Home » Jazz Musicians » Hilliard Greene
Hilliard Greene
Hilliard Greene has been studying music for more than 30 years and has been playing professionally over twenty. His emphasis is in classical, jazz, rock, blues, R&B, Tango as well as the music of other continents and US regions, and solo performances. Greene studied at the University of Northern Iowa and at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has been teaching private students and classes for over 25 years. He is currently a faculty member at the Bass Collective in New York City. He continues to teach privately and to do workshops and master classes in upright and electric bass for both children and adults. He performs widely in the New York City area: recitals, nightclubs, concert halls (including Carnegie Hall), recording studios, radio and television. Also performs in major cities throughout the United States, Canada, Europe east and west, Asia, the West Indies, and South America. Greene performed and recorded with Jimmy Scott for 20+ years, serving as his Musical Director from 1995 to 2013. Greene was also Cecil Taylor’s Concert Master for his group “Phtongos”. He was in residence at Minton’s a.k.a. legendary Minton’s Playhouse as the house bassist. Greene works / worked with Rashied Ali, Barry Altschul, Lucian Ban, Billy Bang, Kenny Barron, David Berger, Karl Berger, Cindy Blackman, T.K. Blue, Dougie Bowen, Joanne Brackeen, Oscar Brown Jr., Uri Caine, Roy Campbell, Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Skin, Daniel Carter, Carla Cook, Akua Dixon, Dave Douglas, John Esposito, Bobby Few, Erik Friedlander, Camille Gainer, Eddie Gale, Charles Gayle, Eddie Gladden, Electric Symphony, Alex Harding, George Haslam, Jon Hendricks, John Hicks, Jason Kao Hwang, The Inkspots, Yoron Israel, Vijay Iyer, Klaus Kugel, Leroy Jenkins, Howard Johnson, Frank Lacy, Gloria Lynne, Michael Marcus, Sabir Mateen, Jason Moran, Bern Nix, Greg Osby, Jimmy Ponder, Don Pullen, Lenore Raphael, Matana Roberts, Perry Robinson, Josh Roseman, Vanessa Rubin, Nipsy Russell, Warren Smith, Steve Swell, Grady Tate, Jacky Terrasson, Gebhard Ullman, Marlene VerPlanck, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Petras Vysniauskas, Jack Walrath, Bobby Watson, Mars Williams... Hilliard Greene has recently formed The In&Out Band, a trio using jazz standards as a vehicle for free improvisation. Also, he is co-leader of the classical crossover ensemble ZigZag Quartet. He produced three CD’s with his own ensemble The Jazz Expressions, a solo bass CD entitled “Alone”, and co-produced self-titled ZigZag Quartet CD.
Awards
Outstanding Alumni @ University of Northern Iowa High School
Gear
Juzak acoustic bass, Fender electric bass, piccolo bass
Tags
Patrick Brennan: Tilting Curvaceous
by John Sharpe
In spite of being active on the NYC scene since the mid-'70s, alto saxophonist and composer patrick brennan (he prefers his name spelled entirely in lowercase letters) has a relatively sparse discography, to which tilting curvaceous constitutes a splendid addition. It constitutes the seventh release by his S0nic 0penings band since Introducing S0UP (Deep Dish, 1981), but the first since 2007's Muhheankuntuk (Clean Feed). Bassist Hilliard Greene has been an ever-present since 2002, though trumpeter Brian Groder, drummer Michael TA ...
read moreTomas Janzon: Nomadic
by Jack Bowers
Nomadic, Tomas Janzon's sixth album as leader, is a pleasant, easy-going session that benefits greatly from the presence, on half a dozen tracks, of the superb vibraphonist Steve Nelson who adds substance and color to what is essentially a quartet or trio session wherein Janzon's mellow guitar carries much of the weight. There are eleven tracks in all, the first four and last four by Janzon, separated by McCoy Tyner's tranquil Search for Peace," Sonny Rollins' no-more-than-lukewarm ...
read morePatrick Brennan Sonic Openings: Tilting Curvaceous
by Karl Ackermann
The quintet project Tilting Curvaceous is saxophonist/composer Patrick Brennan's sixth leader/co-leader date since the late 1990s. His duo recording Terraphonia (Creative Sources Recordings, 2019) with guitarist Abdul Moimême demonstrated a strong affinity for free improvisation within unconventional settings and uncommon concepts. Brennan is joined by trumpeter and flugelhorn player Brian Groder. The native New Yorker has been a long-time fixture on the NYC jazz scene and has devoted a significant part of his career to the frequent use of free-form ...
