Trombonist and composer Jacob Garchik, born in San Francisco, has lived in New York since 1994. He has toured Europe and North America extensively with the acclaimed Lee Konitz New Nonet, and has played with Lee since 1997. Since 2006 Jacob has contributed arrangements and transcriptions for the Kronos Quartet of music from China, Korea, Iraq, Iran, and Thelonius Monk. An active freelance trombonist, he plays with groups including the Ohad Talmor/Steve Swallow Sextet, the Judith Berkson Group, the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, the Ben Gerstein Collective, Slavic Soul Party!, the Four Bags, and Justin Mullens & The Delphian Jazz Orchestra.
His second CD, Romance , was hailed by the New York Times as "odd and excellent...taut with paradox...slow and beautiful art songs".
Besides playing new music with many of his creative but unknown peers, Jacob has performed with the Mingus Big Band featuring Elvis Costello, Haitian superstars System Band, country wonderboy Billy Gillman, Jackie Cain, and Paul Anka. He has worked with composers Joe Maneri, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman and James Tenney, choreographers Yoshiko Chuma and Anita Cheng, and the Theatre of a Two-headed Calf. As an arranger he has worked with the Kronos Quartet, the Four Bags, and Slavic Soul Party. He has also worked with an astonishing number of New York’s "Downtown" Klezmer and Gypsy punk groups including Golem, Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All Stars, Metropolitan Klezmer, Isle of Klezbos, Greg Wall’s Simcha All-Stars, Aaron Alexander’s Midrash Mish Mosh, Judith Berkson’s East River Orchestra, What I Like About Jew, German Goldenshteyn, Michael Alpert, Slavic Soul Party, Eugene Hutz and Gogol Bordello. He has recorded for Pirhana, Omnitone, Fresh Sound New Talent, NCM East, Tzadik, New World, and Palmetto.
Jacob also plays accordion, bass trombone, tuba, computer, and piano.
