Best known as a jazz piano virtuoso, arranger, composer, and Grammy Award winner, Laurence Hobgood - born in Salisbury, North Carolina on December 23, 1959 - has had a varied career that includes a nearly 20 year collaboration with vocalist Kurt Elling as well as his studio and live work with a long list of artists including Regina Carter, John Patitucci, Arturo Sandoval, Christian McBride, Larry Coryell, and many others. Alongside his piano playing, he’s been acknowledged as one of the key figures in the modernized updating of the ‘American songbook’ and the re-imagining and arranging of more modern works by artists such as Burt Bacharach, Sting, Carol King, and others. Laurence Hobgood has released albums as a band leader - including Left to My own Devices (2000), Crazy World (2005), When the Heart Dances with Charlie Haden (2009) and Laurence Hobgood Quartet Live featuring Ernie Watts (2012) - but his most high profile releases are the series of 10 albums he recorded as vocalist Kurt Elling’s musical director. Although each of the albums were nominated for a Grammy Award, only Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman won the coveted Best Jazz Vocal Album award in 2009.
