Marc Copland

Marc Copland functions as a contemporary jazz pianist, composer, and recording artist who acquired the nickname "the Piano Whisperer" via his dense harmonic method and transparent tonal clarity. Although he initially established recognition performing saxophone under his given name Marc Cohen, perceived constraints in the instrument's harmonic range led him to devote ten years exclusively to piano practice and the cultivation of an individualized approach. Reaching forty in 1988, he issued his inaugural leader date, My Foolish Heart, under the Marc Cohen Quartet designation. Among the many recordings that followed, several trio outings with Gary Peacock stood out, including Copland's participation in Peacock's group for Now This, issued in 2015 to mark the bassist's eightieth birthday. The solo piano homage Gary appeared in 2018, with John, another solo tribute to John Abercrombie, arriving in 2020. His quartet projects Someday from 2022 and Dreaming from 2023 featured the lineup of saxophonist Robin Verheyen, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Mark Ferber.

Born Marc Cohen in Philadelphia in 1948, Copland began piano instruction at age seven and later shifted to alto saxophone around age ten. His initial musical training occurred under noted altoist Joe Allard, while composition lessons came from Romeo Cascarino and Meyer Kupferman. As a teenager in the early 1960s he became a fixture in Philadelphia's jazz environment. Moving to New York in 1966 to enroll at Columbia University, he studied music theory, composition, and improvisation with instructors including pianist Lennie Tristano and received a B.A. in music in 1970.

Performing saxophone, Copland participated regularly in New York's expanding jazz circuit. He contributed to ensembles led by Chico Hamilton, Cameron Brown, and Jeff Williams while also joining forces with emerging musicians such as guitarists John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner. Despite growing acclaim as a distinctive saxophonist and consistent employment, dissatisfaction with the instrument's harmonic boundaries prompted him to depart New York in the mid-1970s, apparently leaving music behind. During the subsequent decade he resumed piano study and formulated his personal technique. Upon returning to the city he secured sideman engagements with Bob Belden, James Moody, John Scofield, and Herbie Mann, while also reconnecting with Abercrombie.

At age forty in 1988 Copland recorded his first leader session, credited to the Marc Cohen Quartet and featuring Abercrombie, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield, which Jazz City released as My Foolish Heart. That same year he appeared on drummer Bill Stewart's Think Before You Think alongside saxophonist Joe Lovano and bassist Dave Holland. Between this debut and his second album, 1990's Blues All Night, the pianist adopted the surname Copland, distanced himself from earlier pianistic models including Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett, and developed his mature improvisational language. Throughout the remainder of the 1990s he issued trio recordings and explored duo-to-quintet formats across multiple labels, with particularly noteworthy entries including At Night in 1991, Stompin' with Savoy and Songs Without End (shared with duo partner Towner) in 1993, Paradiso in 1995, and Second Look in 1996. Enduring recording and touring associations formed with Peacock, Abercrombie, and drummer Billy Hart.

In 2000 Copland and trumpeter Tim Hagans performed as a duo on the Steeplechase release Between the Lines, inaugurating a productive decade of frequent European activity with smaller ensembles. Highlights encompassed two recordings with Abercrombie and Kenny Wheeler (That's for Sure in 2000 and Brand New in 2004), three projects co-billed with Dave Liebman (the quartet Lunar in 2001 plus the duo sets Bookends and Impression in 2002), a pair of duo albums with Greg Osby (Night Call in 2002 and Round and Round in 2003), and multiple trio dates with Peacock, among them the initial Pirouet releases Some Love Songs in 2005 and New York Trio Recordings, Vol. 2: Voices (also featuring Paul Motian) in 2006. Copland concluded his fifties with the quartet date Another Place employing Abercrombie, bassist Drew Gress, and Hart. At sixty he recorded the solo album Alone (issued the following year) and the trio session New York Trio Recordings, Vol. 3: Night Whispers with Gress and Stewart. The 2009 duo recording Insight with Peacock received widespread recognition for its close interaction.

Pirouet issued Five on One by the quintet Contact in 2010, placing Copland alongside frequent associates Abercrombie, Gress, Hart, and Liebman; Speak to Me, a duo with the guitarist, and Crosstalk, a quartet outing with Osby, drummer Victor Lewis, and bassist Doug Weiss, followed in 2011. For the Vision Fugitive label Copland delivered his most distinctive project in 2013, the piano-and-spoken-word album Le Long de la Plage with French writer Michel Butor. He participated in Abercrombie's quartet alongside Gress and Joey Baron on the 2013 ECM release 39 Steps. A second ECM appearance came as a member of Peacock's trio on Now This in 2015 (also including Baron), celebrating the bassist's eightieth birthday. The intimate duo session More Essentials with bassist Daniel Schlappi appeared in 2017. That same busy year produced the solo piano recording Nightfall, the collaborative When the Birds Leave with saxophonist Robin Verheyen, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Billy Hart, and Better by Far with Gress, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, and drummer Joey Baron. Another solo piano effort, Gary, a tribute to longtime associate Gary Peacock, emerged in 2018, followed by the third duo album with Schlappi, Alice's Wonderland, in 2019. In 2020 Copland again honored a close colleague with the solo piano album John, focused on John Abercrombie. He reconvened his quartet with Verheyen, Gress, and drummer Mark Ferber for Someday in 2022, and the subsequent quartet album Dreaming appeared the following year.