Results for "piano"

Warren Byrd

Born: January 24, 1965

Pianist / vocalist / composer Warren Byrd is a Hartford native with an international touring schedule after many fruitful years playing Jazz throughout Connecticut, Southern New England, and New York.

Early Years: He’s youngest in a family of music lovers. Showing talent early on, he was encouraged to perform, singing in the Gospel choir at age 4. Also, he was nurtured to love big band jazz early. Would pursue a Theatre career starting at age 14 and had amassed extensive performing credits throughout his teen years. He began composing music at about age 11. Grew into a passion for bebop jazz, especially the music of Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson. Studied Jazz Piano and Music Theory notably with Thomassina Neely, Music Director of Warburton Community Church and R. Leslie Childs Music Teacher at South Catholic High School. Several consecutive summers in the Hartford Stage Company Summer Youth Theatre exposed him to fine musicianship in the aegis of John Johnson, Ed DeGroat, and Stephen Barnicle leading to a curiosity for 20th century classical music, especially Stravinsky. By high school graduation 1983, he’d earn a full scholarship for Classical Voice at Hartt College of Music. He would soon leave to forge his own studies of Composition, Theory, and Jazz Piano.

Kari Ikonen

Born: August 26, 1973

To be updated soon... meanwhile, please see www.kariikonen.com The 2013 Yrjö Award recipient as the Finnish Jazz Musician of the Year, pianist, moogist and composer Kari Ikonen (b.1973) is currently active with his own trio and several other bands and projects like Orchestra Nazionale della Luna, trio Toffa, Quartet Ajaton and Jeff Denson Trio. He has worked with the likes of Louis Sclavis, Lee Konitz, Bob Moses, Ingrid Jensen, Magnus Broo, Vincent Courtois and Ron McClure. Kari has performed in Australia, South Korea, Japan, USA, Armenia, Turkey, Russia and 30 European countries. His playing and/or compositions have been recorded for more than 40 albums, 7 of these on his own name

Jo Thompson

Singer/pianist Jo Thompson, born in Detroit, Michigan, has appeared on television and in swank nightclubs that have taken her all over the world. London, Paris, Madrid, Havana, Montreal, Hollywood, Miami and New York, are only a few of the cities that have hosted her talents. She has performed in such notable nightspots as San Souci in Cuba, The Keyboard Club in Beverly Hills, California, Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, Cafe Society, and Michael's Pub in New York. The Stork Room in London, England, and Ciro's in Miami. Jo Thompson's successes have included such achievements as having jazz great, Lionel Hampton, present her one- woman show to benefit her late husband's scholarship fund, the Albert Dunmore Journalism Scholarship at New York's internationally acclaimed, Carnegie Hall

Mark Flugge

Born: January 27, 1962

Mark Flugge is well-known as a pianist, composer, educator, and bandleader in the Central Ohio area and beyond. Recent soloist appearances include performing “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra (2011), the Capital/Bexley Orchestra (2009), the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (2006 and 2010), and the Westerville Symphony (2004). He was the musical director for the "Birth of the Cool" with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra in May, 2011, and was the bandleader for the Opera Columbus production of Kurt Weill's "Berlin to Broadway" in September, 2010

Butch Lacy

Born: April 16, 1947

Philippe LeJeune

Born: February 2, 1954

French pianist Philippe LeJeune is a perfect example of the mixture of jazz and blues which was especially an important strain in the jazz tradition. The young pianist attended a 1968 concert in Reims, France, by master boogie-woogie and blues pianist Memphis Slim, and immediately put an end to his classical efforts and began teaching himself the blues, scouring local record shops for LP’s by boogie woogie greats. In 1980 he was invited by Memphis Slim who had been a parisian citizen since 1962 to cut an album titled « Dialog In Boogie » as a piano duet. The French blues and boogie woogie pianist is one of those rare European pianist who is able to take part in the grand tradition of American jazz mixing swing, a sense of melody and the blues

Lewis Porter

Born: May 14, 1951

Lewis Porter (PhD, Brandeis, 1983) is a jazz pianist, composer (of everything from leadsheets to works for orchestra and soloists), an author, a Professor of Music at Rutgers University in Newark since 1986, and founder and director of the Master's Program in Jazz History and Research there since Fall 1997. A leading scholar and historian of all eras of jazz, he has dedicated his career to raising the standards of jazz scholarship, and to mentoring young scholars worldwide and in his Master's program. Before 1986, he taught full-time at Tufts, and part-time at Brandeis (while earning his PhD there in music history, which he received in 1983). He has also taught part-time at the New School, Manhattan School of Music, Jazz At Lincoln Center, and as a guest at numerous colleges in the US and Europe. He is an author or coauthor of seven books and numerous articles on jazz, and a consultant to record producers, publishers, and producers of jazz radio shows and films. He is a frequent guest on radio (NPR, WNYC, WBGO, etc.), often quoted in print (NY Times, Star Ledger, etc.) and occasionally appears on TV and film (BET, BBC). He was Jazz Talk moderator for 2006-9 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he organized and led four panels a year. He made numerous media appearances in 2005 about his role in researching and releasing the Monk/Coltrane Carnegie Hall recording. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1996 (under Best Historical Reissue) for his role in producing the boxed set of Coltrane's Atlantic Recordings. Dr. Porter has performed extensively as a pianist—check out VIDEOS where you will see him with Dave Liebman and others. Under MUSIC you will find information about his CDs, and audio samples. The critics rave: "A HELLUVA PIANO PLAYER" (Jazz Times). "(Porter plays) with a lively glitter and amazing sense of assurance." "Mixing experimental with traditional, (he) plays up a storm." "Porter is a deep thinker (whose music is) founded upon depth and cunning use of space." He is also increasingly active as a composer, not only for jazz combos but for larger groups—his three-movement concerto for saxophone and orchestra will be performed by Dave Liebman at Harvard U, April 19, 2012. He is accepting commissions for more such works. These are not "jazz arrangements," but original through-composed pieces influenced by the language of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as jazz.

His first book, Lester Young (1985), appeared in a revised edition in 2005 (University of Michigan Press), with an added photo section and CD guide. Porter edited A Lester Young Reader, coauthored Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present (with Michael Ullman, and Ed Hazell; Prentice-Hall,1992), compiled an anthology of historical articles and his own essays (Jazz: A Century of Change, Schirmer Books, 1997), edited The John Coltrane Reference (Routledge 2008), and published the acclaimed study John Coltrane: His Life and Music (University of Michigan Press, Jan. 1998; Italian and French editions, 2007). The latter book won the 1999 Jazz Research Award from the Association of Recorded Sound Collections, and the Prix du livre de Jazz ("Best Jazz Book of the Year") from the Academy of Jazz in Paris. He is editor of Dave Liebman's autobiography which will be out at the end of 2011. Under PUBLICATIONS you will find more info about these and more.

From 2002-2010 he was editor for a series of books on jazz for the University of Michigan press, and he completed a jazz encyclopedia which was published at Jazz.com. He is editor of the comprehensive ,John Coltrane Reference book (Routledge, 2008). He is founder and formerly co-editor with Professor John Howland of the peer-reviewed journal, Jazz Perspectives, which began publication early in 2007 and quickly became one of the leading journals in the jazz field. His latest project is a blog at WBGO.org entitled "You Don't Know Jazz," where in each installment he presents previously unknown and groundbreaking research on every aspect of jazz from its African roots to the present day.

Lewis Porter has a fast-rising profile as a jazz pianist (Steinway preferred) and keyboardist (Yamaha Motif synthesizer, 76 keys). Known for a free and open attitude, he can contribute to any type of musical situation. His own groups swing like mad, taking a loose, open attitude to standard tunes and to Porter's own original compositions. Porter has appeared in concert with such masters as Dave Liebman, Ravi Coltrane, Judi Silvano with Joe Lovano, Jeff Coffin, Jane Ira Bloom, Wycliffe Gordon, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, George Garzone, Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway, Don Friedman, Alan Dawson, Joe Cohn, Gregg Bendian and many others. He is a regular member of the Indian-influenced group Dharma Jazz with Badal Roy, Freddie Bryant, and percussionist Karttikeya. He often amplifies his concert appearances with lectures, workshops, and master classes. Especially in demand are his talks on Coltrane, and his master class for pianists on technique and improvisation. In just the 07-8 school year, Porter was guest lecturer and/or performer at U of Penn, The U of the Arts (Phil., PA), Berklee College, BU, Northeastern, MIT, Worcester Polytechnic U, U of North Texas, Houston High School of Performing and Visual Arts, the public schools in Greece, NY, Eastman School of Music, and William Paterson U. In 2009 he was in Spain, Germany, Israel and Italy.

Larry Fuller

Born: July 14, 1965

Larry Fuller is an internationally acclaimed American jazz pianist, composer and clinician known by critics and fans to "swing like a beast!”. He is a Yamaha-endorsed Artist. Early in his career, Fuller’s undeniable talent earned him the position of musical director and pianist for vocalist Ernestine Anderson. He then went on to play in drummer Jeff Hamilton’s Trio, bassist Ray Brown’s Trio, and John Pizzarelli’s Quartet. Today, Fuller leads The Larry Fuller Trio. He is consistently praised for their emotive, swinging style, monster technique, and program versatility

Eldar Djangirov

Born: January 28, 1987

The New York Times described the New York based pianist Eldar Djangirov as "a blend of musical intelligence, organizational savvy, enthusiasm and prowess that was all the more impressive for seeming so casual… an ebullient impressionist." Dr. Billy Taylor said, "Eldar Djangirov's playing shows brilliancy, complexity, and discipline... he's serious about his music, he's thoughtful about what he does.” Jazz Times said, “Maybe he made a pact with Lucifer to be the greatest pianist ever." Praised as “a genius beyond most young people I've heard” by Dave Brubeck. Downbeat magazine stated that "his command of his instrument is beyond staggering." When Eldar Djangirov (pronounced john-'gear-ov) was signed to Sony Classical at the age of 17, the young pianist from Kansas City was already well known for his prodigious pyrotechnics and precocious knowledge of the bebop tradition

Ronny Johansson

Born: April 26, 1942

Ronny Johansson, born in 1942, is a Swedish jazz pianist and composer. He started his career in Uppsala, comping the legendary Eric Dolphy in 1961. He also had the privilege to play with some other great American musicians visiting Sweden, like Art Farmer, Benny Bailey, Red Rodney, Warne Marsh and Don Byas a.o. Also some Swedes of course. Among them Lars Gullin, Putte Wickman, Rolf Ericson and Rolf Billberg. Ronny Johansson was a piano teacher for 34 years at the School of Music, University of Gothenburg. He retired in 2009 and today he mainly performs with his trio, formed in 1995. The trio has released six CD:s since ”Jubilee” in 2002, the latest called ”New Jubilee” and came out in 2012. Ronny Johansson´s most recent recording is titled ”Japanese Blue”, a solo piano CD from 2014.