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Lawrence Fields

Lawrence Fields, born and bred in St. Louis, has earned a spot at the forefront of young jazz pianists, thanks to his blending of vintage ideals with a contemporary mindset. For the last five years, in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, Downbeat Magazine has placed him close to the top of the keyboardist category in their “Rising Stars” critics poll. Fields showcases his own dynamic blend of composition and playing in his trio and quartet, and his music is currently being featured internationally. His debut album featuring his trio and solo playing, To the Surface, was released on February 2, 2024 to critical acclaim.

Veteran saxophone icon Joe Lovano – with his unerring ear for youthful talent – has become one of the pianist’s biggest fans. Fields is a member of several bands led or co-led by Lovano: his Classic Quartet (originally featuring Lewis Nash and George Mraz in the rhythm section); the Sax Supreme Quartet (with Chris Potter); and his Sound Prints quintet with trumpeter Dave Douglas. The Wall Street Journal praised Fields’ “elegant, probing” solos with Sound Prints, while The New York Times noted that he is “integral to the band’s plunging, changeable style.”  Referencing his role on acoustic and electric pianos in the band of trumpeter Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), NextBop said: “Fields remains a constant lyrical presence on the keys – innovative, expressive, supportive, able to soar like a bird in his solos. He never fails to impress.”

Fields has collaborated with Christian Scott on several albums — including co-writing and co-producing 3 songs on the Grammy-nominated The Emancipation Procrastination (Ropeadope, 2017), as part of his work on Christian’s Centennial Trilogy with releases Diaspora and Ruler Rebel. He features prominently in the piano and keyboard chairs on Christian’s Grammy-nominated live recording Axiom (2020), as well as the Grammy-nominated Ancestral Recall (2019), and the Stretch Music (Ropeadope, 2015) and Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah (Concord, 2012) albums.

With Lovano and Douglas, the pianist features on Sound Prints’ two critically-acclaimed studio releases: Other Worlds (2021), and Scandal (2018, Greanleaf) — selected by The Guardian as their #1 jazz album of 2018, as well as one of Rolling Stone’s top 20 jazz albums of the year. Fields also plays on the live album Sound Prints: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival (Blue Note, 2015), which featured two brand-new compositions written for the ensemble by the legendary Wayne Shorter. He appears on the album Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste (2007) alongside Branford Marsalis, Herlin Riley and Russell Malone, as well as on drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s More to Say (a 2009 disc for which he served as a pianist, keyboardist, and composer-producer). Fields also appears on releases by drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, and saxophonists Jaleel Shaw and Steve Slagle. The pianist has been a member of the Watts band, as well as that of trumpeter Nicholas Payton. In addition to performing onstage with the likes of Payton, Watts, Marsalis and Carrington, Fields has appeared with star bassist Christian McBride, drummer Nate Smith, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, trumpeter Takuya Kuroda, and bassist Robert Hurst, among others.

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11
Album Review

Lawrence Fields: To the Surface

Read "To the Surface" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


As if chomping at the bit, pianist Lawrence Fields launches into his proper debut as a leader with “Parachute," a tune of his own making that strikes that perfect chord between piano trios past and present. And right away the listener is immersed in To The Surface. A fixture on Rising Star category since 2019, Fields, who has made his name in the piano chair for such determined and willful creators as Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Terri Lyne ...

8
Album Review

Gui Duvignau: Baden

Read "Baden" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Gui Duvignau has had Baden Powell's sound in his sights for some time now. Born in France and raised in Brazil, the rising-star bassist delved deeply into that legendary Brazilian guitarist's work at the behest of several six-stringer friends. And as he studied guitar too, Duvignau came under the sway of Powell's advanced harmonic concepts, personalized technique and keen ability to skirt easy categorization by blending classical stylings, jazz sensibilities and a broad mixture of Brazilian traditions. Having then performed ...

2
Album Review

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints: Other Worlds

Read "Other Worlds" reviewed by Vic Albani


Stile e ricercatezza. La cifra di questo nuovo lavoro di due giganti del jazz contemporaneo quali Joe Lovano e Dave Douglas è tutta in questi due vocaboli. Sound Prints (che richiama nel nome la ben celebre “Footprints" fermata dal signor Wayne Shorter) è il nome del quintetto titolare di questo progetto nato nel 2013 per Blue Note per festeggiare con un disco dal vivo l'ottantesimo compleanno del grandissimo sassofonista del New Jersey e per dare nuova linfa e ...

13
Album Review

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Soundprints: Other Worlds

Read "Other Worlds" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Soundprints is a quintet that saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas assembled to carry on the spirit and philosophy of Wayne Shorter's music. Both of the band's previous albums featured compositions by Shorter himself but this is their first effort to contain only new material written by either Lovano or Douglas. As the album and track titles suggest, there is an underlying theme of space exploration here which reflects Shorter's long-time love of science fiction. Pieces like ...

9
Album Review

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints: Other Worlds

Read "Other Worlds" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The Sound Prints, co-led by saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas, set out in 2013 with a purpose in mind: that of showcasing Wayne Shorter's legacy by presenting new music shaped in the saxophonist's always forward-looking style. The group released its first CD, Soundprints: Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival (Blue Note Records) in 2015, and followed it up with Scandal (Greenleaf Records, 2018). Both of these previous outings included fresh arrangements of Shorter compositions along with tunes from ...

17
Album Review

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: Axiom

Read "Axiom" reviewed by Phillip Woolever


As evidenced here, those in attendance for Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah's 2020 engagement at New York's Blue Note from March 11-15 witnessed what turned out to be some of the most powerful performances of this restricted musical year, just before everyday life changed for most people on the planet. The record is dedicated to the victims of Corona-19. This exceptional concert compilation could well be the first of “jazz's" present day, classic live albums released during the pandemic ...

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“I love playing music with Lawrence Fields! He’s full of ideas, plays with a beautiful sound and feeling and can swing! He’s always inspired–and that’s where the magic is...” —Joe Lovano

Fields’ piano playing defies gravity like a dancer caught mid-air in freeze-frame"

—John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald

"Pianist Lawrence Fields balances tradition and invention with an equally strong voice. While right-hand lines sparkled with modernist intent, left-hand counterpoint strode purposefully to the bass, creating tension, climax and intrigue.”

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Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

To the Surface

Rhythm 'n' Flow Records
2024

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Baden

Sunnyside Records
2022

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Other Worlds

Greenleaf Music
2021

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Axiom

Ropeadope / Stretch Music
2020

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Parachute

From: To the Surface
By Lawrence Fields

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