Results for "piano"

Gene Rodgers

Born: March 5, 1910

Gene Rodgers was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He is best known for being the pianist on Coleman Hawkins' famous 1939 recording of "Body and Soul".

Rodgers worked professionally from the mid-1920s, and in the next few years made recordings with Clarence Williams and King Oliver in addition to playing with Chick Webb and Teddy Hill. He started his own variety show in the 1930s, doing tours of Australia and England; while in the latter in 1936 he recorded with Benny Carter.

Upon his return he played with Coleman Hawkins (1939–40), Zutty Singleton, and Erskine Hawkins (1943)

Michel Camilo

Born: April 4, 1954

Pianist and composer Michel Camilo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1954. Fascinated with music since childhood, he composed his first song at the age of five, then studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory. At 16, he became a member of the National Symphony Orchestra. Seeking to expand his musical horizons, he moved in 1979 to New York, where he continued his studies at Mannes and Juilliard School of Music. His composition Why Not? was recorded by Paquito D'Rivera as the title tune for one of his albums, and The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award for their vocal version in 1983

Joey Calderazzo

Born: February 27, 1965

Everybody knows Joey Calderazzo, the phenomenal band pianist. From the time of his emergence with Michael Brecker in 1986 through his recent work in the Branford Marsalis Quartet, and on five previous albums under his own name, Calderazzo has proved to be among the most intense and engaged of contemporary soloists and accompanists. His energy, technique and rapid fire imagination have marked him as one of the most exciting jazz pianists to emerge in the past two decades. Calderazzo has documented this commanding mastery of group interplay on five previous albums that found him matching ideas and passions with such imposing artists as Brecker, Marsalis, Jerry Bergonzi, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, John Patitucci and Jeff “Tain” Watts. After nearly two decades in the spotlight, Calderazzo has become a more complete and nuanced player, one equally capable of touching souls with taste and sensitivity

Michael Cain

Born: April 2, 1966

Michael Cain was born April 2, 1966 in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, shortly thereafter. He first started playing the piano at the age of four and was quickly improvising and composing. The following year he began studying classical music, although by the age of ten it was jazz that became predominant, as well as an interest in integrating several kinds of popular music. Michael went on to attend several universities starting with the University of North Texas. Although initially a jazz major, he found that classical music was occupying more of his time and switched to that major

Uri Caine

Born: June 8, 1956

Uri Caine was born in Philadelphia and began studying piano with Bernard Peiffer. He played in bands led by Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt, Bootsie Barnes and Grover Washington. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and studied music composition with George Rochberg and George Crumb. Since moving to New York City Caine has recorded sixteen albums as a leader. His first two CD's "Sphere Music" and "Toys" paid homage to the great jazz pianists Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock. His third CD, "Urlicht/Primal Light", featured arrangements of the music of Gustav Mahler and won the international "Composer's Hut" award for Best Mahler CD of 1997

George Cables

Born: November 14, 1944

When George Cables was going to school in New York City he used to walk the streets at night, taking in the cosmopolitan sights and sounds, mentally recording his encounters with “so many different kinds of people.” In his musical career as well, Cables has prowled sidestreets and main thoroughfares in relative anonymity, absorbing countless influences into his personal style. Born in New York City on November 14, 1944, Cables was classically trained as a youth and when he started at the “Fame” worthy High School of Performing Arts, he admittedly “didn’t know anything about jazz.” But he was soon smitten with the potential for freedom of expression he heard in jazz. The young Cables was impressed by such keyboardists as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea

Jaki Byard

Born: June 15, 1922

A musician that has spanned the generations of Jazz is Jaki Byard. Jaki Byard was born John Arthur Byard, Jr. on June 15, 1922 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His father was a member of the marching hands at the turn of the 20th century and played the trombone. His mother played the piano for the African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church (AME). His maternal grandmother played the piano for the silent picture shows (visual movies without sound before "talking movies" were invented). It was on that piano that Jaki began his musical odyssey.

When he was 8 years old, he started taking piano lessons from a piano teacher named Grace Johnson. The swing rhythm of the time and the lure of the big bands inspired Jaki throughout most of his career. At the age of 16, he played his first professional engagement. During WW II, Jaki was drafted into the army, but with luck and circumstance, he was able to join the army along with Earl Bostic, with whom he would later form a musical alliance with.

David Benoit

Born: August 18, 1953

Over the last quarter century, composer and pianist David Benoit (b. 1953) has been a passionate musical innovator committed to the exploration of many different art forms on the American landscape. A five time Grammy nominee for his extraordinary and seminal contributions to contemporary jazz, Benoit has also embarked on a multi-faceted journey into the classical music world. This has led to guest pianist and conductor spots with numerous top symphonies and philharmonics, four performances at Carnegie Hall (including one with Maestro Leonard Bernstein), a performance on the steps of the Capitol Building with the National Symphony for the annual PBS July 4th event, and the creation of Kobe, a symphonic tone poem about a little girl growing up in postwar Japan. This piece received its world debut with the Philippine Philharmonic in 2001 and will be performed in 2003 with Kent Nagano conducting the Berkeley Symphony

Richie Beirach

Born: May 23, 1947

Richard Alan Beirach was born on 23 May 1947 in Brooklyn, New York City. Having a sheltered childhood, he started playing the piano at the age of 5. From age 6 to age 18, Beirach was given lessons by the pianist und composer James Palmieri. "James Palmieri showed me everything that I know about music,...he made me understand the deeper meaning of music."

Palmieri's lessons were strictly classic and until age 13, Beirach exclusively dealt with classical music.When, at the age of 13, he stayed at a friend's place, he heard Red Garland's version of "Billy Boy" from Miles Davis' album "Milestones": "I could hardly believe it. This was exactly what I was looking for, what I needed. Until then, I had only had a classical musical education: Mozart, Beethoven, no improvisation. I took the album to my teacher. He hated it, he hated it a lot…"Beirach realized that he wanted to devote himself to improvisation and Jazz. He tried and got in touch with Jazz musicians, while continuing to take lessons with Palmieri.

Jim Beard

Born: August 26, 1960

Since moving to New York in 1985, Jim Beard has toured the world extensively with some of the greatest names in music including Steely Dan, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin and Wayne Shorter. He has recorded with artists from an extremely wide range of musical styles. From Dizzy Gillespie to the Brecker Brothers. Dianne Reeves to Meshell Ndegeocello. Toninho Horta to Steve Vai.

Jim has over 100 published compositions featured on recordings by John McLaughlin, Michael Brecker and many others and in books such as The New Real Book. He has appeared with the Metropole Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and performed in major festivals such as JVC, Montreux, Live Under the Sky, North Sea, Montreal, and stages in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Blue Note (New York and Japan), CBGBs, Montmartre and many more. His writing has been used in television, movies and radio call signals and his piano playing can be heard in major Hollywood film scores.