Bill Laurance

Last updated

Bill Laurance
Bill-Laurance DSC08513.jpg
Laurance in Denmark in 2020
Background information
Born (1981-04-02) 2 April 1981 (age 43)
London, England, UK [1]
Genres Jazz, classical, electronic, fusion
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, arranger, producer
Instrument(s) Piano, keyboards
Years active1995–present
Labels GroundUP Music, Flint Music
Member of Snarky Puppy
Website billlaurance.com

Bill Laurance (born 2 April 1981) is an English composer, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Laurance is a member of jazz fusion and funk band Snarky Puppy, [2] as well as founder and CEO of London-based record label Flint Music. [3]

Contents

Biography

Bill Laurance was born on 2 April 1981 and raised in North London, England. As a child he attended William Tyndale primary school, during which he began learning piano and playing with his school band. [4] At age 9 Laurance performed on organ during a school trip to London's renowned live-music venue Union Chapel, a locale he would later again perform at as an adult during the recording of his fourth studio album Live at Union Chapel. [5] Having been trained on ragtime and swing, Laurance first began playing jazz at the age of 14 when he became the resident performer for a small restaurant in the Soho district on the West End of London. [6] As an adult Laurance attended and graduated from the University of Leeds, studying classical music, composition, and performance. [6] [7]

During his tenure at Leeds, Laurance met traveling University of North Texas jazz student Michael League, the two going on to perform a number of shows together in the UK. [7] It was here that League and Laurance became close friends. League subsequently invited Laurance to join jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy before the recording of the group's first studio album. With Snarky Puppy's first album The Only Constant releasing in 2006, it wasn't until 2014 when Laurance would go on to release his first solo album Flint.

Laurance is also an artist in residency at Morley College and has taught master classes as a visiting lecturer with The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. [8] [9]

Film composition

Laurance was a 2018 participant of the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab, taking place at Skywalker Sound in California. [10] His debut feature film score was for Un Traductor (2018), [11] an independent drama by directing brothers Sebastián and Rodrigo Barriuso which was named as Cuba's official entry for the 92nd Academy Awards. [12] [13] Laurance also wrote several themes for Initials S.G. (2019), [11] a film for which co-director and writer Rania Attieh won the 2019 Nora Ephron award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. [14] [15] Laurance has also worked alongside Marcus Eaton as composer for the 2019 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name . [11] [16]

Collaborations

Laurance frequently collaborated with the guitarist, singer, and songwriter David Crosby. He co-wrote and featured on piano in Crosby's track Your Own Ride, lifted from the 2018 album, Here If You Listen . [17] Laurance is also featured on two tracks from Crosby's 2016 studio album, Lighthouse. Additionally, Laurance provided piano on the recording Somebody Home, dual featured on both Crosby's 2017 album Sky Trails , [18] and Snarky Puppy's 2016 album Family Dinner – Volume 2. [19] In a 2018 interview, Crosby described Laurance as "one of the best piano players I've ever met in my life." [20]

In November 2018, Laurance collaborated with the WDR Big Band of Cologne, performing concerts at Kölner Philharmonie [21] and Southbank's Queen Elizabeth Hall [22] in London. The concert in Cologne was recorded and resulted in a live album consisting of nine Laurance compositions, arranged by bandleader Bob Mintzer. [23]

As a member of Snarky Puppy, Laurance has collaborated with a number of artists and groups, including the Metropole Orkest, with whom the band won a GRAMMY award for the 2016 album, Sylva. [24] As part of their Family Dinner Vol.1 and Family Dinner Vol. 2 albums, Laurance collaborated with artists including Lalah Hathaway (whom he also accompanied at the GroundUP Music Festival in 2019 [25] ), Salif Keita, Susana Baca, Laura Mvula and Jacob Collier.

