Hi all!

You can find a bunch of new videos on my Youtube channel. I recorded a solo piano version of the classic “My Funny Valentine” for Clavier Companion magazine and have also posted recent videos from my gig at Caffe Vivaldi.

Also, if you check out the itinerary section of this site (dubbed “Peer into the Future”), you can find new gigs at the Kitano, Small’s, and the Falcon. Hopefully, more will be forthcoming!

I’m honored, humbled, thrilled, and many other words ending in “ed” to have been awarded second prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s Solo Piano Competition. After 10 semi-finalists were selected from over 40 CD recordings, four finalists were selected to perform for an esteemed jury headed by legendary producer Tommy LiPuma. As the second prize winner, I was awarded 5,000 Swiss Francs (about $6,000). Congrats to the first prize winner, Piotr Orzechowski and to my dear friend, third prize winner Jerry Leonide.

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be the resident pianist for the month of June at the Kitano jazz club. I’ll be playing there every Tuesday (the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), and will hopefully bring in some special guests. I love the Kitano because they have a beautiful piano that’s meticulously maintained, so these gigs should be very fun…

Greetings! After an amazing week in Indianapolis, I’ve returned to New York to an e-mail saying that I’ve been accepted as a semi-finalist in the Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition. So, I’ll be heading to Switzerland sometime in July! More details to come…

Hi all!

I’m writing from Indianapolis, where i’ve been since Tuesday. Can’t wait to make some good music over the weekend after an absurd amount of buildup. Meanwhile, check out the link to a fun article from alternative Indy paper Nuvo.

It’s going to be a busy long weekend for me next week. I’ll be performing in Arizona & California:

• Saturday, April 2: 4 PM, Chandler Jazz Festival; Chandler, AZ
• Sunday, April 3: 4 PM, Benefit Concert at Irvine Yamaha Center (open to public)
• Sunday, April 3: 7 PM, Private Solo Piano Concert
• Monday, April 4: 10 AM, Masterclass for Jazz Piano Students at UCI
• Monday, April 4, 7 PM, Private Solo Piano Concert

Looking forward to a busy weekend!

At the end of the month, I’m heading down to Chandler, AZ to play in their jazz festival. It’s sponsored by the East Valley Yamaha School (big thanks to Heidi Grimes!) and I’ll be playing with awesome musicians and Yamaha stalwarts M.B. Gordy and Steve Pandis. From there, I’ll be heading to Southern California. More info on that to come soon!

I’ve also added a unique review to the “Review the Reviews” section – a poem by dear friend Sandi Behringer, written upon my Mardi Gras performance in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago. Take a minute and read it – I think its great!

In an article entitled “An evening of surprises, imagination, and charm,” Indy Star critic Jay Harvey wrote, for the “bottom line” on my performance at the APA’s Jazz Premiere Series: “Pianist expresses, and instills, a sense of wonder.” He praised my “exhaustive imagination” as well as my “rhythmic and tonal mastery” which “seemed almost offhand.” In all, the performance “ruled the stage as firmly in talk as it did musically.”

For the first part of the American Pianist Association‘s epic Cole Porter Fellowship Competition, I’ll be heading to Indiana tomorrow for a week-long stint. I’ll play a long set at Jazz Kitchen on February 26th (sorry, gang, sold out), a Mardi Gras show at Pleasant View Lutheran Church, and then spend three days with the young musicians at Lawrence Central High School culminating in a performance at the Indiana State Museum on March 2nd. Please join me for any or all of these events!

I’ll be playing at Carnegie Hall with several great pianists – Ethan Iverson, Hiroko Sasaki, John Kamitsuka, Jeffrey Farrington, and Gregg Kallor, doing a tribute to three under appreciated female composers – Vivian Fine, Louise Talma, and Miriam Gideon. I’ll be playing Gideon’s “Of Shadows Numberless.” Many thanks to Sophia Rosoff and the Abby Whiteside Foundation for this performance opportunity!