Raised in Berkeley, California, Pollack was introduced to music through his parents, Susan Waterfall, and Allan Pollack. He began formal study of the piano at age of five with his mother, and was called a child prodigy, able to play difficult pieces of classical music well beyond his years. He attended The Crowden School in Berkeley, California, for his middle school years, where he received training in orchestral playing, chamber music, harmony, and counterpoint, as well as a courses in the liberal arts. He later attended Berkeley High School where he developed his love for jazz, playing as principal pianist for four years in their award-winning jazz ensemble. He released his debut jazz trio album, Goin' for It, to much critical acclaim in the San Francisco Bay Area and achieved national recognition by being featured on Jazziz magazine's monthly CD. After completing high schooling in 2006, he was offered a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, but opted to instead attend New York University in New York City.
2006–present
In 2007, he appeared as a guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazzradio show aired on NPR. He released his second trio album, Infinite Playground, to great critical acclaim in 2010. The album featured bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Evan Hughes. The album showcased Pollack's growing interest in blending multiple genres with jazz improvisation and classical composition. It included Pollack's original pieces with "My Funny Valentine" by Rodgers and Hart, "Cherokee" by Ray Noble, and "And I Love Her" by the Beatles. He continued this trajectory with the trio's 2013 album, Waves of Albion, which included a polyrhythmic arrangement of "What Sarah Said" by Death Cab for Cutie, "Flume" by Bon Iver, and the American folk song "Oh Shenandoah". Pollack composed a three movement piano concerto in 2012. It was premiered by the Camellia Symphony in Sacramento. The work's style and form drew heavily from jazz, minimalism, and French impressionism. In 2013, Pollack composed "Brooklyn Boomerang", a piece for two pianos which premiered at the Greenwich House in Manhattan in November by Pollack and acclaimed pianist Natalie Tenenbaum. He also completed a string quartet that was commissioned by the Telluride Chamber Music Festival and the Ives String Quartet. Pollack premiered a new composition for orchestra, entitled Night Flower at the 2014 Mendocino Music Festival.
Collaborations
In 2006, Pollack met singer-songwriter Grace Weber They formed the band Grace & Julian and recorded their eponymously-titled debut shortly after. The duo added additional musicians and evolved into the Grace Weber Band, as Pollack relinquished his role as a co-leader before the release of their four-song EP, Sparrows. Pollack has continued to serve as a co-writer for many of Weber's songs, including all twelve songs featured on Weber's 2011 album Hope & Heart |Hope & Heart, which debuted number 8 on iTunes in the Singer-Songwriter category. Pollack has also collaborated with Broadway singer Carrie Manolakos. In April 2012, they performed at the Poisson Rouge in New York City for Manolakos' CD Release concert. The concert concluded with a performance of Radiohead's "Creep" which Pollack arranged for the occasion. A video recording of the performance became a viral sensation on YouTube and has received over two million views.
