Bio of Lawrence Koch--Owner/Director

KOCH, Larry (Lawrence Owen) pianist, author/educator, doubles on
woodwinds (mainly alto sax). b. Pottsville, PA July 16, 1939.
 
Studied piano, saxophone and clarinet while in elementary school and
added oboe during high school. His father, Eugene (1906-1997), directed
a local amateur radio and show troupe (1949-54) which provided some
experience as a novelty vocalist and instrumentalist. During high school
he was selected for performance groups at the district and all-eastern
levels on saxophone and clarinet, and led his own jazz and commercial
groups. He also founded the stage band at Pottsville High.
 
While atttending West Chester U. (PA) (1957-61), he worked as a jazz
pianist in the Philadelphia/Wilmington area, and did some basic study on
bass and drums. After attaining a B.S. in Music Education, he became
music director at Minersville High School (PA) (1961-70), did graduate
work in theory and composition, and then opened his own music school,
The Braun School, in Pottsville. From that point on, the main focus was
on jazz and education--playing, writing, teaching.
 
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies
published his studies on Charlie Parker, King Oliver, and Thelonious
Monk. The Parker study led to his well-known YARDBIRD SUITE book firstpublished in 1988 and revised in 1999.
 
In 1980, he was the founding conductor of the Schuylkill Symphony
Orchestra for which he wrote two large works for jazz group and
orchestra (1988/1991) He also founded the Schuylkill Jazz Society
(1988) with its own local Hall of Fame (Schuylkill County, PA) which
claims such greats as the Dorsey brothers and Les Brown. Koch was
himself inducted in 1998. The Society features "name" musicians as well
as local stars in their concerts. In addition to his larger works, Koch
has written close to a hundred smaller compositions--jazz lines, ballads
(lyrics and music), and eclectic classical works.
 
From 1982 to 1986, Koch was on the faculty of Moravian College
(Bethlehem,PA) teaching jazz piano and directing a small jazz ensemble.
He also was a pianist in the faculty jazz quartet which backed many
well-known guests such as George Young and Ken Hitchcock.
 
Married to the former Marilu Amour (b.1938), a vocalist who attended the
Mannes Music School and Patricia Neuway's Opera Workshop (NYC), Koch has one daughter, Kerri Ellen (b. 1964)
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(from Jazz.com)

Marilu Amour Koch

Recordings and Compositions
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Recordings: KIM RUSSELL-SEIBERT WITH THE LARRY KOCH JAZZ TRIO & SPECIAL GUESTS (CD independently produced, 1996)--pianist, arranger & musicdirector, composer on "Afternoon Love Song."  MOOD SWINGS-BOB FANELLI
(CD Consensus Music, 2001)--composer on "Afternoon Love Song."
Many unissued tapes from various venues (1977-99) including George Young with the Moravian Jazz Quartet.
 
Compositions; NEW ORLEANS MEMORIES: A MEMORIAL KADDISH FOR ALLAN JAFFE for New Orleans jazz group, piano soloist, and orchestra, 1988.
CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS for jazz trio, optional soloists, and orchestra,1991.
 
Bibliography
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Book: YARDBIRD SUITE: A COMPENDIUM OF THE MUSIC AND LIFE OF CHARLIE
PARKER, 1988, Popular Press, Bowling Green OH; revised edition 1999, Northeasten U. Press, Boston MASS.
 
Articles: ORNITHOLOGY: A STUDY OF CHARLIE PARKER'S MUSIC, Part One, Rutgers Journal of Jazz Studies Vol.2, No. 1, Dec. 1974; Part Two,Vol.2, No.2, June 1975.

STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF KING OLIVER'S 1923 OKEH RECORDINGS, Journal ofJazz Studies, Vol.3, No.2, Spring 1976.
HARMONIC APPROACHES TO THE TWELVE-BAR BLUES FORM, Rutgers Annual Reviewof Jazz Studies 1, 1982.
THELONIOUS MONK: COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES, Annual Review of Jazz Studies2, 1983.
THE JAZZ COMPOSITION/ARRANGEMENT, Annual Review of Jazz studies 3, 1985.
PIANO (major article) plus numerous small biographical articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Macmillan, 2001.