Brian Krock Explained

Brian Krock
Birth Date:10 February 1989
Birth Place:Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genre:Jazz, big band, experimental, new music
Occupations:Composer, arranger, musician
Instruments:Alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, piano, guitar, recorders
Associated Acts:Big Heart Machine

Brian Krock is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader based in New York City. Krock leads the ensembles Big Heart Machine and liddle.[1] He is also active in Broadway theatre, performing in orchestras on a multitude of woodwinds.

Early life and education

Krock was born in Milwaukee. From 2007 to 2011, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in jazz studies with a business minor. He studied jazz saxophone with Chip McNeill, who fostered his interest in composition and arranging.[2] In 2011, the University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band recorded Freeplay on which Krock received an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award for his composition “Yes, It's True.”[3]

In 2011, Krock moved to New York City to obtain his Master's in Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied composition with Jim McNeely.[4] While attending MSM his composition "String Quartet No. 1" received the Manhattan Prize. He co-founded the band Life Size, who released the studio album Bright Size Life.[5]

Career

From 2013 to 2015, Krock toured internationally with Broadway shows while composing the book of music that would constitute his big band album Big Heart Machine.[6] He attended the Metropole Orkest Arrangers Workshop, studying with Vince Mendoza, in 2013.[7]

In 2018, Krock released Big Heart Machine (Outside In Music), the self-titled debut album of his big band Big Heart Machine, to critical acclaim. In the New York Times, Giovanni Russonello said, “The suspenseful, layered music can sound like migration in motion or a wisp of twisting smoke. And if you’re looking for musical-historical references, there are plenty — from progressive metal to Carnatic music to late-20th-century Western classical.”[8] Jazz critics Nate Chinen and Giovanni Russonello profiled Big Heart Machine in articles focusing on a resurgence in big band music.”[9] The album was featured on the Best Jazz on Bandcamp.[10] Krock was also profiled in Downbeat Magazine,[11] Stereogum,[12] and the Chicago Reader.[13]

In 2019, Big Heart Machine’s performance at NYC Winter Jazz Fest prompted good reviews in The Atlantic[14] and the New York Times. Shortly thereafter, Krock toured for seven weeks with Ethan Iverson and The Mark Morris Dance Group, playing clarinet and soprano saxophone in Pepperland.[15]

His 2019 follow-up recording liddle featured Big Heart Machine alumni along with pianist Matt Mitchell and bass guitarist Simon Jermyn. The album was a Downbeat Editor’s Pick[16] and one of All Music’s Best Jazz Albums of 2019.[17] The band liddle toured the U.S. culminating in a live recording at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic halted performances so Krock created a YouTube channel called Score Study, devoted to his favorite composers.[18] The series quickly grew in popularity, allowing him to feature guest artists like Steve Swallow, Ethan Iverson, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Adam Guettel. Krock also self-released two live recordings in 2020, Big Heart Machine’s Live at The Jazz Gallery,[19] and liddle’s Viscera. Krock attended the Bang on a Can Summer Workshop in 2020, receiving a commission to write a new piece of chamber music. He wrote a piece for bass clarinet, flute, and ensemble called “anti-jazz,” dedicated to and culling musical materials from Eric Dolphy.

From 2021 to 2022, Krock toured the U.S. as the onstage clarinetist with the Tony Award-winning musical The Band's Visit.[6]

Awards and honors

YearAward
2020ISJAC Relief Commission[20]
2019Best Jazz Albums of 2019 (All Music)[21]
Best Newcomer Musician (El Intruso)[22]
Best New Artist (Jazz Times Critics Poll)[23]
Keio Light Music Society Commission
ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award[24]
2018Aaron Copland Recording Grant[25]
2012-13EtM Con Ed Composer Residency[26]
2011Manhattan Prize in Composition
ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award[27]

Discography

As a leader

YearTitleArtistLabel
2020Viscera Brian Krock's liddle toof music
Live at The Jazz GalleryBig Heart Machinetoof music
2019 liddle Brian KrockOutside In
2018 Big Heart Machine Big Heart Machine Outside In

As a co-leader

YearTitleArtistLabel
2014 Bright!Life Sizeself-released
2007 Fishwim Lorna Sue self-released

