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Mike Nock's 'High Five'
Mike Nock's 'High Five' New Zealand born pianist/composer Mike Nock is one of the acknowledged masters of jazz in Australasia. His reputation rests…
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New Zealand born pianist/composer
Mike Nock
is one of the acknowledged masters of jazz in Australasia. His reputation rests partly on his imposing international experience which includes …
twenty-five years working in the USA with many of the world’s top jazz musicians such as: Coleman Hawkins, Yusef Lateef, Dionne Warwick, Michael Brecker, etc…
a large catalogue of critically acclaimed, internationally released recordings
his role as leader of the 1970’s seminal jazz-rock group The Fourth Way
a substantial body of original compositions in print and on recordings
Widely recognized for his abilities, his honours include the New Zealand Order of Merit ONZM in 2003, for services to jazz. His most recent recording Mike Nock’s BigSmallBand LIVE ( ABC/Jazz ) was voted Australian contemporary CD of the year at the 2004 Australian Bell Awards and he has twice won New Zealand Jazz Re-cording of the Year ( in 1987 for OPEN DOOR, a duo recording with drummer Frank Gibson Jr., soon to be re-released on CD, and in 1989 for his trio CD, BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP ) He was awarded top piano/ keyboard honors at the Australian Critic’s Awards in 1991,‘92, & ‘93 and his quartet won Australian Jazz Group of the Year at the 1991 MO awards.
In 1983 he hosted his own TV series “Nock On Jazz” and in 1993 was the subject of a TVNZ documentary widely shown in Australasia ( SBS & TVNZ ).
Recipient of three US National Endowment Fellowships for composition ( 1972, 1975 & 1978 ) in 1999 he was awarded a two year Australian Arts Council Fel-lowship. From 1996 to 2001 he was music director of Naxos/Jazz records, over-seeing the production of more than 70 critically acclaimed jazz CDs, from all corners of the world.
The Jazzgroove recording The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra plays the music of Mike Nock was released in January 2006. Read our review of Mike Nock’s duo album with saxophone great Dave Liebman on Birdland records
‘Duologue’
“Where to start and what to include? This list of five memorable gigs could have easily been a lot longer, starting with the El Rocco’s early days” …
1. ORNETTE COLEMAN at the Five Spot NYC 1961.
In 1961, fresh off the boat from England, I found myself listening to Ornette Coleman at the original Five Spot, a very small club in downtown New York. Don Cherry was playing trumpet, Ed Blackwell drums and Jimmy Garrison on bass. Musical bliss!
2. MILES DAVIS QUINTET WITH FREDDIE HUBBARD at the Village Vanguard NYC
The first time I heard Miles Davis was at the Village Vanguard with Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers and Hank Mobley. Miles allowed trumpeter Freddie Hubbard to sit in for much of the night, which was an in-teresting comparison with the master. The music of course, was sublime.
3. SONNY ROLLINS TRIO at the Village Vanguard NYC
Another memorable gig was hearing Sonny Rollins with his trio, bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Roy McCurdy, at the Vanguard, one Sunday afternoon. I don’t remember anyone else soloing, but everything Sonny played that day sounded inevitable, like a great symphony. The kind of musical experience one dreams about.
4. STEVE LACY WITH ROGER FRAMPTON at the Basement
I heard Roger Frampton display his awesome talents countless times, but the time I felt his genius really shone through was at the Basement with saxophonist Steve Lacy, John Pochee and Steve Elphick. It was at a late stage of his illness and Roger rose to the heights of his genius, playing like a man possessed.
5. MICHEL PETRUCCIANI
I went to a piano concert where the first hint I had of something different was the strange contraption someone brought out and at-tached to the piano pedals. This person then re-appeared with a bundle in his arms which he deposited at the piano, which turned out to be Michel Petrucciani. I remember thinking - if this guy can play anything worth hearing it would be OK, as the only things normal sized about him were his hands and head. Was I in for a surprise. It was an awesome performance. God was truly in the house that night!
