Gary Peacock facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gary Peacock
Peacock performing in July 2003
Background information
Birth name	Gary George Peacock
Born	(1935-05-12)May 12, 1935 Burley, Idaho, U.S.
Died	September 4, 2020(2020-09-04) (aged 85) Olivebridge, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, avant-garde jazz, free jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, educator
Instruments	Double bass
Years active	1956–2020
Associated acts	Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, Masabumi Kikuchi, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Marc Copland

Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935 – September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, pianists Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Marilyn Crispell, and as a part of Keith Jarrett’s “Standards Trio” with drummer Jack DeJohnette. The trio existed for over thirty years, and recorded over twenty albums together. DeJohnette once stated that he admired Peacock's "sound, choice of notes, and, above all, the buoyancy of his playing." Marilyn Crispell called Peacock a "sensitive musician with a great harmonic sense."

Early life

Peacock was born in Burley, Idaho, on May 12, 1935; his father worked as a business consultant for grocery stores, and his mother was a homemaker. He grew up in Yakima, Washington, where he attended Yakima Senior High School, now called A.C. Davis High School. His earliest musical experiences involved playing piano, trumpet, and drums. When he was 15, he heard live jazz for the first time, attending a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert featuring Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown. Peacock graduated in 1953; while playing for his class, he had a profound experience, stating: "I was playing the drums, and had the experience of being played rather than playing... I realized that something transformative had happened... and there was this certainty. From the bottom of my feet to the top of my head, it was totally clear: 'Oh, this is the direction to go.'"

After graduating, Peacock attended the Westlake School of Music in Los Angeles but was then drafted into the Army. While stationed in Germany, he played piano in a jazz trio, but switched to bass when the group's bassist quit. Peacock recalled: "The bass player got married, and his wife didn’t want him out any more. The band’s drummer... said, 'You play bass.' I said, 'I don't want to play bass...' As it turned out, he found a pianist, and I started playing the bass." According to Peacock, he "just sort of figured it out": "I seemed to progress pretty rapidly in a very short time. And since I was stationed in Germany and there weren't any bass players anywhere, it allowed me to be available to play sessions with different people in Frankfurt and the surrounding areas." He also recalled: "The instrument felt natural. It just turned out to be a recognition, like, 'Oh, this is it. This is good.'"

Career

After being discharged from the Army in 1956, Peacock remained in Germany, playing with Hans Koller, Tony Scott, Bud Shank, Atilla Zoller, and others, before returning to Los Angeles. He recalled: "I had a standing invitation for a scholarship at Westlake College of Music. So I went to the school. They said, 'Great. Unfortunately, the school is closing.' So I had to start looking for gigs right away. That ended my scholarly education." His bass playing at the time was influenced by Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Scott LaFaro, whom he befriended. He soon established himself as a bass player, participating in sessions with Barney Kessel and Art Pepper, and, in 1962, recording with Don Ellis (Essence), Clare Fischer (First Time Out and Surging Ahead), and Prince Lasha (The Cry!). He also married fellow musician Annette Peacock (they later divorced) and began a musical association with pianist Paul Bley, with whom he would go on to record nine albums.

While in California, Peacock heard the music of Ornette Coleman. Initially dismissive, he soon changed his mind: "It challenged that fixed position I had about what jazz improvisation should be and what the rules are. It created a pivot for me to embrace a much larger musical universe."

In 1962, Peacock moved to New York, where he played with Bley and musicians such as Jimmy Giuffre, Roland Kirk, George Russell, and Archie Shepp. He also joined Bill Evans' trio, which included drummer Paul Motian, who would become a long-time associate, recording the album Trio 64 with the group in December 1963. Peacock recalled that Evans' "sense of harmony was exquisite... The harmonies, and the way that he would voice the harmonies, made a melody not only believable but [so] you wanted to fall in love with it. And because he played low, whatever the bass played, it could be heard; be an integral part of the music." In 1964, Peacock briefly joined Miles Davis' quintet, substituting for Ron Carter in April and May of that year.

He also said that Davis "didn't miss one thing. He heard everything that was happening all the time. I could hear that he was hearing it. There was that kind of focus, that kind of attention, that kind of commitment to what's happening. It was a great experience, really a great lesson. Miles was a great teacher, without teaching."

That year, he also appeared on Tony Williams' debut album, Life Time.

In 1964, Peacock joined Albert Ayler's trio, which also featured drummer Sunny Murray, and went on to tour and record with him, appearing on the groundbreaking Spiritual Unity album among others.

Peacock continued to record with Bley, Williams (Spring, which also featured Herbie Hancock, Sam Rivers, and Wayne Shorter), and others until the late 1960s, when he began experiencing health problems.

