Christian Jacob

Multi-Grammy nominated pianist and arranger Christian Jacob first gained widespread exposure as music director for Maynard Ferguson and later as leader of the Christian Jacob Trio and co-leader of the Tierney Sutton Band. Christian is also the musical director for both Broadway legend Betty Buckley and American icon Jack Jones. He has performed around the globe, with many of the musical giants that inspired him since childhood. Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, Randy Brecker, Miroslav Vitous, Benny Golson, Bobby Watson and Bill Holman to name just a few.

Born in Lorraine, France, Christian Jacob fell in love with classical music at age 4 and discovered jazz at age 9. After graduating with “First Prize” from the Paris Conservatory, Jacob came to America to study improvisation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While attending Berklee Christian won a number of awards, including the Oscar Peterson Jazz Masters Award, the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and "Downbeat" magazine's distinction as Top Collegiate Jazz Soloist. He went on to teach at Berklee, tour with Maynard Ferguson, perform and record with a number of jazz legends and was listed by The Japan Times as one of the best-selling foreign jazz pianists in Japan. His extensive discography includes five critically acclaimed trio recordings and six Grammy nominations from his alliance with vocalist Tierney Sutton, drummer Ray Brinker and bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt. Christian also received a Grammy Nomination for his arranging work with The Phil Norman Tentet.

With his trio (featuring bassist Trey Henry and drummer Ray Brinker), Christian released several outstanding recordings. Styne & Mine, a collection of Christian’s originals and music by Jule Styne; Contradictions, a look at the original compositions of renowned pianist Michel Petrucciani; Live in Japan. The trio’s latest recording, The Originals, is a captivating story-like collection of original compositions. While this recording is truly all about jazz trio, a beautifully orchestrated string section adds depth to 8 of the compositions.

Christian’s solo piano recording, Beautiful Jazz: a private concert, is aptly titled as this intimate solo recording is a dedication to the music that drew him away from the classical world and introduced him to the beautiful world of jazz. Years in the making it is one of the works he is most proud of and was recorded in pure analog and available as a limited-edition vinyl LP.

While Christian performs year round, his arranging and orchestration skills are highly sought after. He has been arranging for the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra since 1990 and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra since 2005, featuring such talented artists as John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Charlie Haden, Phil Woods, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter and Gary Burton.

Tags

Christian jacob piano Los Angeles Arranger Composer Conductor Film Scoring

Album Review

Time Lines by Jim Santella
Styne & Mine by Jack Bowers
Contradictions by Jack Bowers
Live in Japan by Jack Bowers

“The phenomenal pianist Christian Jacob — created dense, polyrhythmic thickets that overlaid two or more Latin grooves, through which Mr. Jacob's piano solos sprang out and hurtled.” - Stephen Holden (The New York Times) “Descriptive words such as virtuoso and genius are not words I easily throw around. When I first heard Christian Jacob I knew he was something special... I believe that Christian Jacob is about to become a major force in jazz today!” -Maynard Ferguson “A post-bop modernist touched by the souls of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett… Pianist Christian Jacob is a wonderful player whose crystalline melodies and expansive harmonies mark him as someone to keep an ear on.” -Jazz Times “A talented jazz piano newcomer, Christian Jacob shines and has the post-Bill Evans sound well in hand.” Reviews CHRISTIAN JACOB TRIO
Contradictions (WilderJazz)

“The phenomenal pianist Christian Jacob — created dense, polyrhythmic thickets that overlaid two or more Latin grooves, through which Mr. Jacob's piano solos sprang out and hurtled.” - Stephen Holden (The New York Times) “Descriptive words such as virtuoso and genius are not words I easily throw around. When I first heard Christian Jacob I knew he was something special... I believe that Christian Jacob is about to become a major force in jazz today!” -Maynard Ferguson “A post-bop modernist touched by the souls of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett… Pianist Christian Jacob is a wonderful player whose crystalline melodies and expansive harmonies mark him as someone to keep an ear on.” -Jazz Times “A talented jazz piano newcomer, Christian Jacob shines and has the post-Bill Evans sound well in hand.” Reviews CHRISTIAN JACOB TRIO
Contradictions (WilderJazz)

I was a devoted fan of Michel Petrucciani, so it is surprising that it took Christian Jacob’s new album to reveal the permanence of Petrucciani’s work as a composer. Petrucciani recorded prolifically in his short life, in a variety of settings, and his own tunes always seemed like movements in the album-length suites he wove together from diverse found and invented materials. Christian Jacob is such a fluent, polished pianist—and his long- term working trio with bassist Trey Henry and drummer Ray Brinker is so tight—that he is able to reveal the luminous melodic essences inside Petrucciani’s complex irregular forms. Once you have heard Jacob’s elegantly detailed and finished renderings of Petrucciani lines like “Looking Up” and “Even Mice Dance” and “13th” and “Memories of Paris,” it becomes remarkable that these songs have remained largely unexplored by jazz players. Jacob presents them as such meticulous and complete designs, and such rich sources for improvisation, that he newly claims their place in jazz literature.

When Petrucciani died at 36 in 1999, the French critic Francis Marmande wrote, “If the death of a musicians touches us in a special way, it is because they take their secrets with them.” With Contradictions, Christian Jacob has performed the valuable service of revealing that Michel Petrucciani left some of his secrets behind.

-Thomas Conrad

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