Self-taught composer Larry Chernicoff began writing music in the mid 1970's for a dance troupe in Woodstock New York, where he worked and taught at the legendary Creative Music Studio. On his 1983 debut album, Gallery of Air, he began blending improvisation with long-form compositions, minimalism, orchestral instruments, multi-layered counterpoint, the warm textures of synthesizers, and a diverse range of international sounds.
Throughout Gallery of Air, his ensemble delivers both a high level of kinetic energy and moments of meditative peace, while holding your attention with completely accessible sounds. Though Chernicoff cites several influences upon his sound - hero and teacher Don Cherry, classical Indian Alap, Indonesian gamelan, his time spent in Germany playing free jazz - Gallery of Air remains a singular work, combining elements of jazz and classical music with the international experimentation of the '80s.
On Gallery of Air Larry plays vibraphone, piano, percussion, and west African bow harp. Gallery of Air features Larry’s long-time quintet with saxophonists Don Davis and Tim Moran, percussionist Tony Vacca, and bassist/keyboard player Tom Schmidt. Guest artists on the record are multi-instrumentalist Sonam Targee and classical bassoonist Stephen Walt. Originally released in 1984, the warm analog sound of Gallery of Air is preserved in the re-master, available on vinyl and digital download late spring 2018 as a collaboration between Incidental Music and Chernicoff's own Windy Planet Music.
Larry Chernicoff is an award-winning self-taught composer, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer. He lives in upstate New York’s Hudson Valley and performs his compositions throughout the Northeast with his various ensembles, from The Larry Chernicoff Quintet to his 10-piece Miniature Orchestra, and Jazz and Jest, a collaboration with Roger the Jester, a mime, magician, object manipulator, musician, acrobat, stilt-walker, unicyclist, juggler, puppeteer, humanist and baker.
Larry worked and taught at the influential Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York in the 1970’s. He started writing music during that period, as musical director of the Woodstock Music and Dance Ensemble. He studied under Karl Berger at the New School, sat in with Don Cherry, toured around Europe performing on the free jazz scene, and has been performing his original jazz/classical fusion music for several decades. He has composed for film, dance, theater, and choir. Larry came of age as a member of the Creative Music Studio Orchestra, including performances with Karl Berger, Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Peter Apfelbaum, Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, Oliver Lake, Wadada Leo Smith, Alan Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and many others. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian Institution, NY’s Riverside Church, and at universities and concert halls in the US, Canada, and Europe. He received a Jazz Fellowship from the National Endowment on the Arts.
For more information about the artist, his works, and other news, please visit Larry Chernicoff's website at larrychernicoff.com
