Bill Laurance
British pianist, composer, arranger, and producer Bill Laurance makes deeply atmospheric, genre-crossing jazz and electronic music. A founding member of the Grammy-winning collective Snarky Puppy, Laurance emerged to acclaim in the mid-2000s. As a solo artist, he explores a sonically textured brand of instrumental music, blending piano with analog synths and electronics as on 2014's Flint, 2016's Aftersun, and 2019's Cables. He also leads his trio, as on 2020's Live at Ronnie Scott's and has recorded with both the WDR Big Band and Manchester's Untold Orchestra. His first-ever album of completely solo acoustic piano arrived in 2023.
Born in 1981 and raised in North London, England, Laurance started piano lessons at a young age and eventually became interested in jazz, including swing and ragtime traditions. By his teens he was playing gigs at local pubs. After secondary school, he attended the University of Leeds, studying classical music, composition, and performance. It was while at the university that he met bassist Michael League, with whom he would help found the eclectic Brooklyn-based jazz, fusion, and jam-band collective Snarky Puppy. As a member of the group, Laurance debuted on 2006's The Only Constant and has recorded over 13 albums and shared in their five Grammy Award wins.
On his own, Laurance has worked with a variety of artists including trip-hop trio Morcheeba, saxophonist Chris Potter, and West African guitarist Lionel Loueke, among others. He also leads the electronic duo the Fix. In 2014, he released his debut solo album, Flint, on GroundUp Music. He returned the following year with Swift.
In 2016, Laurance delivered his third solo effort, Aftersun. Inspired by his interest in astronomy and space exploration, the album featured appearances from fellow Snarky Puppy members Michael League and Robert "Sput" Searight, as well as New Orleans percussionist Weedie Braimah. The equally sci-fi-inspired Cables arrived in 2019. Co-produced and engineered by Nic Hard, it was originally intended as a solo piano album but eventually grew into a more sonically expansive recording with Laurance playing all the instruments himself.
Several concert albums followed, including 2019's Live at the Philharmonie, Cologne, which found him performing with saxophonist Bob Mintzer and Germany's WDR Big Band. A year later, he showcased his trio with bassist Jonathan Harvey and drummer Marijus Aleksa on Live at Ronnie Scott's. The keyboardist also supplied the score to the 2020 documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name. Two EPs, Cables Rewired and Zeal, appeared in 2021. A third live album, Bill Laurance & The Untold Orchestra Live at EFG London Jazz Festival 2021, arrived in 2022 and again featured his trio with the Manchester-based Untold Orchestra and guest saxophonist Tim Garland. That same year, Laurance released Affinity, his first album of acoustic solo piano music.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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Where You Wish You Were
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