Results for "piano"

Judy Carmichael

Born: November 27, 1957

Grammy nominated pianist Judy Carmichael is one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. Count Basie nicknamed her “Stride”, acknowledging the command with which she plays this technically and physically demanding jazz piano style. Judy’s newly released CD “Come and Get It” features her singing debut on everything from Peggy Lee inspired standards, to humorous takes on Fats Waller tunes. A native of California, Judy Carmichael moved to New York in the early 80’s and has maintained a busy concert schedule throughout the world ever since. She has toured for the United States Information Agency throughout India, Portugal, Brazil and Singapore

Hoagy Carmichael

Born: November 22, 1899

If Cole Porter and George Gershwin penned the soundtrack of the city, then Hoagy Carmichael was the voice of America's heartland. His best-known songs are now American standards: "Stardust," "Georgia on My Mind," "Heart and Soul".... Carmichael's career lasted four decades, and he penned hundreds of songs. Born Hoagland Howard Carmichael in Bloomington, Indiana, he grew up in very modest circumstances. His mother played piano for dances at local fraternity parties and at "silent" movies. Hoagy would tag along. Like a sponge, he absorbed music from his mother, from the visiting circuses, and from the black families and churches in his neighborhood

Frank Carlberg

Pianist, composer Frank Carlberg is a native of Helsinki, Finland. Following some years of classical studies, he became interested in jazz after listening to his father’s recordings of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. Initially, Carlberg tried to imitate the players of the records and then took some lessons from local jazz musicians. In 1984 Carlberg decided to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee he played with fellow students such as Jim Black, Chris Cheek, Antonio Hart, Sam Newsome, Chris Speed, Ben Street, as well as faculty members Robert Freedman, George Garzone, Hal Crook, Herb Pomeroy and John LaPorta. During the summers, in between the academic years at Berklee, Carlberg toured in Europe extensively with various groups.

Billy Butler

Born: March 27, 1971

Born into a musical family, Billy grew up in NH around back- wood jamborees, living room concerts and Paganini concertos. His mother is a classically trained pianist (and an expert stride player), and his brother is a virtuoso jazz violinist. At a young age he showed an affinity for the performing arts and tiring of the living room dramatic re- interpretations of Cheech and Chong, his mother brought him the closest theatre group she could find. The jazz punk theatrical began. "January 2015 started with a commission to write some tunes for "Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic," a brand new immersive 1920s show in New York City

Henry Butler

Born: September 21, 1949

Once you’ve heard what bluesman Henry Butler’s hands can create on those ivories, there’s no going back. Those hands boogie that keyboard like no one else’s. Throw in a classically trained voice aching us through the blues, and you’re someplace you have never been before and would give anything to return to, again and again. Considered the premier exponent of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition, Butler is a ten-time Pinetop Perkins (formerly W. C. Handy) Best Blues Instrumentalist Award nominee. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues, and R&B, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues, and R&B, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace

Joe Bushkin

Born: November 7, 1916

Joe Bushkin, who passed away in November 2004, was a legend in his time. A pianist, composer, arranger and vocalist of superb talents and impeccable taste. A professional for over 70 years, he started at age 15 playing gigs with Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan and Eddie Condon. Among his many achievements, he had the distinction of accompanying Billie Holiday on her first recording, as a leader, writing Frank Sinatra’s first hit song, “Oh! Look At Me Now” when they were with Tommy Dorsey’s band, and serving as Bing Crosby’s last musical director and playing on his last recording session

Dave Burrell

Born: September 10, 1940

Distinguished composer-pianist Dave Burrell is a performing artist of singular stature on the international contemporary music scene. His dynamic compositions, with blues and gospel roots recall the tradition of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington. After majoring in music at the University of Hawaii, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1961. After graduating with degrees in composition/arranging and performance in 1965, he moved to New York City, where he quickly established himself as one of the most innovative and original pianists, collaborating with the emerging leaders in contemporary jazz. Burrell’s Jazz Opera Windward Passages, written in collaboration with Swedish-born poet/lyricist Monika Larsson, blends opera voices with world class jazz soloists, a 21-piece jazz opera orchestra, dancers and chorus

Markus Burger

Born: September 30, 1966

John Bunch

Born: December 1, 1921

John Bunch was born in Tipton, Indiana, at the end of 1921. Harding was in the White House, the Teaport Dome scandal was brewing, early radio broadcasts were spurring the sales of crystal receiving sets, and the only jazz records available were made by a white New Orleans group called the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. All that had changed by the early thirties, when his mother made the wise decision to give him a piano: now Franklin D. Roosevelt was preparing to move to Pennsylvania Avenue; a lid had been placed on the teapot, and newspaper headlines ere created by angry strikers, a growing army of unemployed, and the Lindbergh baby; radio had come of age, boosting to national prominence such vaudeville stars as George Burns, Fred Allen and Jack Benny; and a fast-growing catalog of jazz recordings had brought international fame to the likes of Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington. To parallel some of the significant social and political events of John Bunch's lifetime is to point out how young jazz music still is, and how far it and the media that helps perpetuate it have come in just a few decades

Ray Bryant

Born: December 24, 1931

When Ray Bryant rose to national prominence in the 1950s, he was noted for his ability to meet the sophisticated harmonic demands of modern jazz while retaining the muscle and swing of old forms and the spirit of the gospel music that surrounded him when he was a child. Any performance by Bryant is steeped in the blues, even when he's not playing a blues. Born in Philadelphia, Bryant (whose older brother Tommy was a bassist) gained experience playing early rhythm ’n’ blues and swing with guitarist Tiny Grimes in the late 1940s. As the house pianist at Philadelphia’s Blue Note, he had opportunities to play with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Miles Davis