Results for "piano"

James Gordon Williams

Originally from the City of Angels, the Manhattan resident originally migrated eastward to continue his development as a creative musician on the East Coast scene. Now a force to be reckoned with on the international jazz scene, Mr. Williams has appeared regularly at such notable venues as "Birdland", "Village Vanguard", and "Lenox Lounge". Mr. Williams has also given solo piano improvisation concerts at the Knitting Factory and performed world premieres of his original compositions at Smalls Jazz Club. Mr. Williams has toured the countries of Malta, Switzerland, France, Sardegna, and Italy with Greg Osby

Jack Tyrrell

Thirty-five years teaching experience.

Michael Smolens

Michael Smolens has been teaching privately and in schools and universities since 1974, and is adjunct faculty at JFK University and Sonoma State University. He has studied with some of the most progressive music and arts teachers in the country, and has written and lectured extensively on Musical Creativity and The Art of Practicing. Michael is also a multi-instrumentalist who performs in a wide variety of contexts and leads three different ensembles. His six CDs of original works can be heard on "www.SecondSightMusic.com".

Lisa Hilton

Born: January 5

Laced with a pulsating West Coast cool energy, the award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist Lisa K. Hiltons’, recordings are imbued with subtle historical references from a wide variety of genres and eras, sounding distinctly twenty-first century and uniquely of her own style. Her compositional inspirations do spring from jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Horace Silver and Duke Ellington, but they also include her favorite bluesmen, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, touches of minimalism from the likes Steve Reich, rhythmic swatches from modernists such as Prokofiev and Bartok or chords from rockers like The Black Keys or Green Day – they all hold sway in Hilton’s imagination when she composes.

Originally from a small town on California’s central coast, Hilton studied classical and twentieth-century piano formally from the age of eight, where she was inspired by her great uncle, Willem Bloemendall, (1910-1937), a Dutch piano virtuoso

Leon Ayers Jr.

Born: March 16, 1960

Leon Ayers Jr. Keyboardist, Producer and Composer, was born and raised in the heart of Motown, the Motor City - Detroit, Michigan. Being inspired by musical greats such as George Duke, Stevie Wonder, Oscar Peterson, and Alex Bugnon led Leon to develop a deep passion for music at a very young age. As a child, Leon recall’s “I would listen to the radio and when a popular hit song was being played, I would attempt to pluck out the various instruments that made up the song. I always felt a great sense of accomplishment from being able to distinguish the individual instruments, hooks, and beats that made the song.” It was this sense of accomplishment that instituted Leon’s drive to play and create music as much as he possibly could. Leon honed his musical skills and talents by attending Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies and enrolling in classes centered on musical composition and jazz theory at Gross Pointe Conservatory and Wayne State University

Oliver Von Essen

Pianist and organist Oliver von Essen lives in Bay Shore, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. He has been active in the New York area Jazz scene and music business for the last 15 years. Oliver has achieved notoriety as a soloist and accompanist working in a wide range of situations from jazz club performances at Greenwich Village’s "Sweet Rhythm" and Harlem’s "Saint Nick’s Pub" to solo piano work, recording projects, clubs on Long Island’s East end and out of town concerts with national and international acts. Oliver was born in Frankfurt, Germany, where his father is a jazz musician

Helen Sung

Helen Sung is an acclaimed jazz pianist and composer, and a newly named 2021 Guggenheim Fellow. A native of Houston, Texas, and graduate of its High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), she eschewed her classical piano upbringing after a jazz epiphany during undergraduate studies at UT Austin. Helen went on to become part of the inaugural class of the Thelonious Monk Institute (now the Herbie Hancock Institute) at the New England Conservatory of Music. Her recent releases Sung With Words (Stricker Street), a collaborative project with renowned poet Dana Gioia funded by a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, and Anthem For A New Day (Concord Jazz) topped the jazz charts

Ron Di Salvio

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946, Ron began his musical journey at age eleven studying accordion with Alexander Matos. At age sixteen, after hearing Dave Brubeck play live at Carnegie Hall, Ron discovered his passion for jazz piano. He studied improvisation with the legendary Lennie Tristano. A self taught composer, Ron formed a trio and played jazz clubs in New York’s Greenwich Village in the late sixties. During this period he performed with Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Enrico Rava, Renee McClean, Roland Kirk and Art Farmer. In 1970 Ron married and moved to the Michigan’s Upper Peninsular where he started a family and the Wintergreen Natural Foods business

Luis Perdomo

Born: February 19, 1971

There are moments in music when an artist illuminates the scene with imagination, virtuosity and above all, an undying dedication to swing.

Pianist/composer/bandleader Luis Perdomo is that moment!

Ever since he came to New York in 1993 from Venezuela, Perdomo has emerged as one of the most in-demand sidemen – as evidenced by his celebrated work with a wide array of jazz and Latin stars – from Ravi Coltrane to Ray Barretto, and by his six critically- acclaimed recordings as a leader. The release of his magnificent new, Hot Tone label debut CD, 22, features bassist Mimi Jones’ supple, deep basslines and drummer Rudy Royston’s quicksilver rhythms, in a trio he christened The Controlling Ear Unit. “I wanted to create an environment where a sensitive player could make his own musical choices, without fear of the consequences,” Perdomo says. “The word ‘unit’ is appropriate because although the current group is a trio, it doesn’t really have to be restrained to that. It could have a different format, depending on what the music calls for.”

Nicki Denner

Born: September 1, 1997

Pianist/composer/arranger Nicki Denner has been a part of the New York Latin and jazz music scene since 1999. Before that, she was an active member of the Minneapolis music community for 10 years. She has performed with Sheila E., Savion Glover, Candido, Doc Severinsen, Andrea Brachfeld, Bobby Sanabria, Harvie S., Ray Vega, Pedro Martinez, Manolo Badrena, John Benitez, the New Jersey Tap Ensemble, as well other jazz and salsa artists in the United States and Europe. Since 2001, she has led her own trio which features Jennifer Vincent on bass, and Willie Martinez on drums. In 2006, the trio released their debut recording, Moliendo Café, which was named one of the "Top Ten Picks of 2006" in Latin Beat Magazine. Ms