Home » Jazz Articles » Take Five With... » Take Five With Jerry Engelbach

253

Take Five With Jerry Engelbach

By

Sign in to view read count
Meet Jerry Engelbach: Jerry is a jazz pianist and graphic designer living in Brooklyn, NY, with his illustrator/comics artist wife, Ann Decker.

Jerry works solo and as leader of his quintet, Weaver of Dreams. He has worked at virtually every major club date venue in the New York Tristate Area, including the Rainbow Room, Cafe Carlyle, Four Seasons, Copacobana, and Tavern on the Green.

Jerry studied art at Cooper Union and briefly, music in the Juilliard Extension Program. He was cofounder and co-artistic director of the Soho Repertory Theatre, helping to launch the careers of many future stars, including Kevin Spacey and Kathleen Turner.

He has been, at various times, a slipcover cutter, toy company executive, and theatre instructor at NYU. He holds a private pilot's license and is an avid skier and tennis player.

He's a regular contributor to the All About Jazz Forums, and composed two of the six tunes performed in New York in August 2009 at the first All About Jazz Orchestra concert.

Instrument(s):

Pianist, composer, arranger.

Teachers and/or influences?

Largely self-taught. My most important pianistic influences were Bud Powell, Bill Evans, and Wynton Kelly. My favorite bands are the small combos of the early 1960s of Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, and John Coltrane.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...

I discovered the secret, at the age of 15, of creating harmony from those little symbols above the staff.

Your sound and approach to music:

I'm addicted to standards. I find much merit in jazz tunes, but I especially love the effortless genius and improvisational possibilities offered in the Great American Songbook, by Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Berlin, et al.

Your teaching approach:

I've never taught music. If I did, I'd want to give the student options rather than steer him/her to one approach.

Your dream band:

No particular artists; just those with the same perspective as mine.

The first Jazz album I bought was:

Time Out, by Dave Brubeck, and Live at the Blackhawk, by Miles Davis.

How would you describe the state of jazz today?

Unsettled.

By Day:

Freelance graphic designer.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:

There are no alternatives to music.

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Jazz article: Take Five with Saxophonist Nick Stefanacci
Jazz article: Meet Tubist Jim Shearer
Take Five With...
Meet Tubist Jim Shearer
Jazz article: Take Five With Pianist Olivia Perez-Collellmir
Jazz article: Take Five With Bassist / Composer Jakob Dreyer

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.