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Jacob William
Jacob William is a multifaceted musician, bassist, composer, improviser, and educator whose work spans free jazz, contemporary improvisation, and experimental music. For over a decade, he has led and performed in ensembles dedicated to exploring spontaneous creativity and pushing the boundaries of improvised music. In 2023, Jacob released two major recordings: Degrees of Simultaneity with Para Quintet, featuring Laurence Cook, Jim Hobbs, Forbes Graham, and Steve Lantner, and Through Osmosis and Other Means with TOaOM Trio, alongside Jim Hobbs and Luther Gray.
Renowned for his deep, intuitive approach to the bass, Jacob has been praised for the way he seamlessly anchors and propels an ensemble. Veteran jazz drummer Joe Hunt describes him as “a true breath of fresh air… a special spirit… one of my favorite musicians.” He highlights Jacob’s “formidable bass skills” and calls him “rare and wonderful… inspiring and motivational… one of the most exciting [musicians] I’d ever experienced.”
Born in Chennai and raised in Bangalore, India, Jacob’s upbringing was steeped in cultural diversity and artistic inspiration. Growing up in a family committed to the arts, athletics, and academics, his early musical experiences included choir singing and informal explorations of hybrid musical styles. In his teenage years, he began playing bass guitar and quickly gained recognition, performing at concerts and festivals throughout India with forward-thinking jazz musicians. He attended Christ College, where he studied Finance and Economics, before moving to the United States in 1991 on a music scholarship to further his studies and pursue new creative opportunities.
Jacob holds a Master of Arts in Music from Wesleyan University, where he studied under Anthony Braxton, Neely Bruce, and Alvin Lucier, while training in South Indian Carnatic music with T. Viswanathan and percussion with Ramanad Raghavan and David Nelson. He also studied in the Contemporary Improvisation program at the New England Conservatory under Ran Blake and received advanced training on the bass with Cecil McBee and John Lockwood. Jacob earned his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music, specializing in Jazz Bass Performance under Bruce Gertz, Whit Browne, and Rich Appleman, and participated in masterclasses by Kenny Werner and Bob Brookmeyer.
Throughout his career, Jacob has collaborated with a wide and distinguished array of musicians, including Maynard Ferguson, Louiz Banks, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Ranjit Barot, Omar Sosa, Abraham K. Adzenyah, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, Badal Roy, Charlie Mariano, T.A.S. Mani, R. A. Ramamani, royal hartigan, and Gustavo Ovalles. His extensive work in the jazz and improvisational scenes has brought him together with Ken Vandermark, Joe Morris, Nate Wooley, Laurence Cook, Luther Gray, Jim Hobbs, Forbes Graham, Steve Lantner, Tony Malaby, Francisco Mela, Allan Chase, Neil Leonard, Dave Bryant, Curt Newton, George Garzone, Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeff Galindo, Pandelis Karayorgis, Chris Bowman, Tom Hall, Croix Galipault, Joe Hunt, Amit Heri, Jerry Sabatini, Andria Nicodemou, Eric Hofbauer, Eric Rosenthal, Jon Damian, Garrison Fewell, Jason Robinson, Bill Lowe, Charlie Kohlhase, Noah Kaplan, Bob Gullotti, Eric Zinman, Syd Smart, Glynis Lomon, Joe Moffett, and Junko Fujiwara.
Jacob’s performances span continents, with appearances in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including Indian National Television and Radio DRS in Zurich. He has contributed to over 20 recordings, with releases on labels such as Warner, Intuition, Magnasound, Not Two, and Ayler Records.
Dave Bryant: The Garden of Equilibria
by Dave Wayne
As one of the few keyboardists to perform and record with Ornette Coleman on a consistent basis, Dave Bryant stands alongside the likes of Geri Allen and Paul Bley. Yet, Bryant is not nearly as well-known. A Berklee graduate who studied privately with Coleman starting in 1983, Bryant's first appearance on record was with the trio ...
Outpost 186 March Highlights: Jacob William
Jacob William returns his Para Quintet to Outpost 186 on Saturday March 24th after an interlude of gigs in other dubious roosts. Now that he is once more in the cozier confines of the Outpost, free of the concerns attending tavern work, he'll shine at his usual level of dazzle with his astute and earnest compadres. ...
Jacob William Quartet: Secondary Deviations
by Chris Rich
Jacob William made his way to the Boston area from Chennai, India. He made the music school rounds well after formative years in the homeland among his peers there. He cites reed multi- instrumentalist Anthony Braxton as an important mentor and makes a fabric of community in Boston over the course of his sojourns through Wesleyan, ...
Jim Hobbs joins Aych and the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet at Outpost 186 on Friday Dec 23
Aych is a trio comprising Mary Halvorson guitaristry, Jim Hobbs saxophone honing and Taylor Ho Bynum cornettery in some serene survey of juxtapositions Mr. Hobbs variously describes as “porch music" This will be a Boston premiere as is a cd release show for the newly reshaped Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet brought to ears as Apparent Distance ...
Outpost 186 leans in to a piano laden summer for Inman Square, Cambridge
Piano players are coming out of the woodwork at Outpost 186. Mothers Day saw an astonishing turnout for Matthew Shipp, who followed a solo set with a long awaited Jim Hobbs duet, sponsored in part by All About Jazz. A snippet of the night awaits below. After a respite from Memorial Day, Hans Poppel has a ...
Laurence Cook and Eric Zinman - Double Action (Ayler, 2011) ****a1/2
By Stanley Zappa Laurence Cook is a national treasure. Why the cultural machinery would rather embrace bourgeois twaddle rather than reward Laurence Cook with a Guggenheim grant or Macarthur award or the key to the city of Cambridge is one of the more egregious betrayals of our modern day. Cook took the drum seat after Milford ...
