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Ben Wilcock
Pianist and composer from Rotorua, New Zealand.
About Me
”Bold and stylistically varied” - PBS FM
“A rare breed of pianist” - Jazz Scene
UK “Wilcock is an engaging pianist and composer. At times his playing brings to mind Thelonious Monk, particularly in the faster bop tracks” - London Jazz News
“Wilcock’s extreme eclecticism runs from vigorous, sometimes minimalist, free improvisations to rhapsodic solos which will be deeply attractive to the average listener” - Eric Meyers, The Australian
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Ben Wilcock is a New Zealand pianist and composer. After years of working as a session musician Ben dedicated his musical output to jazz. Forming Thick Records NZ with John Rae in 2014, he released ‘Sneaky Weasel’. Since then he has released five albums as a leader. The latest release is Splendid Isolation, a 14 song collaboration of original material with John Rae.
With his 2021 release ‘The River Tethys’, Wilcock broke away from conventionality through an eclectic mix of harmonic centres and brave improvisation The album is based on the characters and worlds from the sci-fi novel series 'Hyperion Cantos' by Dan Simmons. Each track on ‘The River Tethys’ is based on different unique worlds explored by protagonists within the sci-novel.
Ben has also released two albums with The Jelly Rolls - Sneaky Weasel (2014) and The Phantom Canoe (2017)
In 2020 he released 'Goodnight T.V', a solo piano album.
All available at:
www.thickrecords.co.nz