Awards and honors

Personal Views

Brexit

In 2019, while touring in Berlin, Germany, to promote his studio album Cables, Laurance played a completely improvisational piano piece channeling the emotions elicited by the UK electorate's decision to officially withdraw from the European Union (EU), commonly referred to as Brexit. Laurance described the decision to leave the EU and the ensuing political events as "total madness and chaos", stating "It's devastating, the prospect, that [he] as a British person wouldn't be part of Europe." In a related interview with Sam Howson of UK film group Mascot Video, Laurance stated "Everything is about to become more segregated and divided. I believe now, more than ever, we need to celebrate what we have in common over what we don't." [30]

In a 2019 interview with Band on the Wall, Laurance shared "I think now more than ever that it’s important to be active about this stuff. There are things I’ve shied away from in the past, but now I feel like it’s part of the responsibility of a musician to raise these things and be more active. It’s passivity that has led us to Brexit, Trump… so we have to be more engaged". [31]

Technology and science

In 2019, Laurance released his fifth solo record Cables which was influenced heavily by technology, science fiction, and science fact. In an interview with David Vincent of BrumNotes magazine, Laurance stated, "I’m fascinated by technology and the speed at which it’s growing and I think that it has to be harnessed in some way. If you’re dealing in any creative world I think technology, and using technology, is an important part, and has to be an important part, of what we do." [32] Examples of Laurance's passion for science and technology can be found throughout Cables, as many of the songs are inspired, named after, and composed in honour of these subjects. [33]

Track two of Cables, entitled HAL, is named after the fictional artificially intelligent (AI) computer HAL 9000, a character in Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'. [34] Track four of Cables, entitled Ebb Tide, was inspired by climate change and the fragility of the Earth's now rising sea level. [35] While performing Ebb Tide at Kölner Philharmonie in Cologne, Germany, Laurance stated "Climate change is real." [34] The final and eighth track of Cables, entitled Cassini, is named after the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, whose mission was to study Saturn. The cadence of the song follows the spacecraft's final mission, commonly referred to as the "Grand Finale", in which the satellite was deliberately sacrificed in order to maximum scientific output while also preventing biological contamination of Saturn's local moons. [36] [37]

Climate change

Laurance has been vocal about his acceptance of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. Laurance is amongst the musicians and music organisations who have signed the Music Declares Emergency declaration, which calls for 'an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth.' [38] During a 2019 concert at La Petite Halle, Paris, Laurance stated "Climate change is real [...] we have to be more active about it." [39]

Discography

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
US
Contemporary Jazz [40] Jazz [41] New Age [42]
2014Flint1633—
2015Swift
  • Released: 27 April 2015
  • Label: GroundUP
  • Formats: CD, digital download
10——
2016Aftersun
  • Released: 4 March 2016
  • Label: Universal Classics, GroundUP
  • Formats: CD, digital download
719—
2016Live at Union Chapel
  • Released: 11 November 2016
  • Label: Universal Classics, GroundUP
  • Formats: CD, digital download
15——
2019Cables
  • Released: 8 March 2019
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download
——6
2019Live at the Philharmonie, Cologne
  • Released: 8 November 2019
  • Label: Jazzline
  • Formats: CD, digital download
———
2020Live at Ronnie Scott's
  • Released: 14 February 2020
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download
———
2020David Crosby: Remember My Name (Original Score)
  • Released: 21 February 2020
  • Label: BMG
  • Formats: Digital download
———
2021Cables Rewired
  • Released: 14 May 2021
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: Digital download
———
2021Zeal EP
  • Released: 19 November 2021
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: Digital download
———
2022Bill Laurance & The Untold Orchestra Live at EFG London Jazz Festival 2021
  • Released: 3 June 2022
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: Digital download
———
2022Affinity
  • Released: 28 October 2022
  • Label: Flint Music
  • Formats: Record, digital download
———
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As group member or sideman: [43] [44]

with Eddie Roberts

with Snarky Puppy

with Gabby Young & Other Animals

with David Crosby

with Ana Silvera

with The Sachal Ensemble

with Michael League

featured on:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Mendoza</span> American musician

Vince Mendoza is an American composer, music arranger and conductor. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Köln, as well as arranging music for musicians such as John Scofield, Joni Mitchell, Michael Brecker and Björk. Over the course of his career, he has won seven Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award and has been nominated for a total of 38 between the two awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ropeadope Records</span> American record label

Ropeadope Records is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, hip hop, gospel, and electronic music. The label, now led by Louis Marks, was founded in 1999 by Andy Hurwitz in New York City and later moved to Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Reynolds (saxophonist)</span> American musician (born 1977)

Bob Reynolds is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. A solo recording artist since 2000, he has been a member of the popular "genre-bending" instrumental group Snarky Puppy since 2014, winning Grammy Awards with the band for the albums Culcha VulchaLive at the Royal Albert Hall, and Empire Central.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Willis</span> Canadian composer and keyboarder

Michelle Willis is a British-born, Canadian-raised singer/songwriter and keyboard player. She performs regularly as a solo artist and as a side musician with David Crosby and Becca Stevens. She has also worked with Iggy & The Stooges, Laura Mvula, Snarky Puppy, The Parachute Club, and the Zac Brown Band.

