Richard Bliwas:
The pianist has been compared to Joni Mitchell , Laura Nyro, Miles Davis , Randy Newman , The Beatles, Van Dyke Parks, Brian Wilson and Sun Ra-- but as All About Jazz said in it’s review of Rising Rose Records 2004 chart-haunting release Ghost “ His writing is unmistakably original …. Cadence Magazine said in it’s review of Compose Yourself “ Bliwas transforms intricate phrases into seamless music , and Shredding Paper said in it’s review of Walk the Bike “ Bliwas walks the line between jazz and folkrock with confidence…producing a dialectic sound that compliments rather than conflicts. His lyrics have been described as profound, cryptic, silly, perceptive and poetic. Hidden tracks on a couple CD’s led one music journalist to proclaim that "Richard Bliwas has a great sense of humor…”
Soon after studying with composer Olivier Messiaen, pianist Joseph Schwartz,and poet David Young at Oberlin College and Conservatory , Richard's early 80's groups with Ben Sher and Ned Goold were incorporating the influences of Miles Davis , Brian Eno , Syd Barrett and The Beatles , in intimate innovative recordings-- and in performances at Pittsburgh's Kool Jazz festival , smokey old jazz clubs where Benson and Eckstine played a few generations earlier or rock/punk clubs like The Electric Banana. The music however, freely crossed genre lines, foreshadowing alternative and contemporary styles.
When he moved to New York in 1984, Richard began an odyssey of gigs--from playing piano for Jacques d'Amboise and the National Dance Institute , to infusing his sensibilities as an improviser into the jazz and pop music he loved everywhere from CBGB's to the 21 Club, to creative structural and line by line editing of Cynthia Kadohata's acclaimed first novel --The Floating World ...
Pianist David Hazeltine's website features reviews, sound bites, itinerary, biography, cds.
David Hazeltine is one of a handful of young pianists who has successfully forged his own distinctive style and musical voice out of the accumulated greatness and weight of a modern piano tradition. David's influences extend from Art Tatum and Bud Powell to such great living masters as Buddy Montgomery, Barry Harris and Cedar Walton.
David made his professional debut at age thirteen in Milwaukee, and later worked extensively in and around Chicago and Minneapolis. In Milwaukee, David served as house pianist at the famed Milwaukee Jazz Gallery, working with such greats as Charles McPherson, Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt, Pepper Adams and Chet Baker. In fact, it was Baker who encouraged David to make his mark in New York City.
Since moving to New York City in 1992, David has made a name for himself as a "musician's musician." In addition to his working trio (with drum legend Louis Hayes and bassist Peter Washington), David is in constant demand as a sideman. Recent credits include work with Freddie Hubbard, James Moody, the Faddis-Hampton-Heath Sextet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Louis Hayes Quintet, and Marlena Shaw, for whom he serves as pianist, arranger, and musical director. Recently David was spotlighted on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" radio program. David is also a member of the band "One For All" which features rising tenor star Eric Alexander ...
Pianist Steve Kuhn's website features reviews, sound bites, recordings, biography.
Brooklyn-born Steve Kuhn was fascinated with jazz very early in his life. He began classical piano lessons at age five and soon began to "improvise and syncopate the classical repertoire."
In his early teens, Kuhn studied with legendary teacher Margaret Chaloff who schooled him in the "Russian Technique", an invaluable tool for tone production and projection. Chaloff's son, Serge, baritone saxophonist for Woody Herman, hired the 13 year-old pianist to play in his group. Throughout his teens Kuhn continued to play in Boston jazz clubs with visiting celebrities; Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker and Vic Dickenson.
After graduation from Harvard College, Kuhn attended the Lenox School of Music where he met and played in a group with fellow-students Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. The faculty included Bill Evans, George Russell, and Gunther Schuller. While at Lenox, Kuhn met trumpeter Kenny Dorham and began a two-year stint, interrupted when Kuhn was asked to join John Coltrane's newly-formed quartet.
Kuhn next joined Stan Getz's band, which included bassist Scott LaFaro ...
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 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 ...