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Marc Copland: Growth Through Collaboration
John Kelman
With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, John wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.While Copland is best known for small ensembles, he has played in larger contexts over the years. "I played in larger ensembles with Bob Belden for a long time," says Copland. "The primary determinant for me in approaching a project is the sound in my head and the direction of the music, and has nothing to do with the number of people. One night at an after-hours party somebody took Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson to an apartment with two pianos, and they played duets all night. Someone there said, 'Oh my God, I've never heard so much music!' This in the era of Ellington and his large ensembles—but just from just two cats! A friend of mine, Mike Patterson, is writing a new piece for piano and string orchestra for me, and we're going to play it at the Manhattan School of Music; I'm looking forward to that!"
In the meantime, Copland spends most of his touring time in Europe. "Perhaps some of it is a function of distribution," says Copland. "The press in Europe is naturally very interested in the music coming out on European labels. They do a lot of coverage, and that helps lead to gigs. There's not always the same interest in those labels on this side of the Atlantic, and that's a shame. When I was with Savoy, we had good press over here and I worked a lot in North America. But it's picked up over here in the last year, and seems to be gaining some steam.
"Drew, Jochen and I are looking forward to our new trio record on Pirouet, coming out in September," Copland continues. "We've got a tour of Europe in the works, and no doubt we'll play New York. The piano trio is kind of a pianist's home base, and there's every reason to keep this trio going."
By bucking the trend and releasing anywhere between two and four releases a year since '01, Marc Copland has proven that, with enough diversity, there's plenty of room out there—and a clear market — for all his efforts. And with '05 seeing the release of four new Copland albums, it will be a good year to assess Copland's ongoing growth as a pianist, composer and collaborator; a continued evolution that Copland has been demonstrating in particular force since the turn of the century.
Visit Marc Copland on the web.
Selected Discography as a leader:
Brand New (Challenge, 2005)
Time Within Time (Hatology, 2005)
Night Call (Nagel Heyer, 2004)
What It Says (Sketch, 2004)
Round and Round (Nagel Heyer, 2003)
And... (Hatology, 2003)
Bookends (Hatology, 2003)
Double Play (Steeplechase, 2002)
Lunar (Hatology, 2002)
Haunted Heart and Other Ballads (Hatology, 2001)
Poetic Motion (Sketch, 2001)
That's For Sure (Challenge, 2001)
Between the Lines (Steeplechase, 2000)
Softly... (Savoy, 1998)
Paradiso (Soul Note, 1997)
Second Look (Savoy, 1996)
What's Going On (Jazzline, 1994)
Songs Without End (Zoom, 1994)
Stompin' With Savoy (Savoy, 1993)
At Night (Sunnyside, 1991)
All Blues at Night (Jazz City, 1991)
Photo Credit
Lead Photo by Juan-Carlos Hernandez
