Zach Brock

Zach Brock (born August 2, 1974) is a classically trained American jazz violinist and composer. He was a member of jazz fusion super-group Snarky Puppy from 2007 to 2011 and has been again since his return to the band in 2016, in time to perform on the Grammy Award winning album, Culcha Vulcha. He has collaborated with several major jazz musicians, most notably Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, and Dave Liebman, as well as leading his own groups.[1]

Zach Brock
Born	August 2, 1974 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Violin
Labels	Secret Fort, Criss Cross, MDM, Woolgathering, Sitmom, Ropeadope, GroundUp, Dot Time, Universal Music Classics
Associated acts	Snarky Puppy, Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, Dave Liebman, Wycliffe Gordon, Zach Brock Quartet, Zach Brock & the Coffee Achievers, Alexis Cole, Matt Ulery's Loom,
Website	www.zachbrock.com

Early life

Brock was born and reared in Lexington, Kentucky. His parents, Dan and Jenny Brock, were active in the local music scene and met as members of the Lexington Singers. His education began early with Montessori School, and he started learning violin with the Suzuki method. He graduated from Bryan Station High School in 1992, before attending Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, majoring in performance violin. At Northwestern, he met Erin Harper, who later became his wife and the mother of their twin daughters.[2]

As stated in the title of one of his albums, Brock's musical career, "Almost Never Was." During his sophomore year at Northwestern, while bicycling through a busy intersection, he was struck by a hit-and-run driver. Bystanders rushed to prevent him being hit again, since he was unable to stand or walk. He suffered compound-complex fractures of the femur, fibula, and tibia of his left leg, with the patella shattered into eight pieces. More than three years of surgeries and rehabilitation from the accident set back his formal studies. However, although Northwestern did not then offer a course of study for jazz violin, Brock was allowed to audit jazz classes while recovering. Despite the delay, he graduated in 1999. [3]

Career

Brock began performing professionally and recording while still a student at Northwestern, His first recordings were with the band Spazztet which also featured guitarist Aaron Weistrop. The band's first album Beautiful Impatience was later reissued under Spazztet and Weistrop's name, and the second Silent Films was rereleased as by Spazztet and Brock. For several years after the turn of the century, Brock led and recorded with his quartet, Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers, releasing three albums between 2003 and 2007. [4][5][6]

Around 2008 Brock became a member of two different bands with which he continues to be associated. He has recorded with Matt Ulery's Loom based in Chicago on seven albums. He was on three albums with Snarky Puppy, then working in and from Dallas and on the verge of international stardom. He departed Snarky Puppy in 2011 for other projects, including touring with Stanley Clarke, but he returned to the band in 2016 and continues to be one of now Brooklyn-based band's most frequent performers. [7]

In addition to his other activities, Brock is the Boyer Artist-in-Residence at Temple University in Philadelphia. [8]

Awards and recognition

• 2013 "Rising Star Violinist" by Downbeat Magazine. [9]
• 2016 Grammy Award, Snarky Puppy, Culcha Vulcha, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album[10]

Discography

Source: [11]

