A sophisticated, forward-thinking jazz bassist, Gary Peacock is a subtle yet distinctive musician whose intuitive, sympathetic ear for group interplay has found him crossing from straight-ahead standards to avant-garde free jazz. While his intellectual curiosity has drawn him to such wide-ranging pursuits as biology and Eastern philosophy, his immense musical talents, have kept him at the epicenter of progressive jazz and creative improvisation for over four decades.

Born in Burley, Idaho in 1935, Peacock grew up in Yakima, Washington, where he took piano lessons starting in elementary school. During his teens, he added drums to his repertoire and played in various local bands. After high school, Peacock briefly attended Westlake School of Music in Los Angeles before being drafted into the Army. Stationed in Germany, the burgeoning pianist continued his musical studies and started his own small jazz ensemble. Serendipitously, when the bassist left his group, Peacock switched to playing bass, a move that would shape the rest of his career.

Matt Collar -All Music Guide

After military service in Germany, in the early sixties he worked on the west coast with Barney Kessel, Bud Shank, Paul Bley and Art Pepper, then moved to New York. He worked there with Bley, the Bill Evans Trio (with Paul Motian), and Albert Ayler's trio with Sunny Murray. There were also some live dates with Miles Davis, as a temporary substitute for Ron Carter.

Peacock spent time in Japan in the late 1960s, abandoning music temporarily and studying Zen philosophy. After returning to the United States in 1972, he studied Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, and taught music theory at Cornish College of the Arts from 1976 to 1983.

In 1983 he joined Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio" with Jack DeJohnette (the three musicians had previously recorded Tales of Another in 1977 for ECM Records, under Peacock's leadership). Among the trio's albums are Standards, Vol. 1 and Standards, Vol. 2 and Standards Live.

With the breakup of the "Standards Trio" in 2014, Peacock decided to continue his career as the leader of his own piano trio, with Marc Copland on piano and Joey Baron on drums. His 80th birthday year (2015) saw him touring worldwide with this trio to support their ECM release.

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