Gary Peacock, an upright bassist whose fastidious but open-minded style carried him through a diverse career in jazz, culminating in a three-decade run with the pianist Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio, died on Friday at his home in Olivebridge, N.Y. The pianist Marlyn Crispell, a longtime collaborator, confirmed the death but did not give a cause. Mr. Peacock earned a permanent place in the pantheon of free-jazz pioneers in the 1960s thanks largely to his partnerships with the pianist Paul Bley and the saxophonist Albert Ayler. Mr. Peacock spent a short but equally formative stint in the mid-1960s with Bill Evans’s trio. Like LaFaro before him, Mr. Peacock treated the bass as hallowed ground to be endlessly explored — sounding cool, low tones; scampering up the neck in cross-stroking patterns; occasionally injecting a dose of deep harmony.

Source: New York Times September 09, 2020 22:56 UTC