Pianist Bob Gluck is a pianist and writer whose repertoire spans jazz, live electronic music, and avant-garde concert music. Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz) wrote: “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor… [his 2011 FMR CD with Michael Bisio and Dean Sharp] “Something Quiet” is completely original, artistically spontaneous, and intellectually challenging.” Jazz Review describes his subsequent FMR recording “Returning” as displaying “an intensity and sensitivity that is spellbinding.”
The latest of Gluck's nine recordings are “Infinite Spirit: Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band” (FMR, 2016; with Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, and Christopher Dean Sullivan), and two sets of duets with, respectively, fellow pianist Aruan Ortiz (”Textures and Pulsations,” 2012) and saxophonist Andrew Sterman (”Tropelets,” 2014), both on Ictus Records.
Gluck is author of two books published by University of Chicago Press, “You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band” (2012) and “The Miles Davis ‘Lost’ Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles” (2016). Gluck’s recent collaborators include Eddie Allen, Michael Bisio, Jane Ira Bloom, Billy Hart, Christopher Dean Sullivan, Ken Filiano, Joe Giardullo, Eddie Henderson, Ras Moshe Burnett, Warren Smith, Aruan Ortiz, Neil Rolnick, Dean Sharp, Andrew Sterman, and Tani Tabbal.
Gear
Steinway M piano, Moog PianoBar, Moog Little Phatty, Kurzweil keyboard controller,
Mac laptop with custom performance interfaces programmed with Max/MSP.
Album Reviews
Book Reviews
Album Reviews
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Allan Kozinn, New York Times: “an accomplished jazz pianist. Mr. Gluck performed...
with virtuosic fluidity.” Eric Lawrence (Chronogram): “an accomplished and passionate
pianist in the most elusive tradition of avant-garde masters Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill,
McCoy Tyner, and Don Pullen.” Michael Bergman (Berkshire Advocate): “The
remarkable wave of sound overcomes the consciousness of the listener transporting
him or her to another place...” (about 'Stories Heard and Retold').
About ‘Something Quiet’ (FMR, 2011) with Joe Giardullo and Christopher Dean
Sullivan: Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz): “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks
with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor
Read more
Allan Kozinn, New York Times: “an accomplished jazz pianist. Mr. Gluck performed...
with virtuosic fluidity.” Eric Lawrence (Chronogram): “an accomplished and passionate
pianist in the most elusive tradition of avant-garde masters Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill,
McCoy Tyner, and Don Pullen.” Michael Bergman (Berkshire Advocate): “The
remarkable wave of sound overcomes the consciousness of the listener transporting
him or her to another place...” (about 'Stories Heard and Retold').
About ‘Something Quiet’ (FMR, 2011) with Joe Giardullo and Christopher Dean
Sullivan: Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz): “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks
with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor. The model for Something Quiet
incorporates structure, power and the lack of restrictions... Something Quiet is
completely original, artistically spontaneous, and intellectually challenging.” Doug
Simpson (Audiofile Audition): “… a musical tapestry where anything can and often
does happen… [Gluck’s] reharmonized version of Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” … has a
subtle shape that reinforces Hancock’s original objective while including chordal and
melodic adaptations that deliver a distinct edge to Gluck’s translation. While Gluck is in
the limelight most of the time, Sullivan supports with underpinned emotive
interaction.” Bob Gish (Jazz Inside): “… the merger of feeling and melody, rhythm and
sound… a partnership of resonance and vibration delivering to the fullest … enhanced
by the sweetest of pulsing rhythms and cascading notes… road signs of timelessness.”
Gregory Applegate Edwards (Grapplegate Music Review): “shows the subtle sensitivity
of a pianist who has listened carefully to what's good in improvisational music today...
Joe Giardullo... control, timbre, and phrasing of a master. Christopher Dean Sullivan
brings in the bottom as a third line-creating voice... Put all that together and you get
music that challenges your ears at the same time as it delivers musico-logical
brilliance.”
The Bob Gluck Trio's premiere recording 'Sideways' (FMR 2008): Hrayr Attarian
(JazzTimes Community): “a near classic work of art, one that will easily withstand the
test of time and especially with the pristine sound of the CD will definitely reward
repeated listenings.” Cadence magazine: it is “a potent first document of this
expansive trio, with Gluck's open-ended compositions and those of others sparking the
creative improvised explorations from all.” Free Jazz Blog: “... a trio of three equal
instruments creating a “total sound”, a broad listening experience, that does not need
to rely on melody, but comes to its full effect when the musicians' creativity leads us
into new territory... the trio' s version of 'Lonely Woman' is brilliant. Ornette Coleman's
beautiful tune is fully in sync with the rest of the album's desperate tone, full of
shattered hope, and deep longing for a better world. Great music. I truly hope to hear
more from this trio in the future.”
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Bob Gluck 