The Metropole Orkest is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it combines jazz, big band and classical symphony orchestra styles. Comprising between 52 and 97 musicians, it is versatile across many musical forms, and is equipped with a "double rhythm section" – one for pop and rock, and one for jazz based music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snarky Puppy</span> American jazz ensemble

Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becca Stevens</span> American jazz, pop, and folk singer

Becca Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who draws upon elements of jazz, chamber pop, indie rock, and folk.

Jules Buckley is an English conductor, composer, and arranger.

<i>Family Dinner – Volume 1</i> 2013 studio album by Snarky Puppy

Family Dinner – Volume 1 is an album by the American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released in 2013.

<i>Sylva</i> (album) 2015 live album by Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest

Sylva is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on May 26, 2015. It was a collaboration between the band and the Metropole Orkest from the Netherlands. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. According to Michael League, each song on the album is about a different forest.

<i>Culcha Vulcha</i> 2016 studio album by Snarky Puppy

Culcha Vulcha is an album by American jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy that was released on April 29, 2016. The album includes performances by a number of musicians associated with the band and called "the Fam". The band's first studio album in eight years since Bring Us the Bright, it was recorded at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas near El Paso and Atlantic Sound Studios in Brooklyn, New York, by Nic Hard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Collier</span> English musician (born 1994)

Jacob Collier is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmonisations and close harmony. He is known for his energetic live performances, in which he often conducts the audience to sing harmony or play percussion parts. Collier demonstrates his harmonic expertise in lectures and master classes, particularly with his detailed analyses of songs like Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" and his own music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael League</span> American musician

Michael League is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq with keyboardist Henry Hey, and is also an owner and founder of the record label GroundUP Music. League has won five Grammy Awards.

GroundUP Music is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, world music, folk, rock, and gospel. The label was founded in 2012 by Michael League as a home for his band Snarky Puppy. The roster of acts on the label has since expanded, with several artists and bands being tied to Snarky Puppy and/or members of that band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malika Tirolien</span> Musical artist

Malika Tirolien is a Montreal-based singer-songwriter and pianist. She sang on the Grammy Award winning album Family Dinner – Volume 1 by Snarky Puppy.

Zach Brock is an American jazz violinist and composer. He has been a member of Snarky Puppy since 2007 and has worked with Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, and Dave Liebman, as well as leading his own groups.

<i>Live at the Royal Albert Hall</i> (Snarky Puppy album) 2020 live album by Snarky Puppy

Live at the Royal Albert Hall is the fourteenth album by the American jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy and the group's first live, in-concert album for general release. It was recorded on November 14, 2019, and released on March 6, 2020. The album was released in sets of 2 CDs, 3 LPs, or 2 CDs and 3 LPs. The release won a Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Mark Lettieri is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, funk band The Fearless Flyers, and also performs with his quartet, the Mark Lettieri Group. His background spans several genres including jazz, rock and funk. He has released seven solo albums. His 2021 album Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 2 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Searight</span> American musician

Robert "Sput" Searight is an American drummer, composer and producer best known for his work with jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy and as co-founder of the percussion-based band Ghost-Note. His background spans several genres including jazz, funk, hip-hop and gospel. He has toured and recorded with a variety of artists including Kirk Franklin, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Erykah Badu and Toto. He has received a Grammy award for his work on the album God's Property.

<i>Empire Central</i> 2022 studio album by Snarky Puppy

Empire Central is the fifteenth album and seventh live album by American band Snarky Puppy. Released on September 30, 2022, on GroundUP Music, it won Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 65th Grammy Awards.

