Steve Myerson
Steve Myerson
Genres: piano, jazz, composer, wths, l8
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About Steve Myerson
A talented pianist and composer, Steve Myerson recently made his recording debut as a leader on In Your Absence which has been released by Jazz Excursion Records. Steve’s seven originals pay tribute to his teachers and inspirations while his distinctive playing on the thoughtful trio set displays an important new voice. He succeeds at his goal of having his music be soulful, uplifting and direct. The best jazz musicians tie together their experiences in their playing, and Steve’s career and life have contained plenty of variety. He remembers, “At home my parents played a lot of Motown records including some by the Stylistics (who I ended up playing with) and the Temptations. I remember seeing Jerry Lewis movies that often featured big bands including Count Basie and Les Brown, and I loved the music in those films. When I was nine, my parents bought a piano as a piece of furniture, not knowing that I’d have any interest in it. Very soon I was picking out tunes by ear and asking for lessons. I knew that early that this was what I wanted to do the rest of my life.” Steve first discovered jazz when he spontaneously purchased a copy of Thelonious Monk’s Underground. Soon he was saving his allowance and working at odd jobs so he could purchase a new jazz CD each week. At 15, he and his older brother began regularly seeing local musicians play at Serengetti, a small jazz club in South Jersey. After sitting in a few times, he had his first gig at the club. Steve studied with Trudy Pitts at the University of the Arts and had two years of private lessons from Bill Charlap. At William Paterson University, he was inspired by James Williams and soaked up as much music as possible. Other teachers during this period included Harold Mabern, Andy LaVerne and Mike Longo. Steve also had solo piano gigs, worked at casuals, played pop music, and worked with trumpeters Duane Eubanks and John Swana, guitarist Jimmy Bruno, drummer Adam Nussbaum and the legendary Grover Washington Jr. “Grover Washington was a guest with our big band. He had a series of gigs around Philly and thought it would be a nice thing to offer me and a few other students an opportunity to be a part of his band. Unfortunately he passed away after a few months but it was such a great experience working with him.” Steve worked and toured with the Stylistics for a year and a half, was involved in the early stages of the play Be My Love (arranging 22 songs for the Mario Lanza biography), and worked on the film Brooklyn Lobster. He also became the musical director for actor-singer Gianni Russo who originally became famous for playing Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. “He has a cabaret show that includes a tribute to all of the singers that he knew including Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Perry Como and Dean Martin.” In addition to many appearances with Russo, including regularly at the Rainbow Room and at charity events, Steve recorded a CD (Live At Feinstein’s) with the singer. After making that project, Steve Myerson knew that it was time for him to record his own CD. He wrote music constantly for a year, selected seven of his best originals along with two from his mentor pianist Andy LaVerne and the pop song “Nobody Does It Better,” and teamed up with bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Anthony Pinciotti for In Your Absence. The result is an exquisite set of thoughtful, melodic and lyrical jazz. The communication between the three musicians is consistently impressive. “Steve LaSpina approaches the bass as if it is an orchestra; he is a truly masterful player. Anthony is a very tasteful drummer who adds a lot of different colors to the music and knows when to pull back and be supportive.” In Your Absence includes a four-part suite dedicated to pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (“In recent years I’ve discovered the connection between him, George Winston and Vince Guaraldi”) and songs dedicated to Michel Camilo (“One Note Songo”) and James Williams (“Waltz For James Williams”). The title cut was in a catalog of 200 songs that Andy Laverne sent to Steve. “It is a great tune that reminds me a little of ‘Cantaloupe Island.’ I called Andy up, told him to check out this song, and started playing it for him over the phone. He said that it was a great tune and asked who wrote it! I thought it was so funny that he didn’t know his own song.” In recent times Steve Myerson has continued working with Gianni Russo, recorded with singer Stephen McLean (Live At Cecil’s Jazz Club), gigged with the Cecil Brooks Big Band, taught piano, and performed in many different settings. For the future, he says, “I want to make many more records since I have a lot of original tunes. I also want to be very active as a sideman, playing with more of my heroes.” With In Your Absence as an important early step, Steve Myerson’s career will be well worth watching closely. -Scott Yanow
Taken from Last.fm
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