Pianist Greg McKenzie's website features reviews, sound bites, itinerary, biography, cds for sale.
Greg McKenzie encompasses a unique blend of intelligence, creativity, commitment and leadership. These qualities have generated worldwide recognition as an international pianist and director. His ability to assemble and conduct international shows and concerts have been an admiring achievement since graduating from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.
He has embraced the music industry for more than three decades and now anticipating a "new revolution" toward classic jazz music and composition. "The way we listen, dance, record, and purchase music has dramatically changed over the years. It is essential encouraging our audiences to further support live entertainment preserving an American art form and protecting our copyright laws."
Also, a jazz educator for two decades his performances have been worldwide enjoying extended performances in Japan, performing and recording with many refined musicians including, saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. Their friendship has inspired McKenzie to record his third trio CD that will include many original compositions and arrangements. Remembering one of the most loved jazz singers Rosemary Clooney once said, "It is the quintessential New York experience to be there looking out at the skyline and listening to the music that Greg McKenzie plays - sophisticated, informed, moving, I say, 'Top of the Heap.' "
McKenzie has enjoyed the success of being music director for numerous International luxury hotels, and knows that originality and dedication is part of the hospitality industry. "We set the standards how the world interprets fine art and good music" ...
Pianist Michael Cochrane's website features reviews, sound bites, cds, itinerary, projects, biography.
MICHAEL COCHRANE , pianist, composer, arranger, and instructor has resided in the Tri-State area since the fall of 1974. He has performed and/or recorded with: Sonny Fortune, Hannibal , Jack Walrath, Eddie Gomez, Valery Ponomorev, Paul Nash, John Clark, Clark Terry, Nancy Monroe, Chip White, Michael Brecker, Chico Freeman, Galen Abdur Razzaq, The Spirit Of Life Ensemble, Bob Ferrel, The New World Quintet, Ted Curson, Oliver Lake, Bradford Hayes and many more. Mr. Cochrane has performed in colleges, clubs, and concert halls throughout the United States. In New York, for example, clubs have included The Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil, Bradleys ... halls have included Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tulley Hall and Merkin Hall. His touring experience spans 16 European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and England. He has also performed in Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico, The Philippines,The Caribbean, and Estonia.
Pianist Dave Burrell's website features reviews, sound bites, recordings, diary,
biography. 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 Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, 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 Passage, 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. Seldom has the classically trained voice played such a unique improvising roll as in this important, ground breaking endeavor. Burrell's dance drama, "Holy Smoke," with blue-print by Monika Larsson, is being developed for modern dance and tap. Burrell's "Jazz Sonata" for piano and violin has been completed and will be orchestrated for symphony orchestra ...
Pianist Joanne Brackeen's website features reviews, sound bites, recordings, diary,
biography.
The capacity audience is mesmerized by the tall, slim, elegant, vivacious lady seated at and in command of the 9' grand piano. Who is this mysterious legend, known as "the Picasso of Jazz Piano?" Who is this "lady of the sea," whose domains are always "water side"?
She is none other than JoAnne Brackeen, described as "a visionary of extraordinary depth" by Tony Bennett, and "a pianist-composer of phenomenal capacity" by the late Bill Evans. Brackeen is consistently ranked by critics and jazz magazines as one of the best jazz pianists in the world, along with Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, and Chick Corea. Her writing is remarkable for its creativity, stylistic range, emotional depth, and whimsical spirit. Her storied career does indeed invite parallels to Picasso; like the great visual artist, she has consistently defied convention, remaking herself and her art many times over. Her playing is virtuosic and wholly unpredictable, dense and richly detailed, rhythmically advanced and consistently, effortlessly swinging. "Outrageous," "charming," "classic," "awesome" and "phenomenal" are just some of the oft-repeated adjectives chosen by critics and fans to describe JoAnne's music.
Born in the coastal city of Ventura, California, this jazz giant came from humble beginnings, in a jazz-less town of 17,000. She began to learn jazz, at age eleven, by transcribing entire piano solos from recordings. By the age of twelve, she was busy performing. After moving to the Los Angeles area, and still in her teens, Brackeen had already met and played with Scott LaFaro, Charlie Haden, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, Charles Lloyd, Bobby Hutcherson, Dexter Gordon, and Art Farmer ...
Pianist Renee Rosnes' website features reviews, sound bites, itinerary,
biography, cds.
The extraordinary pianist and composer Renee Rosnes clearly enjoys the challenge and freedom of playing jazz in numerous formats. Her eight previous Blue Note recordings featured her, brilliantly, in smaller ensembles. Now, on her ninth Blue Note release, Renee Rosnes and the Danish Radio Big Band, Rosnes mines the experience gained during her impressive tenures with both the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Renee Rosnes and the Danish Radio Big Band puts her in the spotlight with the revered Copenhagen ensemble, and reveals her capacity to shine within a jazz orchestra context.
Replete with the phenomenal solos and fluid, yet soulful, virtuosity that distinguish her live performances and previous recordings, Renee Rosnes and the Danish Radio Big Band is her first large ensemble recording featuring her music. It showcases her impressive clarity and range while transmitting a remarkably intimate jazz feel despite the 20-piece orchestra format.
Established in 1964, the Danish Radio Big Band (DRBB) has become synonymous with live jazz magic. From 1998 until January 2003, pianist Jim McNeely served as the DRBB’s chief conductor. He has worked with Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Mel Lewis, and co-led the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra in NYC, and first became acquainted with Rosnes in the ‘80s when she studied with him. In March 2001, the two pianists renewed their creative friendship in Copenhagen when she performed with the DRBB under his baton: the resulting chemistry sparked the decision to record together in December 2001 ...
Pianist Peggy Stern's website features biography, activities, recordings sound bites, newsletter, etc.
Peggy Stern is as well-known as a composer as she is known for her fine piano playing. She arrived at jazz via classical music, R&B, and salsa. Her music has a particularly broad ethnic base -- in addition to European and American classical music, Peggy's music draws from Brazilian, African, Jewish, Irish, Cuban, and traditional jazz influences. Eclectic indeed!
Peggy has composed, played, recorded, and toured in a wide variety of situations: from solos to octets to jazz choruses. Her compositions range from highly original pieces to reharmonized jazz standards. "Everything she writes wants to dance, " says Ken Dais of Jazziz.
Peggy's background would account for her varied musical tastes. She began playing Classical piano at an early age, continuing her studies at the Eastman School of Music, and finishing a Masters Degree, still in Classical music, at the New England Conservatory. And then she began to improvise. While living in San Francisco, she played in salsa bands, notably Azteca and Supercombo with Benny Vallarde. She did a stint in an R&B band (called Cat's Cradle) with singer Linda Tillery, and was "instructed" by Paul Jackson (bass) and Mike Clark (drums) of Herbie Hancock's Headhunter band ...