Joe Locke with Symphony Orchestra

Seeds Planted

This recording represents a dream come true for me. The seeds were planted in 2005 when Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra executive director Barbara Zach asked if I would be interested in recording a live concert with the Symphony. It had long been on my wish list to perform with a quality symphony orchestra.

Invisible Bonds

Jeff Jones “The Jedi Master” Music, born from heart and mind is almost always seeded by the bonds of friendship. In this digital age the fabric of our friendship easily reaches around the world . Work on this recording expanded among friends, around the world to studios in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, New York City [...]

Incredible Journey

The whole production of making a symphony recording is an incredible journey from concept to completion. I am grateful to the talented and dedicated team of artistic, technical and administrative personnel who lovingly attended to this project with perseverance and patience.

Enrich, educate and entertain

Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra has been performing classical orchestral music in Lincoln, Nebraska since it was founded in 1927 with a mission to enrich, educate and entertain current and potential audiences through the performance and advancement of symphonic music.

Wish Upon A Star top

Joe Locke vibes, Ryan Cohan piano, Lorin Cohen bass, Carmen Intorre drums, with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Polochick

01 Available In Blue
by Joe Locke; arranged for orchestra by Tim Garland (Wire Walker Music, BMI)

02 When You Wish Upon A Star
by Leigh Harline for Disney’s Pinocchio and Ned Washington; arranged for orchestra by Ryan Cohan (Bourne Co., ASCAP)

03 Sword of Whispers
by Joe Locke; arranged for orchestra by Ryan Cohan (Wire Walker Music, BMI)

04 Where Is Love?
by Lionel Bart for the musical ‘Oliver!’; arranged for orchestra by Tim Garland (Hollis Music Inc, BMI)

05 Moon River
by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini; arranged for orchestra by Ryan Cohan (Sony/ATV Harmony, ASCAP)

06 The Moon For Her
by Tim Garland; arranged for orchestra by Tim Garland (Tim Garland, MCPS/PRS)

produced by Jeff Jones and Joe Locke
Motéma Music, 2012

get the music here

Joe Locke top

Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices of his instrument. He has performed and recorded with a diverse range of notable musicians, including Grover Washington Jr, Kenny Barron, Eddie Henderson, Cecil Taylor, Dianne Reeves, Ron Carter, The Beastie Boys, the Münster Symphony Orchestra and the Lincoln, Nebraska Symphony.

Long known to be a soloist capable of stunning physical power and broad emotional range, it was not until the last decade that he emerged as the composer, band leader and conceptualist that he is considered today. This is in no small part due to his recent solo projects. "Four Walls of Freedom" (Sirocco), a 6 movement suite based on the writing of the monk Thomas Merton, which he composed as a vehicle for tenor saxophonist Bob Berg, garnered high praise from the critical community as a major work and won several international polls. "Live in Seattle" (Origin), by The Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group, won the 2006 Ear Shot award for "Concert of the Year". This group is well loved and emulated by younger musicians looking for direction and inspiration. The overwhelming success of his most recent quartet, "Force of Four" (Origin), can be attributed to the talents of his young cohorts and to the leader's musical philosophy, which is to honor tradition while keeping both feet planted in the present and future. His latest release, the captivating, immersive album "VIA", is the result of a reunion of Storms/Nocturnes, the transatlantic trio with Geoffrey Keezer and Tim Garland. He has just released "Wish Upon A Star" on Motéma Music - his first recorded symphonic project, with arrangements by Ryan Cohan and Tim Garland.

Locke has won numerous awards and polls, including the 2006, 2008 and 2009 "Mallet Player of the Year" award from the Jazz Journalists Association. He is active as a clinician / educator and has been the International Vibraphone Consultant at the Royal Academy of Music, London, on a visiting basis since 2008.

Symphonic Projects top