Results for "piano"

Axel Zwingenberger

Born: May 7, 1955

Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1955, pianist Axel Zwingenberger is traveling the world as the »ambassador of Boogie Woogie« since the age of 19. Together with his friends Vince Weber, Martin Pyrker and George Moeller, he started out in the German speaking countries. Meanwhile, the keyboard virtuoso has given concerts in about 50 countries on four continents, in the Middle and Far East of Asia, in Africa as well as in the Americas. Besides that, he has performed in almost every European country. Boogie Woogie is a very profound, expressive and powerful style of piano playing, firmly rooted in the Blues

Dave Zoller

Dave Zoller began playing the piano at age six and began arranging and composing actively while a student at SMU. Dave has led his own groups, worked as a sideman in various bands and backed such top acts as Kay Starr, Gloria Loring, Diahann Carroll, the Mills Brothers, George Kirby and the Smothers Brothers. In 1985, he became tour pianist and music director for New Orleans jazz & pop trumpet star (and Grammy Award winner) Al Hirt, “an association that lasted three hectic years”, says Zoller. Dave has also appeared in concert with such jazz legends as Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels, Mundell Lowe, Pete Christlieb and Carl Fontana. In recent years, he has performed with such up-and-coming performers as guitarist Steve Masakowski, vocalist Roseanna Vitro and saxophonist Dave Pietro

Peter Zak

There are few jazz pianists performing today who excel in the art of the straight-ahead piano-bass-drums trio as brilliantly as does Peter Zak. The empathy that he, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Willie Jones III achieve on all 10 tracks of The Disciple—the Los Angeles-born, New York- based pianist’s tenth album in 10 years for SteepleChase Productions and eighth such trio recording for the esteemed Danish label—is nothing short of breathtaking. “The fact that the piano is the lead instrument in terms of playing the melody appeals to me,” Zak says of the trio format

Pamela York

Jimmy Yancey

Born: February 20, 1898

Jimmy Yancey- piano, composer, recording artist (1898-1951)

Boogie Woogie can best be defined as solo piano music based on the twelve or eight bar patterns, characterized by the repeated use of the bass figures. The Boogie Woogie piano craze had a short run of popularity in the late ‘30’s and into the mid ‘40’s where then it slipped back into a more straight blues style. There were but a few real players of the form, although scores of pale imitators. There is a story of a recording session in 1938 where the pianist just finished a song, with a strange tango bass in eight to the bar, with unusual harmonies, delivered in a quiet thoughtful mood. The engineer asked the name of the song, the player said “Yancey Special”, leading right to “who’s Yancey”? The player on this date was boogie woogie champion Meade Lux Lewis, talking about his mentor Jimmy Yancey, a most reluctant piano hero if there ever was one.

Richard Wyands

Born: July 2, 1928

A fine pianist whose chord voicings are a little reminiscent of Red Garland, Richard Wyands has spent most of his career as a sideman. He started working in local clubs when he was 16, graduated from San Francisco State College, and gained experience playing in the San Francisco Bay area. Wyands, who was a sideman on a few early dates for Fantasy, spent time accompanying Ella Fitzgerald (1956) and Carmen McRae. He moved to New York in 1958, where he played with Roy Haynes, Charles Mingus (1959), Gigi Gryce's quintet, Oliver Nelson, Etta Jones, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Gene Ammons, among others

Anthony Wonsey

Chicago native Anthony Wonsey is one of the most innovative jazz pianists on the planet. His dynamic compositions and imaginative arrangements make him a much in demand player internationally. Anthony’s introduction to music began at a young age via the influence of his mother Darlene, a classically trained pianist, lessons from trumpeter Zilner Randolph,( musical director for Louis Armstrong’s band) and many moments in his family’s basement with his father Anthony, a Chicago postal worker/jazz fan who schooled his son, via a staticky AM radio, on the music he loved. His progression flourished, resulting in a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston

Mike Wofford

Born: February 28, 1938

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Mike Wofford grew up in San Diego, California where he began piano lessons at the age of seven. He later studied briefly with a local jazz piano teacher, Bill Franks, an admirer of Teddy Wilson, who primarily emphasized harmonic creativity in improvising rather than technique. Wofford is otherwise self-taught and was first influenced by hearing recordings of Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver. Mike began his professional career recording with Slim Gaillard in 1961. That same year he also joined Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-stars. In 1962 Wofford became a member of Shorty Rogers and his Giants and also recorded with Mel Torme on the album “Comin’ Home Baby.” While becoming active in the Los Angeles jazz club scene, he also toured with vocalist June Christy as her accompanist in 1963, and recorded with vibraphonist Gary Burton in drummer Larry Bunker’s quartet

Teddy Wilson

Born: November 24, 1912

His airy, effortless style, with its emphasis on lightly accompanied right-hand melody, was a key element in the transition from swing to bebop, and many modern jazz pianists took Wilson's approach as their starting point. His early recordings were percussive and forceful, but as he matured his technique became graceful, almost elegant. He was a gifted artist who used the full range of his instrument to his advantage. His recordings with Billie Holiday and Benny Goodman’s trio and quartet during the 1930s are considered classics. Wilson was born in Austin, TX in 1912, his parents were both schoolteachers

Jack Wilson

Born: August 3, 1936

Jack Wilson was an American jazz pianist and composer. Wilson was born in Chicago on August 3, 1936, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana at age seven. From 1949 to 1954, he studied piano with Carl Atkinson at the Fort Wayne College of Music. It was during this time that he was introduced to the music of George Shearing. Later picking up tenor saxophone, Wilson played in the Central High School band and began performing locally as a leader of small combos. By his fifteenth birthday, he had become the youngest member ever to join the Fort Wayne Musicians Union (Local 58). At the age of 17 he played a two-week stint as a substitute pianist in James Moody's band. After graduating from Central High, Wilson spent a year-and-a-half at the Indiana University, encountering Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton