Dena DeRose at The Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Dena DeRose Trio
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum Auditorium
Buffalo, NY
February 2, 2025

Binghamton native Dena DeRose returned to upstate New York February 2, 2025 to kick off the 2025 "Art of Jazz" series at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. She and her trio heated up the newly renovated Lipsey Auditorium on a snowy Sunday with her unique take on the American Songbook.

Dena DeRose is a pianist and vocalist in the vein of Blossom Dearie, Shirley Horn, Marian McPartland, and Diana Krall. She combines a bebop-meets-honkey-tonk piano style with a bright, agile voice, and scat vocals doubling her keyboard.

As a teen, she frequently drove from Binghamton to New York City to hear piano legends such as Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, and Kenny Barron. DeRose is currently based in Europe, teaching at the University of Music in Graz and the Siena Jazz University.

She has released 15 recordings since her 1998 debut, "Introducing Dena DeRose," and in June 2025 she will be releasing her fourth album for High Note Records.

The concert began with Peter Nero and Carol Oates' classic "Sunday in New York" (1964) propelled by Sherrie Maricle's small drum kit with a big sound. Maricle may have been inspired by her work in "The Look," the all-girl, high-school rock band she and DeRose founded in Binghamton.

After a raucous version of "You Stepped Out Of A Dream" during which DeRose played the inside of her Steinway like a harp, the trio performed several of DeRose's own compositions from her upcoming recording, including "Listen To Your Heart" in which she adds lyrics to Cedar Walton's "Clockwise" (2008), and "Hold Fast To Your Dreams," inspired by Langston Hughes poem "Dreams."

Jeff Campbell's warm, rich bass tone provided a mellow counterpoint throughout the program, and his harmonic-filled solo in "Hold Fast To Your Dreams" was a highlight.

DeRose's piano style is based in the bebop style pioneered by Hank Jones, but frequently detours into stride and honkey-tonk elements during sophisticated, frenzied solos that challenged the band and the audience to keep up.

The planned set ended with Billie Holiday's "Detour Ahead," but an enthusiastic audience wanted more. The concert concluded with "Cross Me Off Your List;" it began with a false start and ended with a standing ovation.

"The Art of Jazz" is off to an auspicious start, thanks to the return of an international star who found her way home.

Set list

Sunday In New York; You Stepped Out Of A Dream; Only Trust Your Heart; Listen To Your Heart; Day By Day; Hold Fast To Your Dreams; Small Day Tomorrow; Nothing Like You; Detour Ahead. ENCORE: Cross Me Off Your List.

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