The Magic Number (Secret Fort Records, 2011} Almost Never Was (Criss Cross, 2012) Purple Sounds (Criss Cross, 2014) Serendipity (Criss Cross, 2015) with Spazztet Beautiful Impatience (Vibratop Music 1997) Silent Films (Vibratop Music, 1999) with Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra Ellington Celebration (Sea Breeze, 1999) with Common Ground feat. Zach Brock & Tom Wright Common Ground (Redbelly Records, 2003) High Voltage (Delmark, 2005) with Zach Brock & the Coffee Achievers Zach Brock & the Coffee Achievers (Secret Fort Records, 2003} Chemistry (Secret Fort Records, 2005) Live at the Jazz Factory (Secret Fort Records, 2007) with Buck 65 Secret House Against the World {WEA International, 2005) with Spider Saloff Like Glass (Kopaesthetics, 2005} with Darwin Noguera Project Timeline: Matter of Time (Amazon Music, 2005) with Frank LoCrasto When You're There (Maxjazz, 2006) with P-1 Power (CD Baby, 2006) with Hidden Beach Recordings Hidden Beach Recordings Presents: Unwrapped The Ultimate Box Set (Hidden Beach, 2006) with Feathers Synchronicity (Hometapes, 2007) with Kerry Politzer You Took Me In (Polisonic, 2007) with The Mahavishnu Project Return to the Emerald Beyond (Cuneiform, 2007) with John McLean Better Angels (Origin, 2007) with Mark Sonksen Alba (Mark Sonksen, 2007) with Angus & Julia Stone A Book Like This (EMI, 2007) with Laurie Altman Laurie Altman: On Course (Albany Music Distribution, 2008) with Tim Collins Fade (Ropadope, 2008) with Matt Ulery's Loom Music Box Ballerina (Woolgathering, 2008) Themes and Scenes (Woolgathering, 2009) Flora. Fauna. Fervor. (402 Music, 2011) By a Little Light {Greenleaf Music, 2012) In the Ivory (Woolgathering, 2014) Festival (Woolgathering, 2016) Delicate Charms (Woolgathering, 2019)

with Snarky Puppy Bring Us the Bright (Sitmom, 2008) Tell Your Friends (Ropeadope, 2010) groundUP (GroundUP, 2012) Culcha Vulcha (GroundUP, 2016) Immigrance (GroundUP, 2019) with Alexis Cole The Greatest Gift (Motéma. 2009) with John Wesley Harding Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (popover / The Rebel Group, 2009) with Oso Closo Today Is Beauty's Birthday (Amazon Musi], 2009) with Scott Anderson Music From the Quiet (Amazon Musi], 2010) with Jon Gold Brazil Confidential {Zoho Music, 2010) Bossa of Possiblilty (Blu Jazz, 2012) Zach Brock & Eric Doney As If By Magic {MDM, 2012) Zach Brock & Phil Markowitz Perpetuity (Dot Time Records, 2015) with Wycliffe Gordon The Intimate Ellington: Ballads & Blues (Criss Cross, 2013) with Vinny Raniolo & Frank Vignola Melody Magic (Azica Records, 2013) with Josh Deutsch's Pannonia Another Time, Another Place (Alternate Side Records, 2013) with Bill Laurance Flint (GroundUP, 2014) with Ada Rovatti Disguise (Piloo, 2014) with Patrice Michaels Intersection: Jazz Meets Classical Song (Cedille, 2014) with Christian Finger Ananda (Strikezone Records, 2014) with The Dad Beats! Child Support (The Dad Beats!, 2014) with Al Rose Spin Spin Dizzy (Monkey Holding Peach Records, 2016) with Richard Sussman Evolution Suite {Zoho Music, 2016) with Nikolett Pankovits Magia (Nikolett Pankovits, 2016) with Sly5thAve The Invisible Man: An Orchestral Tribute to Dr. Dre (Tru Thoughts, 2017) with Idan Raichel Piano-Songs (Cumbancha, 2018) with Colby Beserra & Dan Lipton Jukebox Saloon, Vol. 2 (Yellow Sound, 2019) with Triptych (Zach Brock, Matt Ulery, Jon Deitemyer) Wonderment (Woolgathering, 2019)

References

1. "Zach Brock". Secret Fort Music. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
2. "ChamberFest Stages Fusion of Jazz+Classical". UnderMain, LLC. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
3. "Zach Brock Almost Never Was". Northwestern Magazine/Northwestern University. Spring 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
4. "Silent Films by Spazztet". CD Baby. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
5. "Spazztet Beautiful Impatience". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
6. "Spazztet Silent Films". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
7. "About Snarky Puppy". Snarky Puppy & GroundUP Music. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
8. "Zach Brock, Jazz Violin, and Genre". Temple University Library. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
9. "August 2013 issue" (PDF). DownBeat Magazine. August 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
10. "Best Contemporary Instrumental Album". Grammy Awards. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
11. "Zach Brock Credits". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Retrieved 16 November 2019.