Mike Nock


When Miles Davis called jazz pianist Mike Nock at home in New York during the 1970s the first thing the trumpeter said was, “They tell me you're a genius.” Although Nock replied with something typically self-effacing, he later commented, “I should have said, ‘that’s right, man. We should get together.’ ”

And that dialectic – on the one hand humble, reflective; on the other self-confident and assertive – is at the heart of the music Nock has been making for more than 60 years. At times his music is contemplative and spare, at times it is dense and caffeinated. But – perhaps because it traverses such a broad range of ideas – it always manages to sound like Mike.

Artisans Workshop with Mike Nock (Snug Harbour, Brisbane, 17 April 1993)
Mike Nock Trio - Solar (CJC / Creative Jazz Club Britomart 1885, Auckland Jazz Festival 21 October 2014)
Mike Nock in the 1980s
Photo credit: Photo by Gary Steel
The Mike Nock Underground's 1971 album Between Or Beyond on the German MPS label.
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Mike Nock performs a solo piano piece at the 2015 Australian Jazz 'Bell' Awards, Regent Theatre, Melbourne, 30 April 2015
Mike Nock in the 1980s
Photo credit: Photo by Gary Steel
The 3-Out Trio, Sydney, 1960
Mike Nock with Count’s Rock Band in New York City in the mid-1960s. L to R: Bob Moses, Larry Coryell, Steve Marcus and Nock.
Mike Nock documentary part two (1993)
US fusion group The Fourth Way's self-titled LP on Capitol, 1969. Mike Nock - third from left, in brown vest - composed all but one of the pieces on the album. 
Photo credit: Capitol 
Mike Nock Trio with Roger Manins (tenor sax) and Frank Gibson Jr (drums) - 'Softly as a Morning Sunrise' (Creative Jazz Club, Auckland, 24 July 2013)
Mike Nock and Laurence Pike part 2 (Australia's ABC RN, 2012)
Mike Nock, 2021
Mike Nock in Wellington, 1984
Photo credit: Courtesy of Wellington City Libraries
Mike Nock in the 1980s
Photo credit: Photo by Gary Steel
Mike Nock with Chick Corea in Holland
Mike Nock Trio - Mike Nock (piano), Brett Hirst (bass), James Waples (drums) @ the CJC (Creative Jazz Club), Britomart 1880, Auckland, October 2014. 'How deep is the Ocean - Irving Berlin
Mike Nock in the 1980s
Photo credit: Gary Steel
The 3-Out Trio's album Out, released by EMI in 1960
Johnny Devlin's 1958 EP How Would 'Ya Be, featuring Mike Nock
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Tim Hopkins and Mike Nock, Auckland 1997
Photo credit: Photo by Andrew Dubber
The Fourth Way, a late 60s/early 70s US fusion group featuring Mike Nock (left). 
Photo credit: publicity photo
Mike Nock and Laurence Pike part 2 (Australia's ABC RN, 2012)
The 1958 Bob Paris EP featuring Mike Nock
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
The classic 1982 album Ondas, recorded in Oslo for ECM Records.
Mike Nock with The 3-Out Trio in Sydney, c.1960: Freddy Logan, Mike Nock and Chris Karan
Mike Nock (piano) plays his composition Acceptance with Roger Manins (tenor sax), James Muller (guitar) with Cameron Undy (bass) and Dave Goodman (drums), 505 Jazz Club, Surrey Hills, Sydney, 13 December 2013.
Mike Nock documentary part one (1993)
Mike Nock in Sydney, 2021
Mike Nock (piano), Roger Manins (tenor saxophone) - ‘But Beautiful' (Jimmy Van Heusen) @ CJC (Creative Jazz Club), Britomart 1885, Auckland. Filmed for JazzLocal32.com, NZ based jazz website.
The 2017 Mike Nock Trio with bassist Brett Hirst and drummer James Waples.
Photo credit: Photo by Karen Steains.
Mike Nock in Vancouver, c.1972/73
Mike Nock on the cover of Wellington's TOM magazine, May 1984
Mike Nock Trio - Live at Jazzgroove, Sydney, 28 February 2012
Labels:

Ode


Naxos Jazz


Kiwi


ECM


Birdland


Timeless


VerBra


Capitol Records


Columbia


Harvest


MPS


Fourth Way Music

Mike Nock was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame/Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa in 2024. The Hall of Fame is an initiative of Recorded Music NZ and the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), whose support of AudioCulture enables the site to stream music content.

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