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Laura Dubin

For the outstanding pianist/composer Laura Dubin, the serious pursuit of jazz expression began at the age of 12 in her native Rochester, NY. In 2007 she embarked on a 7-year journey of study and performing that brought her to various points in the U.S. and Latin America; and now Laura’s path has come full circle to her hometown. ​“Whenever I came home between activities, I found that I loved the city more and more with each visit. There is a real sense of community here, and a deep appreciation for art, music and culture. It’s a wonderful environment to express and grow as an artist.”

With her husband and musical partner Antonio H. Guerrero – who she met during her 15-month stint with a jazz trio on Holland America Line cruise ships touring Europe, French Polynesia and the Caribbean; and with whom she performed consistently in clubs, major venues and festivals with her trio in and around her new home in Mexico City – Laura returned to Rochester in 2014, quickly becoming a thriving member of its cultural scene both as a performer and educator.

After two years as a popular and much sought-after ensemble, the trio reached a new plateau with a triumphant featured performance at the prestigious Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in 2016 (where they also performed in 2017 and will perform again in 2019). That performance was recorded, and then released in late 2016. Following her two previous acclaimed albums – 2013’s Introducing the Laura Dubin Trio, and Laura Dubin Plays the Great American Songbook in 2015 – Laura Dubin Trio Live at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival is undeniable evidence of the development of a highly promising young musician into a mature and powerful new presence on the contemporary jazz scene. Where her debut album included ten original compositions and the second featured her original arrangements of ten classic songs by Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and other legends of song, the live album combines her outstanding composing and superb arranging skills to reveal an artist of depth, command and originality – further expressed through her own unique take on the “mashup” concept. “I love finding random connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of music, such as two jazz standards or a classical piece combined with a standard. The connection could be any one of a number of things between two or more pieces - the key, a set of chord changes that can weave into those of another tune, some type of hook or melodic phrase that links the two, a certain mood, the list goes on. Sometimes these “mashups” are intentional, and other times they just come to me as I’m practicing or imagining music in my head.” A virtuoso pianist extensively trained in both the Western Classical and Classic Jazz traditions, and well-versed in Latin and film music, Laura melds all of her musical loves into a seamless web of breathtaking creativity and adventurous exploration throughout the live album, providing a vivid example of her in-person performance concept. Mozart steeped in the history of jazz piano; Beethoven welded with Songbook gems; Ellington with Chopin; Debussy with Gershwin; Ravel with Rodgers & Hammerstein tinged with Latin; Cole Porter with Bill Evans – all reinvented, re-imagined and forged into very personal statements placed alongside her own singular compositions.

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Album Review

Laura Dubin Trio: Live At The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

Read "Live At The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Ambition is certainly in no short supply for pianist Laura Dubin, as evidenced by this two-disc live recording from the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in 2016. On 21 cuts, she not only surveys an exceptional range of jazz piano styles, from stride to bebop to modal; she also brings in the classical tradition, with jazz-inflected pieces from Beethoven and Mozart (among others) making appearances. There's something here for everyone, and her appreciative audience at the Rochester festival inspires her ...

1
Album Review

Laura Dubin: Live at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival / Matt Savage: Piano Voyages

Read "Live at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival / Matt Savage: Piano Voyages" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Here are three new CDs by two exemplary young pianists, Laura Dubin and Matt Savage, the first two of which reprise a concert by Dubin's splendid trio at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in July 2016. The third, Piano Voyages, is Savage's twelfth recording, the first in which his eloquent piano is the lone instrument. There are other differences as well: Dubin's album, recorded in concert, has the benefit of audience interaction; and unlike Savage, whose program consists for ...

3
Album Review

Laura Dubin Trio: Live At The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

Read "Live At The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival" reviewed by Roger Farbey


Despite the cartoonish CD cover illustration, depicting a smiling Laura Dubin seated at a grand piano, and perhaps giving the false impression that this is a jokey album, the music surely proves otherwise. This ambitious double album of a live performance on July 2nd, 2016 contains many surprising and engaging pieces. Opening with Steve Allen's “This Could Be the Start of Something Big" Dubin's style for standards is clearly influenced by the likes of Oscar Peterson and maybe even Dudley ...

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