Take Five With Steve Myerson

AAJ Staff

Contributor since 1995

Various staff members.

Recent articles (1,149 total)

Published: March 5, 2009

“ My music provides a feeling of uplifted spirits, storytelling, and general well-being. ”

Meet Steve Myerson:
Steve Myerson is a New York-based pianist and has performed with top acts including Grover Washington, Jr. Grover Washington, Jr.
1943 - 1999
saxophone ., The Stylistics, The Godfather movie star Gianni Russo, and many jazz musicians including John Swana John Swana

trumpet , Scott Reeves, Eliot Zigmund, Milt Hinton Milt Hinton
1910 - 2000
bass, acoustic , Slide Hampton Slide Hampton
b.1932
trombone , Ralph Bowen Ralph Bowen

sax, tenor , and Steve LaSpina Steve LaSpina
b.1954
bass ...to name a few!

Instrument(s):
Piano.

Teachers and/or influences?
Myerson has studied with Mike Longo Mike Longo
b.1939
piano , Andy LaVerne Andy LaVerne
b.1947
piano , Bill Charlap Bill Charlap
b.1966
piano , Harold Mabern Harold Mabern
b.1936
piano , James Williams James Williams
1951 - 2004
piano , Trudy Pitts Trudy Pitts
1932 - 2010
organ, Hammond B3 , and has taken lessons with Mulgrew Miller Mulgrew Miller
1955 - 2013
piano , Geoffrey Keezer Geoffrey Keezer
b.1970
keyboard , Don Glanden, and Dr. Min Kim. Some of his influences include Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim
b.1934
piano , Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal
b.1930
piano , Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder
b.1950
keyboard , and non-jazz music genres such as R&B, soul, Americana, and folk.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...
My entire childhood the piano always presented itself to me. It might have been a neighborhood kid that played, or in a store. But I knew I had to play when my parents bought a piano, and I sat down and immediately knew what the key did. I started playing melodies by ear and asked if I could take lessons. I used to save all my lunch money, not eat in school, and at the end of the week go to the record shop and but CDs. I would randomly pick out CDs in the jazz section. My first one was Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk
1917 - 1982
piano 's Underground.

Your sound and approach to music:
I am primarily influenced by jazz trios including Abdullah Ibrahim, Ahmad Jamal, Geoff Keezer, and others. Of course, I can't exclude historical groups like Tommy Flanagan Tommy Flanagan
1930 - 2001
piano , Hank Jones Hank Jones
1918 - 2010
piano , Bill Evans Bill Evans
1929 - 1980
piano , etc...there are just way too many to mention! They are all great, and they all have influenced me in one way or another.

Your teaching approach:
Teaching must be geared towards the individual student's personality. I think that students have unique individual needs such as different learning methods, different attention spans, etc. I like to try to develop a trust over a period of time, so that the student learns from me more from doing, seeing, and hearing, rather than lecture.

Your dream band:
I am fortunate to play with some of my favorite musicians already! Steve LaSpina is a veteran bassist and adds so much support, rhythm and groove to what I play. And drummer Anthony Pinciotti is new to my roster, but man, oh man, he can play! If anything, I would love and welcome new experiences and new opportunities to play with any musicians that feel that I have something to contribute to their project.

Anecdote from the road:
When I was touring with The Stylistics, we stayed in Japan. I decided on a day off to go wondering and exploring the city of Tokyo. That was amazing, until after about 4 hours of wondering, I got lost! Imagine being in a place where no one speaks your language—people who I though might be American only spoke Japanese and all of the signs are in Japanese! I finally ran into an Australian guy in a record store and he kindly directed me back to my hotel. By the way, I don't even know how I ended up in a record store...but they had some of the most amazing jazz recordings that were not available in the U.S. as far as I knew!

Favorite venue:
There is a place in Staten Island called Lorenzo's. It is part of the Hilton Garden Inn hotel. The owner and manager of the club is the nicest individual. He bought us all dinner and they provided us a nice green room at the hotel to relax in before the show (with The Godfather movie star Gianni Russo (played the son-in-law, Carlo).

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?
I am new to the scene, and have only three recordings out. So far my favorite is my newest, In Your Absence. It is my debut album and so I don't have much else to contrast with. The other two are Gianni Russo Live at Feinstein's, which was a blast making, and a movie soundtrack I did, Brooklyn Lobster, which starred Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?
Original Music! Original Music! Original Music! Ok, my music may not be the most cutting edge, or the most technically advanced, but I feel that what I write is directly for the people listening to it. It is not music made for only musicians to enjoy. I think that is the problem with the jazz industry...musicians often forget that there is an entire audience out there that wants to hear your music, but not how good you are on your instrument. They want to leave feeling good about themselves, not puzzled as to what just happened. I think my music provides a feeling of uplifted spirits, storytelling, and general well-being.

Did you know...
I grew up eating rice and beans, tostones, and listening to Neil Diamond?!?

How do you use the internet to help your career?
I have a website, http://www.stevemyerson.com, that I created, maintain, and update myself using RapidWeaver on a Mac. I also can be found at AAJ, MySpace, and my email address is steve@stevemyerson.com.

CDs you are listening to now:
Abdullah Ibrahim, Piano Solo (GmbH)
Andy LaVerne, Live at the Kitano Vol.1 (Steeplechase)
The Beatles, One (Capitol)
Dr. John, All By Hisself Live at the Lonestar (Sin-Drome)
Steve Ferguson, The Well-Tempered Piano 1-2 (Gypsy Hollow)

Desert Island picks: Dr. John, All By Hisself Live at the Lonestar (Sin-Drome)
Geoff Keezer, Zero One (Dreyfus)
Bill Evans, Alone (OJC)
Stevie Wonder, Songs In The Key Of Life (Motown)
Abdullah Ibrahim, Cape Town Revisited (Enja)

How would you describe the state of jazz today?
Outlook Positive—that is what I think a magic eight-ball would say. However, right now there are way too many musicians being pumped out of institutions that have no experience and are writing music that comes from a place that I'm not really sure of. I think music has gone backwards in the jazz industry. Hopefully things will change, and my outlook is positive!

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?

Musicians must build audiences by providing for them music that is approachable and yet still artistically satisfying.
Musicians must stop playing for themselves.
Musicians must make a stand to low-wages and bad deals.
Musicians must pass on what they know to younger generations.
Musicians must act together.
Musicians must stay positive and only give off positive energy.
Musicians must not blame anyone else but themselves.
Musicians must practice and stay great at what they do.
Musicians must spread the jazz word.
Musicians must inform their audience but also treat their audience with respect.

What is in the near future?
Right now I am promoting and touring with my new CD, In Your Absence.

I hope to find some more musicians to play with and contribute to. I am really interested in being a side man on projects and other styles of music. I will also be working on composing and some more solo music.

By Day:
I teach private piano lessons at The Music Shop in Boonton, NJ. It is a very rewarding gig, and allows me to stay involved in music full-time, while paying my rent! I wouldn't want any other day job because I really enjoy teaching and talking about piano all day.