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Ariel Pocock

25-year-old Ariel Pocock has received international acclaim as an equally captivating jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. Ariel's notable performances as a headline act include the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the 2014 Jazz Cruise, the Tokyo Jazz Festival, the Quebec City International Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and many more.

Ariel's original compositions and songs draw inspiration from a wide array of sources: Cuban and Brazilian folk music, the Great American Songbook, modern jazz composers such as Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau, and songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon.

Ariel's second album, Living in Twilight, was released worldwide on June 9th, 2017 on Justin Time Records. The album "...demonstrates levels of stylistic and emotional breadth and artistic depth that few of Pocock's peers can match" (Ottawa Gazette). Recorded in Montréal in December 2016 and produced by Matt Pierson, the record features in demand Montréal musicians Jim Doxas (drums), Adrian Vedady (bass) and special guest, New York based guitarist, Chico Pinheiro one of the leading figures in the modern Brazilian Jazz scene. The song selection is original, thoughtful and surprising. Ranging from classic American Songbook fare - Ray Noble’s The Very Thought Of You and Cole Porter’s So In Love to Chick Corea’s 500 Miles and breathtaking interpretations of Adele’s Someone Like You and Sufjan Stevens To Be Alone With You presented here as an instrumental. Other stand outs include the title track by The Weepies, Living in Twilight and the heartbreaking Kate McGarrigale penned Go Leave. Ariel’s chops as a composer/songwriter are on display with original’s Gonzalo’s Melody – and the reflective So Long. Living in Twilight spent over three weeks at #10 on the JazzWeek radio play charts, and Ariel continues to tour with her trio to promote the album.

Touchstone, Ariel's debut album, features fresh and compelling takes on classic jazz standards, original compositions, and her own arrangements of singer-songwriter material. Also produced by Matt Pierson, the album features an all-star band of Julian Lage (guitar), Eric Harland (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), and Seamus Blake (saxophone). Touchstone was released on Justin Time Records in 2015. Critical reception for the album included praise for Ariel's “true facility for…sinewy jazz piano [and] breezy, achingly plain-spoken vocal chops…” (Seattle Times). "Hers is a dynamic, slightly scorched voice that is deeply jazz-steeped. She’s as impressive at maneuvering the tricky curves of Monk and Bob Dorough as she is navigating the densely powerful storytelling of Randy Newman and Tom Waits. Pocock’s keyboard skills are just as mature, whether exploring the pastoral calm of Keith Jarrett’s “Country” or anchoring her own “Barrel Roll,” seven minutes of chameleonic dynamism...Touchstone is an album of equals, of profound mutual respect, of generously shared spotlights." (Jazz Times)

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Album Review

Ariel Pocock: Living In Twilight

Read "Living In Twilight" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


When the sun rests below the horizon, the sky sits in a limbo state represented by a wondrous ambiguity in color, content, and intention. An intoxicating afterglow emerges, both wishing the day a fond adieu and ushering in the night. It's that variegated realm, an in-between locale that's neither here nor there, that inspires pianist-vocalist Ariel Pocock's musical musings and offers much satiating food for thought on this young talent's sophomore release. The gloaming state cited in ...

Album Review

Ariel Pocock: Touchstone

Read "Touchstone" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


È un brillante debutto discografico questo di Ariel Pocock, la pianista-cantante di Seattle che il produttore Matt Pierson ha preso sotto l'ala, affiancandole musicisti del calibro di Larry Grenadier, Julian Lage, Eric Harland e Seamus Blake. Un supporto di prim'ordine ma anche una bella responsabilità per una ragazza poco più che ventenne, appena uscita dall'University of Miami Frost School of Music. Ma la giovanissima Ariel non s'è fatta intimorire: evidenzia buone doti come vocalist, ottime come ...

3
Album Review

Ariel Pocock: Touchstone

Read "Touchstone" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


What are the touchstones of jazz? Harmonic acuity? Internalization of swing aesthetics and advanced rhythmic language(s)? The ability to quickly parse a composition in real time? An understanding of the historical framework of the music? The ability to create and speak one's own mind using any number of vocabulary sets? Yes. Each of those elements are touchstones in jazz, but they're meaningless when viewed separately. Jazz requires musicians to synthesize all of those skills and more while finding something meaningful ...

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Recording

Vocalist Ariel Pocock Launches Debut Artistshare Project

Vocalist Ariel Pocock Launches Debut Artistshare Project

Source: Brian Camelio

We are very excited to announce the launch of new ArtistShare artist Ariel Pocock's debut ArtistShare Project. At only 20 years old, Ariel is an incredibly talented singer, pianist, and composer. She has already earned widespread recognition for her talents from Downbeat Magazine, the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center, the Seattle-Kobe Jazz Vocalist Competition, the Lionel Hampton International Festival, amongst many others. She is recording her debut album as a leader with jazz legends Larry Grenadier, Eric Harland, ...

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Festival

Seattle Times: Newport's Ariel Pocock Could Be Next Ellington-Tapped Star

Seattle Times: Newport's Ariel Pocock Could Be Next Ellington-Tapped Star

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

The Seattle Times' reporter Hugo Kugiya is covering the Essentially Ellington competition in New York City. NEW YORK CITY -- Newport High School sophomore Ariel Pocock was just one of about 400 student jazz musicians who filled the Frederick P. Rose Hall Friday afternoon for the official start of the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. As a way of saying welcome, Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, took questions from two lines ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Morning Star

Blue Canoe Records
2022

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Living In Twilight

Justin Time Records
2017

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Touchstone

Justin Time Records
2016

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Touchstone

Justin Time Records
2015

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Evensong

From: Morning Star
By Ariel Pocock

Videos

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