Joseph Paul Locke (born March 18, 1959) is an American jazz vibraphonist.

Life and career

A native of

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

, Locke grew up in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. His father taught music. When Locke was eight years old he began learning drums and piano, then started on vibraphone five years later. After playing in rock bands, he became attracted to jazz in his teen years and attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

in Rochester. In 1981, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and worked as a sideman for

Kenny Barron Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Biography Born in Philadel ...

Freddy Cole Lionel Frederick Cole (October 15, 1931 – June 27, 2020) was an American jazz singer and pianist whose recording career spanned almost 70 years. He was the brother of musicians Nat King Cole, Eddie Cole, and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole, a ...

Marvin Smith Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musica ...

, and Eddie Henderson. For influences, he has cited

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

and Bobby Hutcherson. His first solo album, ''Present Tense'', was released by Steeplechase in 1990. He started the band Mutual Appreciation Society in 1999 with

David Hazeltine David Perry Hazeltine (born October 27, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Early life Hazeltine was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 27, 1958. He began studying the piano at the age of nine, and first pe ...

Essiet Essiet Essiet Okon Essiet (born September 1, 1956 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz double-bassist. Essiet's parents were Nigerian immigrants to the United States.Lara Pellegrinelli, "Essiet Essiet". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edit ...

, and

Billy Drummond Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond Jr. (born June 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Billy Drummond was born in Newport News, Virginia, where he grew up listening to the extensive jazz record collection of his father, an amateur dr ...

and has recorded frequently with pianist

Geoff Keezer Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. He has toured w ...

. His album ''Four Walls of Freedom'' was based on the writings of Thomas Merton. In 2016, he was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame in Rochester. He has won the Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year Award from the

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, ind ...

on several occasions.

Discography

As leader

* ''Present Tense'' ( SteepleChase, 1990) * ''Scenario'' (

Cadence Jazz Cadence Jazz is an American record company and label specializing in noncommercial modern jazz. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine''. Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980. By 2000 the label had issued more ...

, 1987) * ''But Beautiful'' with Kenny Barron ( SteepleChase, 1991) * ''Longing'' ( SteepleChase, 1991) * ''Wire Walker'' ( SteepleChase, 1993) * ''Moment to Moment'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

, 1995) * ''Very Early'' ( SteepleChase, 1995) * ''Sound Tracks'' (Milestone, 1997) * ''Mutual Admiration Society'' with David Hazeltine (Sharp Nine, 1999) * ''Saturn's Child'' with Frank Kimbrough (OmniTone, 1999) * ''Beauty Burning'' (Sirocco, 2000) * ''Storytelling'' (Sirocco, 2001) * ''State of Soul'' (Sirocco, 2002) * ''The Willow'' with Frank Kimbrough (OmniTone, 2002) * ''Four Walls of Freedom'' (Sirocco, 2003) * ''Dear Life'' (Sirocco, 2004) * ''Revelation'' (Sharp Nine, 2005) * ''Live in Seatlle'' with Geoff Keezer (Sharp Nine, 2005) * ''Sticks and Strings'' (Jazz Eyes, 2007) * ''Force of Four'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

, 2008) * ''Live at JazzBaltica'' with Trio Da Paz (

MAXJAZZ Maxjazz (corporately styled MAXJAZZ) was an American jazz record label founded in 1998 by investment banker Richard McDonnell. Maxjazz recordings are generally regarded as a "straight-ahead" acoustic style of jazz. It was based in St. Louis, Mis ...

, 2008) * ''Mutual Admiration Society 2'' with David Hazeltine (Sharp Nine, 2009) * ''Nocturne for Ava'' with Bob Sneider (Origin, 2009) * ''For the Love of You'' ( E1, 2010) * ''Via'' (Origin, 2011) * ''Lay Down My Heart'' ( Motema, 2013) * ''Love Is a Pendulum'' (Motema, 2015) * ''Subtle Disguise'' (Origin, 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Joe 1959 births American jazz vibraphonists Living people SteepleChase Records artists Milestone Records artists Origin Records artists Motéma Music artists Eastman School of Music alumni