Famed jazz pianist Phil Markowitz and noted violinist Zach Brock will give a joint jazz concert in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27. The duo will perform original works and arrangments combining their unique voices through the piano and violin.

Markowitz is acclaimed for his "unique voice in contemporary jazz" (Ira Gitler) and Tim Nelson with "Pop Matter" writes the "His haunting style and signature captivates one soul and, if music can soothe and heal, takes one spirit on a beautiful, restorative journey." Patricia Barber, MacArthur Grant Recipient and Blue Note recording artist, describes Brock as "one who proves himself as a composer, improviser and producer. With a fiercely charaismatic presence onstage, Zach is the one on whom the place your bets in jazz." 

This dynamic duo should not be missed. 

Concert is free and open to the public.

Markowitz and Brock will also give a free jazz workshop Friday afternoon for the Jazz Lab Band in room 123 in the Epley E. Lewis Band Building at 2 p.m. The workshop will cover improvisation, collaborative techniques, and performance styles. This event is also open to the public, however, space is limited. 

ABOUT THE GUEST ARTISTS

Phil Markowitz

Phil Markowitz, thirty plus year veteran of the International Jazz scene is dedicated to realizing the full potential of improvisational music within the jazz idiom.  He performs original compositions, which range from hard-cutting chromaticism to the most lyrical post-romantic ballads.  Inventive, virtuostic, and accessible, Markowitz presents a forward-looking vision for contemporary music.  His recordings as leader include "Perputity" on Dottime Records, "Catalysis" on Sunnyside Records, "Taxi Ride" (which features an incredible reunion with his lifelong friend, Toots Thielemans), "In the Woods," "Sno' Peas," "Restless Dreams" (with vibraphonist Joe Locke) and  "7 + 8," with Italian saxophonist Maurizio Giammarco.

Markowitz leads his own trio, and quartet with violinist Zach Brock, and is the pianist in the all-star group "Saxophone Summit" (with Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano and David Liebman). His credentials span a cornucopia of jazz; from the traditional to the avant-garde; from his early associations with Chet Baker and Toots Thielemans, through his respective twenty and fifteen-year affiliations with Bob Mintzer and David Liebman.

In 1979, he joined Chet Baker's band.  That four-year association yielded such recordings as "Broken Wing," "Live at Nick's Place," "Two A Day," "Live at Chateauvalion," and "Live at The Rising Sun." Markowitz has performed and/or recorded with such notables as Mel Lewis, Marion McPartland, Phil Woods, Lionel Hampton, Nick Brignola, Joe Chambers, Miroslav Vitous, Joe Williams and, an association that continues to this day, Bob Mintzer.  Phil is the pianist in Bob's quartet and big band, and can be heard on such recordings as "In The Moment," "Live at MCG," the Grammy Award-winning "Homage to Count Basie," "Quality Time," "Latin in Manhattan," "Big Band Trane," "Only in New York," "Departure," "Art of the Big Band," and "Spectrum."

Markowitz's notoriety as a composer came in the late 1970s when he was playing in a NYC club with legendary jazz harmonica player, Toots Thielemans As they were playing Markowitz's composition, "Sno' Peas," pianist Bill Evans walked in, loved the song, and asked Toots to bring it to their upcoming recording session.  Evans' and Thielemans' subsequent recording of "Sno' Peas" on the classic Grammy-nominated album, "Affinity," put Markowitz on the map as a venerable jazz composer.

For the past 16 years Markowitz has been playing, touring, and recording with saxophone master Dave Liebman. Markowitz has served as pianist, composer, and/or producer on such albums as "A Walk in the Clouds," "Meditations," "New Vista," "Voyage," "Return of the Tenor," "Songs for My Daughter," "Miles Away" and "Turn It Around." They have also recorded two duo albums, "But Beautiful" and "Manhattan Dialogues" on ZOHO records.  Also with Liebman, Phil is the pianist with the all-star group "Saxophone Summit," with Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano, (Lieb), Billy Hart, and Cecil McBee. The first CD, with Michael Brecker, "Gathering of the Spirits," received wide critical acclaim. The group, now reformed, with Ravi Coltrane, has released "Seraphic Light" and tours regularly in the US and Europe.

Markowitz has been artist in residence in major conservatories and universities throughout the world including the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Stockholm Conservatory of Music, North Carolina School for the Arts, and many others around the world. Academically speaking, however, his home base is the Manhattan School of Music, where he is a professor in the graduate and doctoral divisions.

Markowitz has received endowments and multiple grants from The Howard Foundation, Chamber Music America-The Doris Duke Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Foundation for the Arts.

Zach Brock

Heralded as "the pre-eminent improvising violinist of his generation," Zach Brock is an violinist and composer whose music draws on the traditions of jazz, classical, world, and popular music. Brock received his first Grammy Award in 2017 for his work on Snarky Puppy's album Culcha Vulcha and Downbeat Magazine named him the 'Rising star Violinist' of 2013.

His acclaim as a bandleader has grown through appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall and festivals like "Tudo é Jazz" in Brazil, while his reputation as a sideman has spread through his work with legendary bassist Stanley Clarke, contemporary instrumental super-group Snarky Puppy, and jazz masters Phil Markowitz and Dave Liebman. Brock has made 10 recordings as a leader or co-leader and is the first violinist to record for the venerable Dutch jazz label Criss Cross. Brock has also represented the U.S. Department of State as a musical ambassador in the Solomon Islands, has performed as a featured soloist for two Sundance Festival feature film scores, and is currently an "Artist in Residence" at Temple University in Philadelphia.