Saxophonist
Kim Bock, originally from Denmark, started working as a professional musician in the 1980’s. He was offered a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music and moved to Boston in 1994. After graduating Berklee in 1996, he completed his graduate studies with a Master degree in Jazz Performance at the University of South Florida and moved to New York City in 2000.
Over the years he has studied with a number of notable jazz players such as Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Rich Perry and Billy Pierce. Kim has done countless performances in the US and Europe as a sideman as well as leading Kim Bock Quartet and co-leading the organ trio FLOW. He is also an alumni of the legendary trumpet player Maynard Ferguson’s band, touring extensively in 2001 and 2003.
“Kim Bock is a player that fits into the category of world famous jazz artists that have passed through my band, to name a few: Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Peter Erskine and Slide Hampton.
– Maynard Ferguson
Kim appears on a number of recordings as a sideman and his debut album as a leader was “The Tunnel” from 2002. This was followed by “Secrets” with Kim Bock Quartet, released by jazz recording label SteepleChase Records in 2006, which was well received and climbed to the No.1 spot on the syndicated radio program Jazz with Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 chart in 2007.
In 2008, SteepleChase Records released the second recording by Kim Bock Quartet – “Live in Copenhagen“.
In 2010 and 2011, organ player Soren Moller, drummer Peter Retzlaff and Kim toured in both the US and Europe with their trio FLOW.
Books
During those years, Kim collaborated with Corey Christiansen and authored 2 books published by Mel Bay: Essential Jazz Lines in the style of John Coltrane and Essential Jazz Lines in the style of Clifford Brown.
Saxophone Repair
Kim’s passion for saxophones goes well beyond playing the instrument.
Since young, he was always interested in the mechanics of the instrument and would look over the shoulders of the repair persons he visited – most notably, in-depth repair studies with well respected repairman Randy Jones of Tenor Madness in Iowa.
Over the years, Kim build up a deep knowledge of the instrument from the repair person’s perspective combined with the sensitivity as a player. In 2010, he opened his saxophone repair shop in New York City – KB SAX.
KB Sax
The shop soon became one of the go-to places and over the years earned a client list that included Ravi Coltrane, Seamus Blake, Ben Wendel, Donny McCaslin, John Ellis, Steve Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Joe Lovano and countless others.
KB Sax established itself as a leading shop for vintage Selmer saxophones serving sax players all over the world. It specializes in a wide selection of vintage Selmers, like Balanced Action, SBA and Mark VI. The shop also offered a few select top brands of modern saxophones as well as a large selection of accessories.
You can read more about the history of KB Sax HERE
(KB Sax shop in NYC around 2015)
KB Sax Necks
In 2014, Kim ventured into the saxophone neck making field. The neck is the first part of the saxophone, where most of the sound is created. The neck plays a pivotal role in both how the sound IS as well as the FEEL of producing the sound.
Kim’s curiosity, his experience with vintage Selmers, and his perspective gained from saxophone repair, led him to re-evaluate the traditional manner in which a saxophone neck is made. He measured many of the best Selmers as well as other saxophones. One of the necks he measured was the neck from Coltrane’s SBA, courtesy of Ravi.
He explored and experimented with different ways and options to create what became the KB Sax Handcrafted Saxophone Neck.
As part of the development process, Kim enlisted help from some of his KB SAX clients to test out his tenor sax prototypes in real-life settings. Most notably Ravi Coltrane, who played prototype #5 for several months.
These top professional players contributed significantly by giving Kim priceless feedback, which helped tweak and improve on the prototypes. This development process lasted for close to 2 years.
Ultimately, Kim created a new and innovative way of making the neck which has resulted in greater consistency in sound, improved intonation and in many players opinion, the first viable alternative to the most sought after necks and saxophone sound – the Selmer Mark VI, Super Balanced Action and Balanced Action.
In 2016, the KB SAX Handcrafted Saxophone Necks were officially released. The first two models were Redwood and Canyon, followed by Vanguard the year after. Initially, they were available for tenor sax only, alto sax necks were rolled out in 2020.
Within each model, there are options for different metals (brass alloys, bronze and hand hammered copper) which all have their own specific sound and response characteristics.
Every neck is proudly made in his NYC saxophone shop by Kim and his dedicated team. It is truly a handcrafted product.
Players all over the world are now playing these necks on their saxophones including jazz greats Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Mark Turner, Jerry Bergonzi, Ben Wendel, Seamus Blake and many others.
Kim’s deep dedication to developing and handcrafting the saxophone necks at KB SAX is ongoing. The continued in-house production and R&D of saxophone necks is now the pursuit of Kim and his team at KB SAX.
Motorcycle Tinkerer
Aside from all things saxophones and his love for coffee, Kim’s other passion is vintage motorcycles and cars.
A rider since young, Kim has a special fondness for classic 70’s and 80’s BMW bikes. Besides the excitement of roaming on two wheels, the mechanical insights gained and applied with ongoing tuning and modification of the machines is a source of joy.
At the time of writing, Kim owns two of BMW’s classic adventure bikes – the storied 1988 BMW R100GS, a 1990 BMW R100GS Paris Dakar as well as a rare 1987 BMW 635CSI L6.
Kim is also a member of the Iron Butt Association for endurance motorcycle riding. One memorable ride was a grueling “saddle-sore” 1,000 miles in 24 hours that he completed in the middle of winter 2010, riding from Iowa to NYC on the bike pictured below.
Personal Life
The arrival of a daughter in 2014 means a shift in priorities. Cross-country trips and long distance riding have to be put on hold for a while. Even so, Kim is currently training for endurance triathlons and you may spot him in Central Park doing his morning workouts.
Kim currently resides in NYC with his wife and daughter. They will be relocating to Canada in summer 2026.