Bill Laurance: Presented by Music Network

Experience the electrifying sound world of Grammy-winning pianist and composer Bill Laurance.

This October, Music Network presents one of the most inventive voices in contemporary jazz. A founding member of five-time Grammy Award-winning group Snarky Puppy, Bill has wowed audiences around the globe with his genre-defying performances and compositions.

Laurance’s music blends jazz, classical, electronica and groove to create something entirely his own. His latest album Lumen, hailed by Jazzwise for its “distinct and engaging melodies” and “rich, layered arrangements”, marks his most personal and expressive work to date.

A master collaborator, Laurance has performed with a stellar roster of artists including David Crosby, Salif Keita, Morcheeba, Terence Blanchard, Laura Mvula and Jacob Collier, and has composed for major dance companies such as Alvin Ailey and English National Ballet.

Join us for an unforgettable performance of dazzling virtuosity, soulful improvisation and boundless creativity from one of the most compelling pianists of his generation.

Bill Laurance piano

About the Musician

As an original member of 5-time Grammy Award-winning group Snarky Puppy, Bill Laurance has played to tens of thousands of fans worldwide. His solo work is much admired for its imaginative and improvisational nature, often evoking a striking sense of time and place. Laurance’s latest release Lumen, considered to be his most personal album to date, is wowing fans and music critics alike with Jazzwise praising its “distinct and engaging” melodies and “rich and layered arrangements”.

Attending the University of Leeds, Laurance majored in classical composition, exploring jazz, funk and drum’n’bass in addition to classical music. Since then, he has honed the melodic immediacy of this approach, along with his intense improvisational prowess, forging a distinctive personal style that embraces English classical, electronica and jazz-rock sensibilities, alongside gritty contemporary grooves.

In the early-noughties, a twenty-something Laurance was trying to make a living on the Leeds music scene when an unremarkable but timely pick-up concert presented itself with a young Michael League in singer Michael Solomon Williams’ band. Following a series of successful performances in the north of England, Laurance forged a friendship with League who happened to be looking for a new piano player. League invited Laurance to the US to record the first Snarky Puppy album The Only Constantand the rest, as they say, is history.

Laurance has performed with such renowned artists as David Crosby, Morcheeba, Salif Keita, Terence Blanchard, Susana Baca, Lalah Hathaway, Laura Mvula, Jacob Collier, Musiq Soul Child, Khalid Sansi, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke, Carlos Malta, The Metropole Orchestraand the WDR Big Band. He has also worked extensively in the dance world with Alvin Ailey, Ballet Rambert, Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures, Phoenix Dance, Northern Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet.

Alongside touring as a solo artist and with Snarky Puppy, Laurance is the Artist in Residence at Morley College London. He is a passionate educator and continues to guide the next generation of artists at music institutions all over the world.