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Zach Brock and The Magic Number

Presented by PSALM - The Philadelphia Society for Art, Literature and Music at PSALM - The Philadelphia Society for Art, Literature and Music

December 3, 2011

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Having found a collaborative niche for himself in New York's vast jazz community, Zach Brock's next grand artistic step was finding a way to promote his name and his music.

To a degree, the Lexington-born violinist already knew the path. He had released a series of fine indie recordings while based in Chicago with his contemporary-minded troupe, The Coffee Achievers. All picked up favorable critical notice as Brock's career moved him to New York in 2005 and sideman duties alongside veteran bassist Stanley Clarke and Gypsy swing guitarist Frank Vignola, among others.

"The main sticking point for me was the fact that since I've been in New York, I had not really done anything as a band leader," said Brock, 36. "I've been doing so much sideman work. And I have loved every bit of that. It's been very rewarding and a great learning experience.

"But over the last couple of years, I've started to feel this nagging urge to be out there working on my own music again."

Thus began The Magic Number, Brock's new band of violin, bass and drums. The format seemed remarkably direct and simple, even though few recordings exist of trios with a similar instrumental makeup.

"Within a jazz context, I was thinking of albums like Sonny Rollins at the Village Vanguard," Brock said. "There was just a lot of open space with those kinds of trios. But the violin doesn't have to play like a horn (Rollins is a legendary jazz saxophonist). I can play more than one note at a time. But I can't do, say, what a guitar can with all of those big chords. So you have to get into inferring things more than spelling them out. It forces me to choose what notes can bring out the color of a chord."

With that, Brock enlisted a longtime pal, bassist Matt Wigton, and drummer Frederick Kennedy to come up with The Magic Number. They released an EP disc last year that reflected a broad musical vocabulary — from swing to rockish drives to bright, post-bop lyricism.

"Trying to do a trio project with violin where there is no piano, no guitar, no chordal instruments at all is a challenge. It's really important to have a solid, almost telepathic rhythm section — the kind of rhythm section where the players fill in the ends of sentences for each other. I'm lucky to have these guys. They definitely lighten the burden of what I have to do on violin."

Then there was the matter of making a full album with his new group. Brock wanted the thing all artists want for their music: creative control. But with almost any record deal he faced, be it with labels big or small, some level of commercial compromise was inevitable.

So there was the question: How does an ambitious young jazzman find the route to introduce his newest musical voice to the world with out having to put a muzzle on it?

The result came via the micro-funding Web site Kickstarter.com. There, Brock spelled out his plans to record his novel violin trio and then appealed for online donations to make The Magic Number a recording reality. As a result, he raised $8,000 to cut an album.

"I think there is just something about having a solid creative goal, especially when you're tied to a budget," Brock said. "It can be a blessing to not have the option of using credit card A, B or C to fund your record. The situation was, 'I have X amount of money. How do I make this work?'"

The album, titled The Magic Number, was recently released. And sideman work with Vignola and collaborative New York ensembles like The Mahavishnu Project (a daring tribute ensemble devoted to the music of the '70s-era fusion band The Mahavishnu Orchestra) will continue to figure prominently on his work calendar, but so will the music that Brock bends to his own bow.

"It's just important for me now to work with this trio," he said. "I want to go from this new record coming out to booking as many concerts as I can to developing music with this group. We're kind of lean and mean and are ready to drive up to Canada for a show or down to Kentucky and, of course, all places in between. I just want to be playing as much as possible."

Zach Brock also performs and tours with a diverse roster of artists that includes Stanley Clarke, Bob Dorough, Frank Vignola, Snarky Puppy, The Mahavishnu Project, and the gypsy-punk band Mad Juana.

http://www.zachbrock.com