At this point, he decided to take a complete break from music. He recalled: "I got involved with macrobiotics and felt drawn to Eastern philosophies and medicine. I became a regular practitioner of macrobiotics and eventually moved to Japan for two and a half years, studying the language, history, and Oriental philosophy." Reflecting on studying the Japanese language, he stated: "There is a great lack of personal pronouns... And the effect that has... is after a time, there is a sense of spaciousness that opens up internally and externally."

By 1970, while still in Japan, Peacock began to play again, recording Eastward in Tokyo with pianist Masabumi Kikuchi and drummer Hiroshi Murakami, followed by Voices the next year. During this time he also recorded with Mal Waldron (First Encounter). In 1972, he returned to the United States and enrolled as a student at the University of Washington, where he studied biology, graduating in 1976. He resumed his musical relationship with Bley, touring Japan and recording Japan Suite. In 1977, he recorded Tales of Another with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette; together, they would later become known as the Standards Trio due to their focus on jazz standards. This was followed by December Poems, which features four solo bass pieces and two duets with saxophonist Jan Garbarek. From 1979 to 1983, Peacock also taught at the Cornish School of the Arts.

Through the 1980s and '90s, Peacock released a number of albums under his own name, and also played and toured extensively with Jarrett and DeJohnette. He also performed and recorded with a trio known as Tethered Moon, with Masabumi Kikuchi and Motian, as well as recording with Bley, Garbarek, Ralph Towner, and Marc Copland.

The following decades saw Peacock continuing to play and record in the existing trio contexts, as well as with Marilyn Crispell, Lee Konitz, and Bill Frisell, and with a new trio featuring Marc Copland and Joey Baron.

Death

Peacock died on September 4, 2020, at his home in Upstate New York. He was 85; the cause of death was undisclosed.

Attitude toward music

He also stated: "If you always wake up in the morning and realize, 'Oh my God, I'm just a beginner!,' then you're in a really good place. If you wake up in the morning and say, 'Oh, I've got that handled, I can do anything I want.' - hmm, I don't know." In another interview from 2010, Peacock said "If you've come close to death a few times or what you thought was death, you've realized there's no guarantee that you're going to be alive in the next instant. So my approach to playing is the realization that there are no guarantees anywhere. So where do I want to be, what kind of state to do I want to be in when I'm playing? It helped me to be really focused in a profound way and be really present."

Discography

Source: AllMusic

As leader

• Eastward (CBS/Sony, 1970) with Masabumi Kikuchi, Hiroshi Murakami
• Voices (CBS/Sony, 1971) with Masabumi Kikuchi, Hiroshi Murakami, Masahiko Togashi
• Tales of Another (ECM, 1977) with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette
• December Poems (ECM, 1978) with Jan Garbarek
• Shift in the Wind (ECM, 1980) with Art Lande, Eliot Zigmund
• Voice from the Past – Paradigm (ECM, 1982) with Tomasz Stanko, Jan Garbarek, Jack DeJohnette – recorded in 1981
• Guamba (ECM, 1987) with Palle Mikkelborg, Jan Garbarek, Peter Erskine
• Oracle (ECM, 1993) with Ralph Towner
• Just So Happens (Postcards, 1994) with Bill Frisell
• A Closer View (ECM, 1998) with Ralph Towner – recorded in 1995
• Now This (ECM, 2015) with Marc Copland, Joey Baron
• Tangents (ECM, 2017) with Marc Copland, Joey Baron

As a member

Tethered Moon
Trio with Masabumi Kikuchi and Paul Motian

• First Meeting (Winter & Winter, 1997) – recorded in 1990-91
• Tethered Moon (King/Paddle Wheel, 1992)
• Triangle (King/Paddle Wheel, 1993)
• Tethered Moon Play Kurt Weill (JMT, 1995) – reissued on (Winter & Winter, 2005)
• Chansons d’Édith Piaf (Winter & Winter, 1999)
• Experiencing Tosca (Winter & Winter, 2004)

As sideman

With Albert Ayler

• Ghosts (Debut, 1964 [1965])
• Prophecy (ESP-Disk, 1964 [1975])
• Albert Smiles With Sunny (InRespect, 1964 [1996])
• New York Eye and Ear Control (ESP-Disk, 1964 [1965])
• Spiritual Unity (ESP-Disk, 1965)
• Spirits Rejoice (ESP-Disk, 1965)
• The Copenhagen Tapes (Ayler Records, 1964 [2002])
• The Hilversum Session (Osmosis Records, 1964, [1980])
• Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70) (compilation: Revenant Records, 2004)

With Paul Bley

• Virtuosi (Improvising Artists, 1976) with Barry Altschul – recorded in 1967
• Mr. Joy (Limelight, 1968)
• Paul Bley with Gary Peacock (ECM, 1970)
• Ballads (ECM, 1971)
• Turning Point (Improvising Artists, 1975)
• Japan Suite (Improvising Artists, 1977)
• Partners (Owl, 1989)
• In the Evenings Out There (ECM, 1991)
• Annette (Hat ART, 1993)
• Not Two, Not One (ECM, 1998)

