PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCES
Since 1963 Hal has pursued an active performing career, playing in major jazz clubs, festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe and Japan with a "who's who" of jazz, including:
Saxophonists
Phil Woods (the Phil Woods Quintet), Zoot Sims, Nick Brignola, Lew Tabackin, Joe Farrell, Sal Nistico, Charlie Mariano, Dick Johnson, John LaPorta, Charles McPherson, Joe Temperly, Jimmy Mosher, Frank Wess, George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Pete Christlieb, Ernie Watts, Don Menza, Ray Pizzi, Ronnie Cuber, Lou Marini, Bill Pierce, Bob Mover, Richie Cole, Jim Odgren, Ed Tomassi, Dino Govoni, Antonio Hart, Mark Turner, Seamus Blake, Chris Cheek, Eric Alexander, Tim Price, Greg Tardy, Igor Butman.
Trumpeters
Clark Terry, Harry
"Sweets" Edison, Doc Severinsen, Snooky
Young, Thad Jones, Roy Eldridge, Herb Pomeroy, Wild
Bill Davison, Lennie Johnson, Claudio Roditi, Paul
Fontaine, Greg Hopkins, Roy Hargrove, Jack Walrath,
Bill Chase, Ira Sullivan, Marv Stamm, Tiger Okoshi,
Tom Harrell, John Faddis, Brian Lynch, Ingrid Jensen,
Lin Biviano, Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson,
Ken Cervenka, John Allmark, John McNeil, Dave Ballou,
Andy Gravish.
Trombonists
Bob Brookmeyer, Phil
Wilson, Carl Fontana, Garnet Brown, Slide Hampton,
Bobby Burgess, Benny Powell, Bill Watrous, Buster
Cooper, Chuck Connors, George Masso, Porky Cohen,
Bruce Fowler, Sam Burtis, Tom Malone, Bruce Paulson,
Alan Kaplan, Bill Reichenbach, Curt Berg, Kevin Quail,
Rock Ciccerone, Keith O'Quin, Hart Smith, Jaxon Stock,
Tony Lada, Bertil Strandberg, Art Baron, Jeff Galindo.
Pianists
Dave McKenna, Don Freedman, Ray Santisi, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Alan Broadbent, Roger Kellaway, George Cables, Hal Galper, James Williams, Jim McNeely, Mike Renzi, John Hicks, Bill Dobbins, Danilo Perez, Bill Charlap, Geoff Keezer, John Medeski, Christian Jacob, Renato Chicco, Cyrus Chesnut, Aaron Goldberg, Alan Zavod, Jason Moran, John Ferrara, Mark Levine, Art Resnick, Mark Soskin, Mike Wofford, Tim Ray, Alain Mallet, Frank Carlberg, Bert Seager, Aydin Essen, Salvatore Bonafede, Danny Grissett, Leo Genovese, Bevan Manson, Antonio Farao, Chris Neville, Michael Palma, Liberache.
Guitarists
Mick Goodrick, Joe Diorio, John Abercrombie, John Collins, Frank Mobus, John Chiodini, Peter Sprague, Rick Peckham, Bruce Bartlett, John Shannon, Matt Stevens, Julian Lage.
Bassists
Milt Hinton, Chuck Israels,
Monk Montgomery, George Mraz, Abe Laboriel, Steve
Gilmore, Harvie S, John Neves, Steve LaSpina, John
Lockwood, Ed Schuller, Jeff Berlin, Mark Dresser,
Dave Santoro, Putter Smith, Keter Betts, Charlie LaChapelle,
Thomson Kneeland, Ben Street, Dave Zinno, Marty Ballou,
Hans Glawischnig, Paul Del Nero, Peter Herbert, Bruce
Gertz, Walter Schmocker, Oscar Stagnaro, George Donchev,
Massimo Biolcati, Janek Gwizdala.
Drummers
Kenny Clark, Mel Lewis, Louis Bellson, Ben Riley, Paul Motian, Daniel Humair, Alan Dawson, Adam Nussbaum, Joey Baron, Bill Goodwin, Chester Thomson, Harvey Mason, Peter Donnell, Ed Shaughnessy, Steve Bagby, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joe Hunt, John Hollenbeck, Jim Black, Take Toriyama, Billy Mintz, Ed Soph, Bob Gullotti, George Schuller, Bob Kaufman, Marcello Pellitteri, John Ramsay, Mark Miralta, Charles Haynes, Dave Weigert, Artie Cabral, Ian Froman, Rob Perkins, Jose "Pepe" Taveira, Frank Nemeth, Ziv Ravitz, Mimmo Cafiero.
Bass Clarinetist
Rudi Mahall
Big Bands
The NBC "Tonight Show" Band, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, WDR Big Band (Cologne), Herb Pomeroy, Bob Florence, Duke Belaire, Doc Severinsen's Now Generation Brass, MGM Studios Orchestra.
