Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices of his instrument, long known to be a soloist capable of stunning physical power and broad emotional range. He had already played with Dizzy Gillespie, Pepper Adams and Mongo Santamaria before he was out of high school. His more than 30 CDs as a soloist have solidly established him as the exhilarating composer, band leader and conceptualist that he is considered today.

Locke consistently ranks at the top of all critics and readers polls and is the recipient of six Jazz Journalists Association’s Mallet Player of the Year awards.