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Marc Copland

Born 27 May 1948, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Copland was a part of the vibrant music scene in Philadelphia as a saxophonist before going to New York where he met John Abercrombie and also played with Chico Hamilton, and others. He experimented with the electric alto but gradually became dissatisfied with the direction his music was taking and, leaving New York, quit playing the sax in order to study piano. He was gone for almost a decade but upon his return to the jazz world in the mid-80s his piano playing was a revelation, his own vividly original style firmly in place. As a sideman he played with Bob Belden, Jane Ira Bloom, Joe Lovano, Tim Hagans, James Moody, Wallace Roney and many others.

But his career as a sideman in the Apple was relatively short-lived; Copland began recording and touring in trio with Gary Peacock and Billy Hart (At Night/Sunnyside, Paradiso/Soul Note) In the nineties, his reputation spread owing to three legendary recordings with the Savoy label, which put him on the road in an All-Star quintet (Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, and Dennis Chambers), and later in quartet with guitarist John Abercrombie, Drew Gress, and drummer Hart.

Copland has enthralled audiences not only in trio and as a solo pianist, but also as a duo partner without peer—as attested by his duo recordings with Greg Osby (Night Call, Round and Round/Nagel-Heyer) and Gary Peacock (What It Says/Sketch).

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Liner Notes

Marc Copland: Impressions

Read "Marc Copland: Impressions" reviewed by John Kelman


Solo performances may approach presenting an artist at his or her most vulnerable, but it's in the context of the duo that they're the most exposed. Not only are their abilities, instincts and improvisational élan laid bare, but their communication skills, at the deepest level, are impossible to disguise. The good news is that, were pianist Marc Copland and saxophonist Dave Liebman in Hans Christian Andersen's famous children's story, “The Emperor's New Clothes," there'd be no child crying out, “But ...

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Album Review

Marc Copland Quartet: Someday

Read "Someday" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Marc Copland is a former saxophonist who found his instrument artistically confining for the purposes of expressing his vision. So he called on his childhood piano training (synaptic memories intact) to make the switch to the keyboard. The results have been magic. His artistry with the 88s is second only to the late Bill Evans, and an argument for his surpassing of Evans could be made. His discography boasts more than forty albums as a leader, beginning in 1988 with ...

Album Review

Francesco Cataldo: Giulia

Read "Giulia" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Sa scegliersi i suoi partner il chitarrista e compositore siciliano Francesco Cataldo: dopo che nel suo primo disco Spaces (Alfa Music 2012) si era fatto affiancare dal conterraneo Salvatore Bonafede e dagli americani Erik Friedlander, David Binney, Scott Colley e Clarence Penn, e dopo aver suonato quel repertorio in un gruppo in cui compariva Kenny Werner, eccolo presentare un nuovo lavoro assieme al contrabbassista Piero Leveratto, che da anni vive in Sicilia, e a due icone d'oltreoceano quali sono il ...

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Album Review

Marc Copland: John

Read "John" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pianist Marc Copland crossed paths with guitarist John Abercrombie in the early '70s, playing in drummer Chico Hamilton's group. Copland was, at the time, a saxophonist. The collaboration there began a fifty year friendship and multiple Abercrombie/Copland collaborations . Abercrombie passed away in 2017. John is Copland's eulogy for him, solo piano renditions of a set of his friend and mentor's compositions In 2018 Copland also released a tribute to another late partner in music, bassist Gary Peacock, ...

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Album Review

Marc Copland: John

Read "John" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Pianist Marc Copland met guitarist John Abercrombie when he first went to New York as an alto saxophonist, playing with him in Chico Hamilton's quartet in 1971. Copland returned to New York as a pianist in the early 1980s, and first recorded with Abercrombie on the album That's For Sure (Challenge, 2001), followed by several others. He was Abercrombie's pianist for his final quartet albums, 39 Steps (ECM, 2013) and Up And Coming (ECM, 2017), and toured with him for ...

4
Album Review

Doxas Brothers: The Circle

Read "The Circle" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Family figures squarely into The Circle. For tenor saxophonist Chet Doxas and drummer Jim Doxas, brotherhood is both a literal and figurative tie. These siblings have been playing music together in various configurations from their earliest days, so their bonds truly extend from blood to bandstand. And with their father manning the board for this quartet session recorded at the family homestead in Pointe Claire, QC, it's all Doxases on deck. This album's title references the crescent ...

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Album Review

Francesco Cataldo: Giulia

Read "Giulia" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


There's pure, undiluted beauty emanating from the jewel of an introduction on Francesco Cataldo's Giulia. The Italian guitarist's patient and pristine lines set the scene for “I Tuoi Colori (Prologo)," and his equally graceful band mates—pianist Marc Copland, bassist Pietro Leveratto and drummer Adam Nussbaum—join him, slowly drifting out toward cool blue waters like those spied through the window on the album's cover. There's mystery in the setting, for sure, but also an easy satisfaction. And so it goes for ...