read morePatrick Brennan and sOnic Opening: Tilting Curvaceous
by Howard Mandel
Tilting Curvaceous is all-of-a-piece, s0nic 0penings' instigator and extraordinary alto saxophonist Patrick Brennan informs us, emerging from a single meta-groove interface," to be heard whole. That may come naturally to fans of creative improvisation since the breakthroughs of Ornette Coleman, say, and new constructions by composers including Cecil Taylor, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Henry Threadgill and Brennan himself. However, as presented in 14 distinct tracks, this album is also a suite of inter-related movements--separate, comparable, able to ...
read moreGebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell / Hilliard Greene / Barry Altschul: We're Playing In Here?
by John Sharpe
For musicians, one consolatory by-product of lockdown was the chance to reappraise the archives, which led to a subsequent bonanza of deserving material reaching the marketplace. Whether that was the genesis of the limited edition LP We're Playing In Here? is a moot point, but this 2007 studio recording by the Gebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell Quartet certainly more than justifies release. It is the fourth album by what was a cracking band, although it actually predates the outfit's second ...
read moreAllen Lowe: A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom
by Karl Ackermann
There is an exhaustive property to the body of Allen Lowe's work. Composer, saxophonist, sporadic guitarist who composes on piano, and the author of several noteworthy music histories, he has released nearly two dozen albums. Lowe is a member of the quartet East Axis with Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and Kevin Ray. A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom is an ambitious double-disc collection recorded in four sessions in 2018. The eighteen tracks were all composed by Lowe. The sessions ...
read moreMars Williams: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4: Chicago vs. NYC
by Mark Corroto
For more than a decade, Mars Williams has been making (to borrow a phrase) Christmas music great again. He does so by exchanging the saccharine for the sublime, intersecting holiday classics with the music of Albert Ayler. Born out of his Chicago Ayler repertory band which can be heard on Witches And Devils At The Empty Bottle</em> (Knitting Factory Records, 2000), Williams applied the Gospel and spiritual nature of Ayler's methodology to Xmas music. While the eponymously titled first volume ...
read moreString And Bow Festival: Kali Z./Hilliard Greene Duo Tue Aug 23 7:00PM at Cornelia Street Cafe
Source:
All About Jazz
August 22, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street Greenwich Village, NY 10014 Tel: 212-989-9319 Fax: 212-243-4207 Web: corneliastreetcafe.com between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1,9 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th St. a culinary as well as a cultural landmark" Mayoral Proclamation, City of New York 1987 Tue Aug 23 STRING AND BOW FESTIVAL: KALI Z./HILLIARD GREENE DUO (Kali ...
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What the critics say...... “…Greene can keep the listener interested – very interested – for upwards of an hour, all by himself. His new album, “Alone,” is a riveting hour plus of material, mostly originals, that stand up well as melodic compositions played with passionate dedication. There is a wide range of styles and forms, and there is no risk of boredom among the eight tunes.” -Steve Greenlee, Boston Globe “…real sensation of this quartet is bassist Hilliard Greene, a man whose style is deeply rooted in African music. He is an energetic player who slabs the corpus of his bass, but also caresses the instrument with his bow
Primary Instrument
Bass
Location
New York City
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Teaching Experience/Private Lessons, Classes, and Workshops Faculty Member - Bass Collective, New York City: 1997 - present Rutgers Univ., Newark NJ: 1995 EMU Music School; La Plata, Argentina – annual guest professor Private Teacher - Boston; New York City; Cedar Falls, IA; Clifton, Nutly, & Irvington, NJ; La Plata & Buenos Aires, Argentina Lecturer and Master Class - Univ. of Northern Iowa, Univ. of Texas Austin, Bass Collective - NYC; Canopus Drum Shop - Tokyo, Japan Public School and University - Bucharest and Timisoara, Romania EMU Music School; La Plata, Argentina Formal Education University of Northern Iowa 1976 - 1979 Berklee College of Music 1979 - 1980 private lessons composition with James Forte 1982 -1986 private bass teachers Pablo Aslan, Clay Bergen ,Whit Browne, Steve Citta, John Clayton, Jr., Jay Elfenbein, Diana Gannet, Sam Gill, Eldon Obrect, Robert Olson, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Rufus Reid, Ron Rohovit, Ken Slavett, Candice Weibner, James Welch, Miroslav Vitous
Photos
Music
Stop This Climate Change
From: Lift You UpBy Hilliard Greene