album Review

Tony Williams: Life Time & Spring Revisited

Read "Life Time & Spring Revisited" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini


Tony Williams è uno dei più importanti batteristi della storia. Non solo del jazz, ma della musica in generale. Solitamente questa considerazione, ampiamente condivisa, fa riferimento alla sua lunga esperienza come batterista dei quintetti di Miles Davis della seconda metà degli anni sessanta ed eventualmente al suo ruolo di leader del gruppo Tony Williams Lifetime nato nel 1969 e durato un paio d'anni. Due contesti di assoluta eccellenza che quindi giustificano il giudizio dal quale siamo partiti. Questa ottima ristampa ...

Read more articles

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry}, {{Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists fifty-one CDs on which he is featured. He has collaborated frequently with ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry}, {{Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists fifty-one CDs on which he is featured. He has collaborated frequently with ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured. He has collaborated frequently ...

Video / DVD

Gary Peacock: West Coast (1959-62)

Gary Peacock: West Coast (1959-62)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bassist Gary Peacock, who died in September of 2020, was probably best known for Trio '64, his sole album in 1963 with Bill Evans, as well as his work with Albert Ayler, Paul Bley, Marc Copland and Keith Jarrett. But before Trio '64, Peacock spent several years in Los Angeles working as a sideman. On the West Coast, Peacock emerged as part of a school of conversationalist bassists who didn't just keep time but were expected to engage with a ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured. He has collaborated frequently ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured... Read more.

Place our ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured... Read more.

Place our ...

4

Recording

Four New Releases From ECM Records: Vijay Iyer Sextet, Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Gary Peacock Trio, and David Virelles

Four New Releases From ECM Records: Vijay Iyer Sextet, Tim Berne's Snakeoil, Gary Peacock Trio, and David Virelles

Source: Universal Music Group

August 25 Vijay Iyer Sextet Far From Over Vijay Iyer: piano, fender rhodes; Graham Haynes: cornet, flugelhorn, electronics Steve Lehman: alto saxophone; Mark Shim: tenor saxophone; Stephan Crump: double bass Tyshawn Sorey: drums Keyboardist-composer Vijay Iyer’s energized sequence of ECM releases has garnered copious international praise. Yet his fifth for the label since 2014—Far From Over, featuring his dynamically commanding sextet—finds Iyer reaching a new peak, furthering an artistry that led The Guardian to call him “one of ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured... Read more.

Place our ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gary Peacock

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gary Peacock's birthday today!

Bassist Gary Peacock has played a major role in the development of avant-garde jazz. He has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Shorty Rogers, the Paul Bley Trio, Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk and George Russell, among others. His recorded output is enormous — ECM Records alone lists thirty CDs on which he is featured... Read more.

Place our ...

From the review of the album " Tangents"

"As a bassist, Gary Peacock has always been a stealth virtuoso. What he plays often requires phenomenal speed and facility, but the power and originality of his music invariably draw the listener’s attention away from Peacock’s technical prowess. Even though it opens with a remarkable solo statement that stretches from thumb position down to the lowest reaches of the fingerboard, ‘Tangents’ is unlikely to change that notion. […] the group’s defining character remains the all- in equality of its interplay, maintaining a creative balance between piano, bass and drums regardless of whether the music is conventionally structured, like Miles Davis’’Blue In Green’, or as open-ended as Peacock’s title tune." J.D

Read more

Ray Brown
bass, acoustic
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto
Paul Chambers
bass, acoustic
Bryan White
bass, acoustic
Petros Klampanis
bass, acoustic
Steven Husted
bass, acoustic
Nicolas Ojeda
bass, acoustic
Greg Oliva
bass, electric
Bruce Phares
bass, acoustic
Yosef Gutman Levitt
bass, acoustic

Photos

Music

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.