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Tim Lyddon
jazz composer and pianist Tim Lyddon
About Me
Pianist/composer Tim Lyddon describes
his approach to music as
...uncompromised, what
I feel from the heart, drawn from my life's
experiences. Bill Evans and Keith
Jarrett along with impressionism and
introspection are key influences and
elements in his
approach. Tim began studying piano at
nine years old, but took a serious interest
in jazz
three years later after his family moved to
California. Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and
Bud
Powell were his first influences in
developing his own natural swing feel.
Tommy Flanagan,
Hank Jones, Jarrett and Evans soon
followed. A serious and dedicated
student, he studied
with Charlie Shoemake and Terry Trotter,
and after a two year stint in Las Vegas, he
returned to Los Angeles and immersed
himself in the jazz scene playing with
great
musicians such as Dick Berk, Chuck
Flores, Sam Most, Bob Summers and Kim
Richmond as
well as leading his own trio. He recorded
two trio projects and also recorded two
albums
with Stan Kenton trombonist Ray
Weigand, as well as various television and
movie scores.
After studying classical piano on
scholarship with Milton Stern, Tim studied
composition and arranging with Spud
Murphy, who also taught such luminaries
as Oscar
Peterson, Gerald Wiggins and Bennie
Maupin.Receiving a scholarship from
Manhattan School of Music, Tim moved to
New York to continue his studies with
Byard and
Harold Danko, and teaching as well.He's
performed regularly with his own trio in
New York and around the East coast. In
addition to bassist Tom Hubbard and
drummer
Scott Latzky, his trio has also included
bassists Tony Marino, Scott Lee and Steve
La Spina,
and drummers Eliot Zigmund, Jeff
Hirschfeld and Tom Rainey.Jazz pianist
Tim
Lyddon has recorded and performed
extensively since 1979. Lyddon's most
consistent
output over the years has taken place in
the trio format. Starting in 1988, his group
released 2 recordings on the Essence jazz
label entitled Trio music and Trio music2.
His
first record for Essence, trio music was
released in September 1985. After three
rewarding
years with Jack Ranelli playing in
Lyddons’s regular trio, drummer Kendall
Kay joined the
band in 1988. The label released another
album from Tim Lyddon Trio—trio music,
volume
2 in 1990. . In 2000 Essence jazz released
I've Traveled So Far, the highly
anticipated followup along with Shades
of People in 2005. These were both trio
outings
(nyc) with long time associates bassist
Tom Hubbard and drummer Scott Latzky.
These
were both critically acclaimed works. Dan
Karcher of WBGO called traveled, the
best trio
cd in recent years It offers eight originals
and two standards that brilliantly
display Tim's highly personal approach to
improvisation - a style that one of his
former
teachers, the legendary Jaki Byard said
shows the depth of an exceptionally
mature
musician. The Byard influence is quite
apparent on the album's closer, a
delightful solo
piano excursion on the Burke-Van Heusen
classic I Thought About You that
incorporates many
elements of the jazz piano tradition. But
it's Lyddon's original compositions that
display the full breadth of his exceptional
talent.I draw on a combination of
elements from many styles of music, but
always holding onto the art of swing.
Driven by dense, linear harmonic shapes,
Tim's compositions constantly seek
resolution, going in exhilarating and
surprising directions underneath a very
singing lyrical
melody. Although the music is complex in
harmony and form, the trio keeps things
simple
and understated with a subtle sense of
nuance.Even on pieces like the
percussively grooving title cut and the
adventurously conceived, driving blues,
What Time Is It?
, the sensitive
interplay between piano, bass and drums
is always the prime directive,Tim
couldn't ask for better or more sensitive
support from bass and drums than he
receives
here. Hubbard's subtly shaded but rock
solid bass work and Latzky's deft, light
touch
(often just using brushes) never overplay,
and in Tim's words provide a solid
foundation
from which the piano can lay its
impressionistic colors like a floating
blanket. In
2005 Essence released 'Shades of
People. Reminiscent of pianist Keith
jarrett, says Dan
KarcherHe is firstly an improviser, and
greatly cherishes the surprise and
wonder that can occur from a
spontaneous musical idea that is
expressed directly, in real
time. But he is also a composer brewing in
the impressionistic realms of Ravel and
Debussy. In his most inspired playing, the
actual structure of his musical thought
serves as
an expression. Each tune has a strongly
felt narrative , whether it expresses itself
in a
beginning, an end, or something left
intentionally open-ended. The two sides
of Lyddon’s
personality—the improviser and the
composer play off each other, and the
effect is often
something like controlled chaos.Lyddon
has performed around the world at a
regular pace since 2010, with his trio and
as a solo pianist. His performances
convey a
wide range of expression. He has
attracted a decent following over the
years, one that has
grown to expect a singular, intense
experience in his performance.In addition
to
his trio and solo projects, Lyddon has
worked with a number of great jazz
musicians,
including Darek Oles, Chuck Flores, Dick
Berk, Sam Most, Eliot Zigmond, Tony
Moreno, Jeff
Hirshfield etc. Lyddon also has played on
a number of recordings outside of the
jazz idiom, like His music has appeared in
several movies, including The laughing
man
and Oceanus
www.pianojazz.net.
[email protected]: As a
Leader/Solo: trio music(1985) trio music
(volume 2) (1988) I've Traveled So Far
(2000)
Shades of People (2005) Live in
Akasaka(tokyo) 2009 Live in Akasaka
(tokyo) 2015 As a
sideman: Love Sounds- Roy Wiegand,
Home Again- Roy Wiegand,Waiting on
the
flame(1994) -John French, Kundalini
Beat(2007)- Dev Suroop, Born to
Fly(2008)- Simone
Awhina