With Marc Copland

• My Foolish Heart (Jazz City, 1988) with John Abercrombie, Jeff Hirshfield
• All Blues at Night (Jazz City, 1989) with Tim Hagans, Bill Stewart
• At Night (album)|At Night (Sunnyside, 1992) with Billy Hart
• Paradiso (Soul Note, 1995) with Billy Hart
• Softly (1998 album)|Softly (Savoy, 1998) with Mike Brecker, Tim Hagans, Joe Lovano, Bill Stewart
• What It Says (Sketch, 2004)
• Modinha - New York Trio Recordings Vol. 1 (Pirouet, 2006) trio with Bill Stewart
• Voices - New York Trio Recordings Vol. 2 (Pirouet, 2007) trio with Paul Motian
• Insight (Pirouet, 2009)

With Marilyn Crispell

• Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: Music of Annette Peacock (ECM, 1997)
• Amaryllis (ECM, 2000)
• Azure (ECM, 2013)
• In Motion (Intakt, 2016)

With Clare Fischer

• First Time Out (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
• Surging Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1962)

With Toninho Horta

• Once I Loved (Verve, 1992)
• From Ton To Tom (VideoArts Music, 1998)

With Keith Jarrett

• Standards, Vol. 1 (ECM, 1983)
• Standards, Vol. 2 (ECM, 1983)
• Changes (ECM, 1984) – recorded in 1983
• Standards Live (ECM, 1986) – recorded in 1985
• Still Live (ECM, 1989) – recorded in 1986
• Changeless (ECM, 1989) – recorded in 1987
• Tribute (ECM, 1990) – recorded in 1989
• The Cure (ECM, 1991) – recorded in 1990
• Bye Bye Blackbird (ECM, 1993) – recorded in 1991
• At the Deer Head Inn (ECM, 1994) – recorded in 1992
• Standards in Norway (ECM, 1995) – recorded in 1989
• Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note (ECM, 1995) – recorded in 1994
• Tokyo '96 (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1996
• Whisper Not (ECM, 2000) – recorded in 1999
• Inside Out (ECM, 2001) – recorded in 2000
• Always Let Me Go (ECM, 2002) – recorded in 2001
• Up for It (ECM, 2003) – recorded in 2002
• The Out-of-Towners (ECM, 2004) – recorded in 2001
• My Foolish Heart (ECM, 2007) – recorded in 2001
• Yesterdays (ECM, 2009) – recorded in 2001
• Somewhere (ECM, 2013) – recorded in 2009
• After the Fall (ECM, 2018) – recorded in 1998

With Robert Kaddouch

• 53rd Street (Odradek, 2016)
• High Line (Odradek, 2016)

With Bud Shank

• Holiday in Brazil (World Pacific, 1958) with Laurindo Almeida
• Latin Contrasts (World Pacific, 1958) with Laurindo Almeida
• Slippery When Wet (World Pacific, 1959)
• New Groove (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
• Barefoot Adventure (Pacific Jazz, 1961)

With Tony Williams

• Life Time (Blue Note, 1964)
• Spring (Blue Note, 1966) – recorded in 1965

With others

• Franck Amsallem, Out a Day (OMD, 1990) also with Bill Stewart
• Bill Carrothers, Home Row (Pirouet) also with Bill Carrothers, Bill Stewart
• Chick Corea, Live In Montreux (GRP, 1981) also with Joe Henderson and Roy Haynes
• Lowell Davidson, Lowell Davidson Trio (ESP-Disk, 1965)
• Don Ellis, Essence (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
• Bill Evans, Trio 64 (Verve, 1963)
• Barney Kessel, Barney Kessel's Swingin' Party (Contemporary, 1963) – recorded in 1960
• Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons, The Cry! (Contemporary, 1962)
• Misha Mengelberg, Driekusman Total Loss (VaraJazz (Netherlands), 1981) – recorded in 1964
• Don Pullen, New Beginnings (Blue Note, 1988)
• Ravi Shankar, Improvisations (World Pacific, 1962)
• John Surman, Adventure Playground (ECM, 1991)
• Ralph Towner, City of Eyes (ECM, 1988)
• Mal Waldron, First Encounter (RCA Victor (Japan), 1971)
• Jimmy Woods, Awakening!! (Contemporary, 1962)
• Hōzan Yamamoto, Ginkai (Philips, Nihon Phonogram, 1971) also with Masabumi Kikuchi

Filmography

Film

Composer

Performer

Soundtrack

Television

Performer

See also

In Spanish: Gary Peacock para niños