As a sideman, composer, or producer

YearTitleArtistRole
2022 Two Takes Vol. 2 Jared Schonig arranger
2021 Bombardment Sound Struggle saxophonist
2021PerihelionSungazerbass clarinet
2020 TruthSeth Weaver Big Band producer
2019 Outside in Music (Live at Pinch Recording), Vol. 3 Various Artistssaxophonist, composer
2011 Freeplay University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band saxophonist, composer

Notes and References

  1. West . Michael J. . Brian Krock: The Cardiac Kid . JazzTimes . 22 May 2019 .
  2. Web site: Rhodes . Dusty . Concert jazz band's new CD is all-student effort of writing, arranging . newsillinois.edu . Illinois News Bureau . 24 January 2011.
  3. Web site: ASCAP ANNOUNCES 31 RECIPIENTS OF THE 2011 YOUNG JAZZ COMPOSER AWARDS . nmbx.newmusicusa.org . 14 February 2011 . New Music Box . 14 February 2011.
  4. Web site: Sidran . Leo . 175: Brian Krock . third-story.com . The Third Story . 13 October 2020.
  5. Web site: Johnston . David . CD Release Party for Brian Krock's Band "Life Size" – January 20, 2014 . 10 January 2014 . Exploring the Metropolis, Inc . 10 January 2014.
  6. Web site: Credits . www.ibdb.com/ . Internet Broadway Database.
  7. Web site: MEET THE ARRANGERS WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS . www.mo.nl . 5 February 2015 . Metropole Orkest . 5 February 2015.
  8. News: Russenello . Giovanni . 13 Pop, Rock and Jazz Concerts to Check Out in N.Y.C. This Weekend . 9 August 2018 . The New York Times. 9 August 2018 .
  9. News: Russenello . Giovanni . 'They're Doing It Out of Love': The Big Band Rises Again . 31 December 2018 . The New York Times. 31 December 2018 .
  10. Web site: Sumner . Dave . The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: August 2018 . Bandcamp . 6 September 2018.
  11. Oullette . Dan . Brian Krock's Big Heart Machine Rumbles to Life . Downbeat Magazine . 30 August 2018 . 30 August 2018.
  12. Web site: Freeman . Phil . Ugly Beauty: The Month In Jazz – August 2018 . www.stereogum.com . 24 August 2018 . Stereogum . 24 August 2018.
  13. News: Margasak . Peter . Arlington Heights native and saxophonist Brian Krock leads a Chicago-based lineup of his big band Big Heart Machine . 30 August 2018 . The Chicago Reader.
  14. Graham . David A. . What Jazz in 2019 Will Sound Like . The Atlantic . 19 January 2019 .
  15. Web site: Selby . Anna . Pepperland . www.arbuturian.com . The Arbuturian . 27 March 2019.
  16. Cantor . Dave . Reviews . Downbeat Magazine . May 2019 .
  17. Web site: Collar . Matt . Liddle Review by Matt Collar . www.allmusic.com . All Music.
  18. Web site: Krock . Brian . Score Study . www.youtube.com . YouTube . 2 October 2011.
  19. News: Chinen . Nate . Big Heart Machine, "Pareidoliac" . 11 May 2020 . WBGO.
  20. Web site: COVID-19 RELIEF COMMISSION GRANTS . isjac.org . International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers.
  21. Web site: Coller . Matt . ALLMUSIC 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW . allmusic.com . All Music.
  22. Web site: 12th Annual Critics Poll . www.elintruso.com . 6 January 2020 . El Intruso.
  23. 2019 Expanded Critics' Poll Results . JazzTimes . 28 January 2020 .
  24. Web site: Nevins . Cathy . The ASCAP Foundation Announces 2019 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award Recipients . ASCAP.com . ASCAP . 11 March 2019.
  25. Web site: 2018 Recording Program Application Awardees . coplandfund.org . The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
  26. Web site: Johnston . David . Announcing Our 2013-14 EtM Con Edison Composers-in-Residence . exploringthemetropolis.org . 24 July 2013 . EtM . 24 July 2013.
  27. Web site: ASCAP ANNOUNCES 31 RECIPIENTS OF THE 2011 YOUNG JAZZ COMPOSER AWARDS . nmbx.newmusicusa.org . 14 February 2011 . New Music Box . 14 February 2011.