John Abercrombie © Andrea Canter

Born 27 May 1948, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Copland was a part of the vibrant music scene in Philadelphia as a saxophonist before going to New York where he met John Abercrombie and also played with Chico Hamilton, and others. He experimented with the electric alto but gradually became dissatisfied with the direction his music was taking and, leaving New York, quit playing the sax in order to study piano. He was gone for almost a decade but upon his return to the jazz world in the mid-80s his piano playing was a revelation, his own vividly original style firmly in place. As a sideman he played with Bob Belden, Jane Ira Bloom, Joe Lovano, Tim Hagans, James Moody, Wallace Roney and many others.

But his career as a sideman in the New York was relatively short-lived; Copland began recording and touring in trio with Gary Peacock and Billy Hart (At Night/Sunnyside, Paradiso/Soul Note) In the nineties, his reputation spread because of three legendary recordings with the Savoy label, which put him on the road in an All-Star quintet (Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, and Dennis Chambers), and later in quartet with guitarist John Abercrombie, Drew Gress, and drummer Hart.

Copland has enthralled audiences not only in trio and as a solo pianist, but also as a duo partner without peer--as attested by his duo recordings with Greg Osby (Night Call, Round and Round/Nagel-Heyer) and Gary Peacock (What It Says/Sketch).

Over a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, John Abercrombie has established himself as one the masters of jazz guitar. Favoring unusual sounds (he played electronic mandolin on McCoy Tyner's 1993 album 4x4) and nontraditional ensembles (recent quartet recordings have included violinist Mark Feldman).

Born on December 16, 1944 in Port Chester, New York, Abercrombie grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he began playing the guitar at age 14. Like many teenagers at the time, he started out imitating Chuck Berry licks. But it was the bluesy music of Barney Kessel that attracted him to jazz. Abercrombie enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music and teamed up with other students to play local clubs and bars.  Organist Johnny Hammond Smith spotted the young Abercrombie and invited him to go on tour while he was still a student. During the same period, Ambercrombie also met the Brecker Brothers, who invited him to become a new part of their group Dreams, which would become one the prominent jazz-rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Abercrombie appears on the group's eponymous debut album.

After graduating from Berklee, Abercrombie headed to New York, where he quickly became one of New York's most in-demand session players. He recorded with Gil Evans, Gato Barbieri, and Barry Miles, to name a few. He was also a regular with Chico Hamilton's group, where he first met Marc Copland.  In the early 1970s, Abercrombie rrecorded his first album as a leader, Timeless on ECM, backed by Jan Hammer and Jack DeJohnette. Abercrombie's second album, Gateway, was released in November 1975 with DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland; a second Gateway recording was released in June 1978.

Throughout the 1990s and into 2000 and beyond, Abercrombie has continued to pluck from the ranks of jazz royalty--and be plucked for guest appearances on other artists' recordings. One propitious relationship was with guitarist, pianist, and composer Ralph Towner, with whom Abercrombie has worked in a duet setting. (Abercrombie has also worked in guitar duos with John Scofield, for 1993's Solar and with Joe Beck in Coincidence, released in 2007). Abercrombie has also recorded with saxophonist Jan Garbarek and bassist Eddie Gomez. Abercrombie keeps up a heavy touring schedule and continues to record with ECM, a relationship that has spanned more than 30 years.

The Kitano is located at 68 Park Ave. @ 38th Street NYC. For reservations call 212 885 7119 or visit  www.kitano.com

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