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Performance / Tour

Marc Copland and Tim Hagans with Doug Weiss and Bill Stewart at Chris' Jazz Cafe - 2/26/11

Marc Copland and Tim Hagans with Doug Weiss and Bill Stewart at Chris' Jazz Cafe - 2/26/11

Source: Two for the Show Media

Marc Copland & Tim Hagans with Doug Weiss & Bill Stewart Live at Chris' Jazz Cafe 1421 Sansom St. Philadelphia, PA 215-568-3131 Saturday February 26th, 2011 8PM Show ~ $22, 10PM Show ~ $20 The Quartet of Marc Copland & Tim Hagans accompanied by longtime Copland partners Bill Stewart and Doug Weiss—An incredible quartet featuring the synergy of two of the leading harmonic thinkers on their instruments. Marc Copland—Piano Tim Hagans—Trumpet

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Radio

The Jazz Session #185: Marc Copland

The Jazz Session #185: Marc Copland

Source: AAJ Staff


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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Al Jarreau, Marc Copland Trio with Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, Tom Wopat, and More

Jazz This Week: Al Jarreau, Marc Copland Trio with Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, Tom Wopat, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

It's another busy week for jazz in St. Louis, so let's go right to the highlights:Tonight, Jazz St. Louis presents Reggie Thomas and OGD in a free concert celebrating Blue Note records at the Third Baptist Church, 620 N. Grand. In case you didn't know, “OGD" stands for organ, guitar and drums, and it's always a treat to hear Thomas play the B-3, especially given the relative dearth of jazz organ shows in town these days. Also, the ...

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Education

Marc Copland to Give Master Class on Thursday, February 12

Marc Copland to Give Master Class on Thursday, February 12

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

In addition to performing in concert at the 560 Music Center this coming Friday, February 13, jazz pianist Marc Copland also will give a master class while he's in St. Louis. The master class, which is free and open to the public, begins at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 12 in Tietjens Rehearsal Hall, 6500 Forsyth on the Washington University campus.If you're coming from off campus to attend, you should be aware that there's not much visitor parking ...

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Performance / Tour

Marc Copland to Perform February 13 at 560 Music Center

Marc Copland to Perform February 13 at 560 Music Center

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Via the Culture Club blog at STLtoday: Pianist Mark Copland (pictured) is bringing his trio to St. Louis to perform on Friday, February 13 at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Avenue in University City. (For those unfamiliar with the venue name, it's the former synagogue building just off the the west end of the Delmar Loop that is currently owned by Washington University but has been operated at various times in recent years by CASA, the Saint Louis Symphony ...

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Performance / Tour

Gary Peacock, Marc Copland, Bill Stewart Trio @ Birdland NYC - March 19-22nd, 2008

Gary Peacock, Marc Copland, Bill Stewart Trio @ Birdland NYC - March 19-22nd, 2008

Source: Two for the Show Media

Gary Peacock, Marc Copland, & Bill Stewart Trio Gary Peacock- bass Marc Copland- piano Bill Stewart - drums Birdland Jazz Club 315 West 44th Street Broadway New York, NY March 19th-22nd 2008 Set Times are 8:30 PM & 11:00 PM $30 general admission; $40 orchestra For information call 212.591-3080 “Transcendent...makes one realize how ordinary, how formulaic, so much of the rest of today's music ...

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Performance / Tour

Marc Copland Trio moved to Wed. Apr. 13th at Sweet Rhythm 8 PM-12 PM

Marc Copland Trio moved to Wed. Apr. 13th at Sweet Rhythm 8 PM-12 PM

Source: All About Jazz

April 4, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] please note date change (due to circumstances beyond our control) MARC COPLAND TRIO Mike McGuirk bass/Jochen Rueckert drums SWEET RHYTHM WED. APRIL 13 8 PM-12 PM 88 Seventh Avenue South (Between Grove and Bleecker Streets) New York, NY 10014 212-255-3626 www.sweetrhythmny.com “His harmonic sophistication, his touch, and control of dynamics with the foot pedal have all become--well--the stuff of legend. There are actually stories of young ...

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Performance / Tour

Marc Copland Trio at Sweet Rhythm Wed. Apr. 6th

Marc Copland Trio at Sweet Rhythm Wed. Apr. 6th

Source: All About Jazz

March 24, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] WED. APRIL 6 8 PM-12 PM Marc Copland, piano Mike McGuirk, bass Jochen Rueckert drums SWEET RHYTHM 88 Seventh Avenue South (Between Grove and Bleecker Streets) New York, NY 10014 212-255-3626 www.sweetrhythmny.com “His harmonic sophistication, his touch, and control of dynamics with the foot pedal have all become--well--the stuff of legend. There are actually stories of young piano players who go to a Copland gig and ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

ASK

Ipogeo Records
2023

buy

For All We Know

Self Produced
2022

buy

Someday

InnerVoiceJazz
2022

buy

Not This Room

Self Produced
2021

buy

Giulia

Alfa Music
2020

buy

The Circle

Justin Time Records
2020

buy

A Word From The Wise

From: The Circle
By Marc Copland

Both/And

From: Through The Window
By Marc Copland

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