References

  1. ↑ "Bill Laurance discography". RateYourMusic. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "Bill Laurance | Artists | GroundUP Music". groundupmusic.net. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Artists | Flint Music". flintmusic.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  4. ↑ Laurance, Bill (11 November 2016) [23 May 2016]. The Good Things - Live, Live at Union Chapel (CD). Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London. 7:44 minutes in.
  5. ↑ Garratt, Rob (23 January 2017). "Snarky Puppy's Bill Laurance on his new album and how he is ushering in a new jazz movement". The National. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  6. 1 2 "The Inherent Spirituality in Music: Bill Laurance's Exclusive › Bop Spots". Bop Spots. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 Nash, Louise (30 January 2014). "Grammy win for School of Music alumnus". www.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "Bill Laurance". Morley College. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Bill Laurance Masterclass". ICMP. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "BMI and Skywalker Sound Complete Another Successful Year of Supporting Sundance Institute Lab". BMI.com. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 "Bill Laurance". IMDb. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "New Cuban films submitted to Oscars and Goya awards: 'Un Traductor' and 'Inocencia' (+ Trailers)". Cuba 50. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  13. ↑ "Oscars: Cuba Selects UN TRADUCTOR as its Academy Awards Candidate". Cinema Tropical. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  14. ↑ McNary, Dave (2 May 2019). "'Burning Cane,' Wendell Pierce, Haley Bennett Win Tribeca Awards". Variety. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Tribeca: 'Burning Cane,' 'Scheme Birds' Among Awards Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME". Sony Pictures Classics + Mixed Media Workshop. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  17. ↑ "Here If You Listen - David Crosby | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  18. ↑ "David Crosby - Sky Trails". Discogs. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  19. ↑ "Snarky Puppy - Family Dinner Volume Two". Discogs. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  20. ↑ David Crosby - "Your Own Ride " Behind The Track , retrieved 6 October 2019
  21. ↑ www.mir.de, m i r media-Digital Agency-. "B. Laurance, WDR Big Band, B. Mintzer". Kölner Philharmonie. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  22. ↑ "Bill Laurance and Bob Mintzer's WDR Big Band come to the EFG London Jazz Festival". EFG London Jazz Festival. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  23. ↑ "WDR Big Band und Bill Laurance Part 1". WDR Nachrichten (in German). 25 November 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  24. ↑ "Snarky Puppy". GRAMMY.com. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  25. ↑ Lalah Hathaway and Bill Laurance - GUM Fest VIP Brunch Performance , retrieved 16 October 2019
  26. ↑ Fordham, John (7 October 2014). "Bill Laurance Project review – visually evocative jazz gets bodies swaying". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  27. ↑ "Jazz FM Awards" . Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  28. 1 2 3 "Snarky Puppy". GRAMMY.com. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  29. ↑ "The 50 Greatest Live Jazz Albums". UDiscoverMusic. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  30. ↑ Brexit Improv. with Bill Laurance. Live improvisation in Berlin , retrieved 7 October 2019
  31. ↑ "Bill Laurance on the thrill of solo performance and his new concept record, Cables". Band on the Wall. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  32. ↑ Vincent, David (14 April 2019). "Technology liberates Bill Laurance". Brum Notes Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  33. ↑ "Cables, by Bill Laurance". Bandcamp. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  34. 1 2 Desmicht, Fabian (26 April 2019). "Bill Laurance's 'Cables' – Soothing sounds for the wireless age". Unearthing Music. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  35. ↑ "Climate Science Special Report". science2017.globalchange.gov: 1–470. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  36. ↑ Blaber, Phillippa; April 3, Angélique Verrecchia on; Contamination, 2014 in Interplanetary; Life, Extraterrestrial (3 April 2014). "Cassini-Huygens: Preventing Biological Contamination". Space Safety Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ↑ "NASA Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings". NASA Solar System Exploration. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  38. ↑ "Music Declares Emergency". Music Declares Emergency. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  39. ↑ JAZZLIVE at La Petite Halle (21st February 2019) , retrieved 7 October 2019
  40. ↑ "Bill Laurance Chart History - Contemporary Jazz Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  41. ↑ "Bill Laurance Chart History - Jazz Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  42. ↑ "Bill Laurance Chart History - New Age Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  43. ↑ "Bill Laurance/Credits". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  44. ↑ "Music". Flint Music. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.