Bob Gluck

Pianist Bob Gluck is a pianist and writer whose repertoire spans jazz, live electronic music, and avant-garde concert music. Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz) wrote: “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor… [his 2011 FMR CD with Michael Bisio and Dean Sharp] “Something Quiet” is completely original, artistically spontaneous, and intellectually challenging.” Jazz Review describes his subsequent FMR recording “Returning” as displaying “an intensity and sensitivity that is spellbinding.”

The latest of Gluck's nine recordings are “Infinite Spirit: Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band” (FMR, 2016; with Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, and Christopher Dean Sullivan), and two sets of duets with, respectively, fellow pianist Aruan Ortiz (”Textures and Pulsations,” 2012) and saxophonist Andrew Sterman (”Tropelets,” 2014), both on Ictus Records.

Gluck is author of two books published by University of Chicago Press, “You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band” (2012) and “The Miles Davis ‘Lost’ Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles” (2016). A revised Italian edition "Il Quintetto perduto e altre rivoluzioni" (Miles Davis, the Lost Quintet and other revolutions) was released by Quodlibet Chorus in November 2020.

Gluck’s collaborators have included Eddie Allen, Michael Bisio, Jane Ira Bloom, Billy Hart, Christopher Dean Sullivan, Ken Filiano, Joe Giardullo, Eddie Henderson, Karl Latham, Ras Moshe Burnett, Warren Smith, Aruan Ortiz, Neil Rolnick, Dean Sharp, Andrew Sterman, and Tani Tabbal.

Gear

Steinway M piano, Moog PianoBar, Moog Little Phatty, Roland and Studiologic keyboard controllers, Mac laptop with custom performance interfaces programmed with Max/MSP.

Tags

Bob Gluck piano

Album Review

Sideways by Hrayr Attarian
Something Quiet by Karl Ackermann
Something Quiet by Glenn Astarita
Returning by Karl Ackermann
Returning by Henry Smith

Allan Kozinn, New York Times: "an accomplished jazz pianist. Mr. Gluck performed... with virtuosic fluidity." Eric Lawrence (Chronogram): "an accomplished and passionate pianist in the most elusive tradition of avant-garde masters Cecil Taylor, Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, and Don Pullen." Michael Bergman (Berkshire Advocate): "The remarkable wave of sound overcomes the consciousness of the listener transporting him or her to another place..." (about 'Stories Heard and Retold').

About ‘Something Quiet’ (FMR, 2011) with Joe Giardullo and Christopher Dean Sullivan: Karl Ackermann (All About Jazz): “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor. The model for Something Quiet incorporates structure, power and the lack of restrictions... Something Quiet is completely original, artistically spontaneous, and intellectually challenging.” Doug Simpson (Audiofile Audition): “… a musical tapestry where anything can and often does happen… [Gluck’s] reharmonized version of Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” … has a subtle shape that reinforces Hancock’s original objective while including chordal and melodic adaptations that deliver a distinct edge to Gluck’s translation. While Gluck is in the limelight most of the time, Sullivan supports with underpinned emotive interaction.” Bob Gish (Jazz Inside): “… the merger of feeling and melody, rhythm and sound… a partnership of resonance and vibration delivering to the fullest … enhanced by the sweetest of pulsing rhythms and cascading notes… road signs of timelessness.” Gregory Applegate Edwards (Grapplegate Music Review): “shows the subtle sensitivity of a pianist who has listened carefully to what's good in improvisational music today... Joe Giardullo... control, timbre, and phrasing of a master. Christopher Dean Sullivan brings in the bottom as a third line-creating voice... Put all that together and you get music that challenges your ears at the same time as it delivers musico-logical brilliance.”

The Bob Gluck Trio's premiere recording 'Sideways' (FMR 2008): Hrayr Attarian (JazzTimes Community): "a near classic work of art, one that will easily withstand the test of time and especially with the pristine sound of the CD will definitely reward repeated listenings." Cadence magazine: it is "a potent first document of this expansive trio, with Gluck's open-ended compositions and those of others sparking the creative improvised explorations from all." Free Jazz Blog: "... a trio of three equal instruments creating a "total sound", a broad listening experience, that does not need to rely on melody, but comes to its full effect when the musicians' creativity leads us into new territory... the trio' s version of 'Lonely Woman' is brilliant. Ornette Coleman's beautiful tune is fully in sync with the rest of the album's desperate tone, full of shattered hope, and deep longing for a better world. Great music. I truly hope to hear more from this trio in the future."

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