Bill Laurance (born 2 April 1981) is an
English composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
,
producer, and multi-instrumental
musician
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
. Laurance is a member of
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
band
Snarky Puppy, as well as founder and CEO of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based record label Flint Music.
Biography
Bill Laurance was born on 2 April 1981 and raised in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
, England. As a child he attended William Tyndale
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, during which he began learning piano and playing with his
school band
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conducting, conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind instrum ...
. At age 9 Laurance performed on
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
during a school trip to London's renowned live-music venue
Union Chapel, a locale he would later again perform at as an adult during the recording of his fourth studio album ''Live at Union Chapel''. Having been trained on
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
and
swing, Laurance first began playing jazz at the age of 14 when he became the
resident performer for a small restaurant in the
Soho
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
district on the
West End of London.
As an adult Laurance attended and graduated from the
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
, studying classical music, composition, and performance.
During his tenure at Leeds, Laurance met traveling
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...
jazz student
Michael League
Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an Americans, American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq wi ...
, the two going on to perform a number of shows together in the UK.
It was here that League and Laurance became close friends. League subsequently invited Laurance to join jazz ensemble
Snarky Puppy before the recording of the group's first studio album. With Snarky Puppy's first album ''
The Only Constant'' releasing in 2006, it wasn't until 2014 when Laurance would go on to release his first solo album ''Flint''.
Laurance is also an artist in residency at
Morley College
Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...
and has taught
master class
''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...
es as a
visiting lecturer with
The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance.
Film composition
Laurance was a 2018 participant of the
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...
Film Music and Sound Design Lab, taking place at
Skywalker Sound in California. His debut feature film score was for
''Un Traductor'' (2018),
an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
by directing brothers Sebastián and Rodrigo Barriuso which was named as
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
's official entry for the
92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...
. Laurance also wrote several themes for ''Initials S.G.'' (2019),
a film for which
co-director and writer
Rania Attieh won the 2019
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...
award at the 2019
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
. Laurance has also worked alongside Marcus Eaton as composer for the 2019 documentary ''
David Crosby: Remember My Name''.
Collaborations
Laurance frequently collaborated with the guitarist, singer, and songwriter
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...
. He co-wrote and featured on piano in Crosby's track ''Your Own Ride'', lifted from the 2018 album, ''
Here If You Listen''. Laurance is also featured on two tracks from Crosby's 2016 studio album, ''
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
.'' Additionally, Laurance provided piano on the recording ''Somebody Home'', dual featured on both Crosby's 2017 album ''
Sky Trails'', and Snarky Puppy's 2016 album ''
Family Dinner – Volume 2.'' In a 2018 interview, Crosby described Laurance as "one of the best piano players I've ever met in my life."
In November 2018, Laurance collaborated with the
WDR Big Band of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, performing concerts at
Kölner Philharmonie and
Southbank's
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...
in London. The concert in Cologne was recorded and resulted in a live album consisting of nine Laurance compositions, arranged by
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
Bob Mintzer
Robert Alan Mintzer (born January 27, 1953) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader.
Early life
Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York, on January 27, 1953. He attended the Inte ...
.
As a member of Snarky Puppy, Laurance has collaborated with a number of artists and groups, including the
Metropole Orkest, with whom the band won a
GRAMMY award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for the 2016 album, ''Sylva''. As part of their ''Family Dinner Vol.1'' and ''Family Dinner Vol. 2'' albums, Laurance collaborated with artists including
Lalah Hathaway (whom he also accompanied at the GroundUP Music Festival in 2019),
Salif Keita,
Susana Baca,
Laura Mvula and
Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier (born 2 August 1994) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmo ...
.
Awards and honors
* 2014 - British newspaper
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
published an article praising studio album ''Flint'', titling Laurance a "jazz maestro".
* 2014 -
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...
as a member of Snarky Puppy for title ''Something,'' featuring
Lalah Hathaway'','' from the Snarky Puppy album ''Family Dinner Volume II''
* 2015 -
UK digital radio station Jazz FM awarded Laurance as 'Breakthrough Act of the Year'.
* 2016 -
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album as a member of Snarky Puppy for the album ''Sylva'' by Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest.
* 2017 - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album as a member of Snarky Puppy for the album ''Culcha Vulcha'' by Snarky Puppy.
*2017 - Online magazine UDiscoverMusic named Laurance's first live album ''Live at Union Chapel'' to their 2017 list of 'The 50 Greatest Live Jazz Albums', as well as Snarky Puppy's ''Sylva'' with Metropole Orkest.'
*2021 - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album as a member of Snarky Puppy for the album ''Live At The Royal Albert Hall'' by Snarky Puppy.
