Results for "piano"

Les McCann

Born: September 23, 1935

Already established on the soul jazz scene of the 1960s, Les McCann became an international jazz superstar with the release of “Swiss Movement,” recorded at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival with the late Eddie Harris. The album generated a multi-million selling hit single, "Compared To What," and placed McCann and Harris in the forefront of the jazz market. There was a lot more to Les McCann than that show in Switzerland,both before and after. As a musician, he moved comfortably from one jazz style to the next, demonstrating impressive chops from bop to fusion, from vocals to virtually any kind of keyboard he puts his hands to.

Bill Mays

Born: February 5, 1944

"I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. "There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was an old, silver valved one. I loved that sound—it’s probably the reason I took up the baritone horn and trumpet in junior high school. We had a spinet piano, a Baldwin Acrosonic, and I was at it from a very early age. I had some great teachers down through the years but the one who really set the stage, at around age eight, was Ethel Bush

Jon Mayer

Born: September 7, 1938

Jon was born in New York City in 1938. There was a piano in the family apartment as his mother studied classical music and practiced as he went to sleep each night. He was exposed to jazz at an early age through recordings around the house of various big and small bands. Jon heard Charlie Parker play on a JATP (Jazz at the Philharmonic) concert recording and decided that Alto was his instrument. That lasted until the final year at the special music High School he attended. The piano became central in his life around then and his passion for the jazz being played around the city was all consuming. The evolution continued after graduating from the famed High School of Music and Art in Manhattan(1956) and briefly attending the Manhattan School of Music

David Maxwell

Born: March 10

David Maxwell has amassed an enormous resume throughout the years playing piano with some of the greatest and well- known musicians in the blues. David plays many styles of blues, jazz and improvised music, but he is best known for his soulful virtuosity and unmatched ability to reach the heart of post-war Chicago Blues. Through his work, he has gained the respect of artists, critics and fans and has established a reputation as one of the finest blues pianists alive.

Over the last decade, Maxwell has received over a half dozen WC Handy and Grammy nominations and a Grammy Award for recorded work, as well as Handy nominations for instrumental performance He has played with many of the greats including tours with Freddie King, Bonnie Raitt, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rodgers, Charley Musselwhite, Johnny Adams and Ronnie Earl; and gigs with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Levon Helm, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulsom, Junior Wells and many others. He has been involved in well over fifty recording sessions and can be found playing keys on many blues albums that have been released over the last 25 years. David backed up Keith Richards and Eric Clapton for Hubert Sumlin's CD, "About Them Shoes" released in 2005.

Keiko Matsui

Born: July 26, 1961

Acclaimed pianist, composer and humanitarian Keiko Matsui's transcendent and haunting melodies have long sought to build bridges. Her sonic cultural exchange has reached the hearts and minds of fans throughout the world and has allowed the pianist to work alongside icons Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Hugh Masekela and Bob James. “I would like my music to be a conduit for peace, kindness, love and light,” shares the petite, soft-spoken, yet commanding pianist. She adds, “My recording Echo is my attempt to capture all of these elements into the vibration of sound.” On February 22, 2019 Keiko Matsui will release her 28th recording as leader, Echo, which she co-produced with Grammy nominated producer Bud Harner. A master storyteller, Matsui crafts exquisite compositions replete with lush harmonies and global rhythms to create timeless musical anthems. Like iconic musicians Miles Davis and Shirley Horn, Keiko is also a master at utilizing space in her music to create a backdrop of drama, tension and sheer beauty. Keiko’s most inspired work yet, Echo features numerous special guests including bassist Marcus Miller, saxophonist Kirk Whalum, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, guitarist Robben Ford and bassist (and son of Clint Eastwood) Kyle Eastwood. The all-star line up also showcases premiere recording musicians drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist, Jimmy Johnson and guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr. and percussionist Luis Conte, as well as Keiko’s top notch touring band, Jimmy Branly, JP Mourão and Rico Belled. ...

Ronnie Mathews

Born: December 2, 1935

One of the most prestigious pianists of the past 40 years and yet one of those essential contributors to the puzzle of jazz history who has not received due recognition. It seems Ronnie Mathews would be more a household name than it is, for his lofty investment into jazz. His years of touring and his many albums, both as leader and sideman, are overwhelming in number. Critics have showered accolades upon his name and affectionately compare him to fellow pianists Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, with a sprinkle of McCoy Tyner. Not that Ronnie ever imitated them, but rather, that he is in league with these jazz greats

Ellis Marsalis

Born: November 14, 1934

Ellis Marsalis is regarded by many as the premier modern jazz pianist in New Orleans. Born on November 14, 1934, he began formal music studies at the Xavier University junior school of music at age eleven. After high school Marsalis enrolled in Dillard University (New Orleans) as a clarinet major. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education in 1955. Marsalis spent the next year working as an assistant manager in his fathers’ motel business. The following year Marsalis then joined the U.S. Marine Corps and while stationed in southern California began honing his skills as a pianist on a television show entitled "Dress Blues" and a radio show called "Leatherneck Songbook"

Dodo Marmarosa

Born: December 12, 1925

A piano wunderkind who was for about a decade one of the most sought-after pianists in the history of jazz, yet has remained in relative obscurity. Dodo was born Michael Marmarosa, on 6 December 1925, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After formal studies and gigging with local bands, in 1941, the Johnny "Scat" Davis Orchestra came to Pittsburgh with an opening for a piano player. Even as a kid, Marmarosa had a reputation in local jazz circles, and some local musicians suggested that Davis snatch up the young pianist, so he hit the road. He was 15.

After a few months, the orchestra broke up. But Marmarosa and a few others hooked up with Gene Krupa's band. He then joined Charlie Barnet's big band. During that time, the Barnet band recorded "The Moose" and "Strollin,' " the first of dozens of recordings Marmarosa would be part of over the next few years.

Tania Maria

Born: May 9, 1948

Tania Maria - Pianist, Singer, Composer, Arranger, Bandleader Internationally renowned for her exhilarating vocals and keyboard artistry, Tania Maria's music is a stylish combination of jazz, funk, Afro-Cuban elements, and the popular music of her native Brazil. She has created an eclectic fusion that is her own unique brand of jazz and appeals to audiences around the world. Maria’s raw alto has set her apart in the jazz world, her voice sounding sometimes bossa songstress, sometimes Brazilian soul singer. Tania Maria was born in Sao Luis in the north of Brazil, in the heart of a family who practiced music with great enthusiasm

Lenny Marcus

Born: June 4, 1960

Lenny Marcus hails from Washington, DC, but studied, performed and recorded for many years in New Orleans, LA, before relocating to Roanoke, VA. He is leader on 18 albums, and has studied and recorded with many jazz legends, including David "Fathead" Newman, Brian Lynch, Sonny Fortune, Frank Foster, Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis, Alvin Batist, Ellis Marsalis, Jane Powell and many others. His music has been featured on the National Weather Channel (many songs over the last several years), NPR’s ALL that Jazz and ALL Songs Considered. Two of his songs were finalists in the ISC international song writer’s competition. Marcus has played in three New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals, two international festivals in Barbados and Grenada, and his music has been used for many years on the National Weather Channel's Local on the Eights and CNN's Heroes series