Vocalists
Tony Bennet, Johnny
Hartman, James Brown, Diana Ross, Jeannie Cheatham.
STEADY GIG
With
his band "Um" (Bob Gullotti, Leo Genovese,
Dave Zinno) Hal has performed a steady weekly jazz
gig every Tuesday night in Providence, RI from 1994
to 2008.
See "discography" and "audio".
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Drawing 1 by Zoe Crook
Drawing 2 by
Carol Love
Drawing 3 by
Peter Beckett |
RECORDINGS
As a recording artist (leader and
sideman) Hal has performed on over 40 jazz CDs, one
of which was nominated for a Grammy in 1998 ("Celebration",
Concord Jazz, Phil Woods).
Various artists also feature Hal's musical compositions and arrangements on numerous recordings.
See "discography" and "audio".
COMPOSING and ARRANGING
Hal's composing and arranging credits include music for the NBC "Tonight Show" Band, WDR Radio Band (Cologne), Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Herb Pomeroy, Louis Bellson, Artie Shaw, Duke Belaire, Dick Johnson, Nick Brignola, the New England Emmy Awards, and the San Diego Pops.
Hal has also written complete music libraries for 5-piece, 6-piece, 9-piece, 13-piece, and 16-piece jazz ensembles, totaling hundreds of musical compositions and arrangements.
Selected
jazz compositions by Hal have been compiled into a
songbook called The Music of Hal Crook--35 Jazz
Originals, published by Advance Music.
See "books" on the home page.
BOOKS, PLAY-ALONGS
Hal has authored four acclaimed music textbooks on jazz improvisation, published by Advance Music (Germany): How To Improvise; How To Comp; Ready, Aim, Improvise!; and his latest book--Beyond Time And Changes: A Musician's Guide To Free Jazz Improvisation.
Hal has also performed (solo piano) a three-volume jazz play-along series called Creative Comping For Improvisation; and written a jazz songbook called The Music Of Hal Crook--featuring 35 of his original compositions. These works are also published by Advance Music.
Hal's books and play-alongs are currently being used as jazz curriculum materials for numerous courses of study at Berklee College of Music and in music schools throughout the world.
Hal has also created a play-along series for Berklee College of Music featuring 46 jazz songs (standards and originals), on which he plays acoustic piano with John Lockwood on bass and Marcello Pellitteri on drums.
Each song is available in four instrumental
versions (piano, bass and drums; piano and bass; piano
and drums; bass and drums). These play-alongs
can be downloaded free of charge
at learningresources.berklee.edu/public/pfd/.
See "books" and "audio".
TEACHING, CLINICS
Hal designed the music curriculum and taught all facets of contemporary music at the Rhode Island School of Music (1973-75). He taught at Berklee College of Music (1975-76), and was co-founder of the Rhode Island School of Performing Music with drummer Artie Cabral (1976-79). He also taught courses in jazz arranging and performance at the University of Rhode Island (1979-80).
Hal taught at the University of California
in Los Angeles (1981) and in San Diego (1984).
He founded the San Diego School of Performing Music,
later re-named JazzSchool (a 501-C3 non-profit corporation
and accredited post-secondary school), for which he
designed the music curriculum and taught all facets
of contemporary music (1982-1986).
Hal has been a professor at Berklee
College of Music in Boston since 1986, where he
has designed and taught courses in advanced jazz arranging,
composition, harmony, counterpoint, improvisation,
repertoire and ensemble performance.
He has also been a Visiting Artist in Residence at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (1998-2005) and at the Dave Brubeck Institute (2005).
Over the course of his music career, Hal has taught jazz seminars and given clinics throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.
See "lessons" for more information about Hal's teaching and a list of notable students.
AWARDS and ACHIEVEMENTS
Hal received the Benny Goodman Award at the National Stan Kenton Stage Band Camp (1965); the Creative Art Award from the Kiwanis Club (1966); a scholarship to Berklee College of Music from Downbeat magazine (1968-69); and was Composer In Residence for the State of Rhode Island (1979-80).
He received the Jeannie Award
(blues singer/pianist Jeannie Cheatham) from the Jazz
Society of Southern California (1986); the Most
Valuable Contribution to the College Curriculum
award from Berklee College of Music (1988); two Outstanding
Service to Jazz Education awards from the International
Association of Jazz Educators (1988-89); a National
Endowment for the Arts grant (1995); and was inducted
into the Cranston Hall of Fame, Cranston, RI
(1997).
EDUCATION
Hal graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Arranging and Composition in 1971.
Ironically, Hal failed music during
one term in the 5th grade for refusing to stand in
front of the class and sing by himself.
"Screw that," he was heard saying on his way to the principal's office.
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