Personal views
Brexit
In 2019, while touring in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany, to promote his studio album ''Cables'', Laurance played a completely
improvisation
Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
al piano piece channeling the emotions elicited by the UK electorate's decision to officially withdraw from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU), commonly referred to as
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
. Laurance described the decision to leave the EU and the ensuing political events as "total madness and chaos", stating "It's devastating, the prospect, that
eas a British person wouldn't be part of Europe." In a related interview with Sam Howson of UK film group Mascot Video, Laurance stated "Everything is about to become more segregated and divided. I believe now, more than ever, we need to celebrate what we have in common over what we don't."
In a 2019 interview with
Band on the Wall
Band on the Wall is a live music venue in the Northern Quarter (Manchester), Northern Quarter of Manchester, England.
History
Early history
The building dates back to around 1862 when a local brewery, the McKenna Brothers, built it as the flag ...
, Laurance shared "I think now more than ever that it's important to be active about this stuff. There are things I've shied away from in the past, but now I feel like it's part of the responsibility of a musician to raise these things and be more active. It's passivity that has led us to Brexit, Trump… so we have to be more engaged".
Technology and science
In 2019, Laurance released his fifth solo record ''Cables'' which was influenced heavily by
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
,
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, and
science fact. In an interview with David Vincent of BrumNotes magazine, Laurance stated, "I'm fascinated by technology and the speed at which it's growing and I think that it has to be harnessed in some way. If you're dealing in any creative world I think technology, and using technology, is an important part, and has to be an important part, of what we do." Examples of Laurance's passion for science and technology can be found throughout ''Cables'', as many of the songs are inspired, named after, and composed in honour of these subjects.
Track two of ''Cables'', entitled ''HAL,'' is named after the fictional
artificially intelligent (AI) computer
HAL 9000, a character in
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's
''2001: A Space Odyssey''.
Track four of ''Cables'', entitled ''Ebb Tide'', was inspired by
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
and the fragility of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
's now
rising sea level. While performing ''Ebb Tide'' at
Kölner Philharmonie in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany, Laurance stated "Climate change is real."
The final and eighth track of ''Cables'', entitled ''Cassini'', is named after the
Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, whose mission was to study
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
. The
cadence
In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...
of the song follows the spacecraft's
final mission, commonly referred to as the "Grand Finale", in which the satellite was deliberately sacrificed in order to maximum scientific output while also
preventing biological contamination of Saturn's
local moons.
Climate change
Laurance has been vocal about his acceptance of the scientific consensus on
anthropogenic climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
. Laurance is amongst the musicians and music organisations who have signed the
Music Declares Emergency declaration, which calls for 'an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth.' During a 2019 concert at La Petite Halle,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Laurance stated "Climate change is real
..we have to be more active about it."
Discography
As group member or sideman:
with
Eddie Roberts
* ''Roughneck (Live In Paris)'' (One Note Records, 2006)
* The Eddie Roberts Quintet ''Trenta'' (One Note Records, 2007)
* Eddie Roberts & Freckles ''Move'' (One Note Records, 2010)
with
Snarky Puppy
* ''
The Only Constant'' (Sitmom, 2006)
* ''
Bring Us the Bright'' (Sitmom, 2008)
* ''
Tell Your Friends'' (
Ropeadope, 2010)
* ''
groundUP'' (GroundUP, 2012)
* ''
Amkeni'' with Bukuru Celestin (Ropeadope, 2013)
* ''
Family Dinner – Volume 1'' (Ropeadope, 2013)
* ''
We Like It Here'' (Ropeadope, 2014)
* ''
Sylva'' with
Metropole Orkest (
Impulse!, 2015)
* ''
Family Dinner – Volume 2'' (GroundUP,
Universal Music Classics, 2016)
* ''
Culcha Vulcha'' (GroundUP, 2016)
* ''
Immigrance'' (GroundUP, 2019)
* ''
Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' (GroundUP, 2020)
with Gabby Young & Other Animals
* ''One Foot in Front of the Other'' (
Fontana North/Musebox. 2014)
with
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...
* ''
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
'' (
Decca
Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label
* Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
/ Groundup Music, 2016)
* ''
Sky Trails'' (
BMG, 2017)
* ''
Here If You Listen'' (BMG, 2018)
with
Ana Silvera
* ''Oracles'' (Gearbox Records, 2016)
with The Sachal Ensemble
* ''Song of Lahore'' (Universal, 2016)
with
Michael League
Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an Americans, American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq wi ...
* Where You Wish You Were (ACT Music, 2023)
featured on:
* ''Mad Mats: Digging Beyond the Crates'' (
BBE, 2017)
* ''Modern Jazz Dance Classics, Vol. 1'' (Staubgold, 2019)
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurance. Bill
1981 births
Living people
English male jazz musicians
21st-century English male musicians
21st-century jazz composers
English jazz pianists
English jazz composers
Snarky Puppy members
GroundUPmusic artists
Grammy Award winners
Alumni of the University of Leeds