Education
- D.M., Doctor of Music, Indiana University, 1997
- M.M., Master of Music, Indiana University, 1985
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Indiana University, 1979
Luke Gillespie is professor of music in jazz studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
An active performer of jazz and classical piano music, Gillespie is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1994 Indianapolis Jazz Festival Competition, best performance from the Indianapolis Star in 1993, and the 1990 Copland Piano Concerto Competition at Indiana University. He has performed and given master classes in the United States, Japan, China, Indonesia, Austria,Croatia, Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
He has recorded with the Arts Center Jazz Collective, Jeremy Allen, David Baker, Bruce Bransby, Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, James Campbell, Todd Coolman, Steve Davis (drums), Everett Greene, Pat Harbison, Steve Houghton, Sylvia McNair, Dan Perantoni, John Raymond, Eugene Rousseau, Walter Smith III, Dominic Spera, Wanda Stafford, Dave Stryker, Tierney Sutton, Wayne Wallace and Tom Walsh (with whom he toured Europe in May 2002-03, Japan in May 2004-05, and China in May 2009).
He has performed with Alex Acuna, Jamey Aebersold, Eric Alexander, Rahsaan Barber, Ron Blake, Ralph Bowen, Benny Golson, Wycliffe Gordon, Bunky Green, Jimmy Heath, Nicole Henry, Robert Hurst, Ingrid Jensen, Kelley Johnson, Pat LaBarbera, David Liebman, Marshall McDonald, James Moody, Ed Neumeister, Chris Potter, Rufus Reid, Jeff Rupert, Arturo Sandoval, Jim Snidero, Bennie Wallace, Rodney Whitaker, Pharez Whitted, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and Pablo Ziegler.
Gillespie is included in Jazz Play-Along, Vol. 76, "How to Learn Tunes," by David Baker (Aebersold). He has published articles on the aesthetics of jazz and classical music as well as a book, Stylistic II/V7/I Voicings for Keyboardists (Aebersold, 2000, third printing, 2015), endorsed by Danilo Perez, Geoff Keezer, David Liebman, David Baker, and Frank Mantooth. He also adapted Jamey Aebersold's Play-Along Volume 1 for Piano (2015). His solo jazz piano CD, Footprints (2003), was released on RIAX Records (2003), and two trio CDs, Live at the Station (2010) and Third Base Line (2011), were released on Watercourse Records. His latest CD, Moving Mists (2019), was released on Patois Records.