"I think Dave McKenna is the best pianist playing right now. His lines flow like mad, he doesn't suffer from playing solo, and he's the most complete." -- George Shearing, from The Great Jazz Pianists by Len Lyons.
Just as in life, in the music business you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps. The fact that Dave McKenna is the favorite pianist of someone like George Shearing (and the late Bill Evans) says a great deal.
Mr. McKenna made his first recording for PianoDisc in September 1995. As expected, he delivered a performance full of surprise and inventions that has left listeners breathless.
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What can you say about the talent and style of the incomparable Baldwin Artist Marian McPartland? In the words of Leonard Feather, "She is an exceptionally lyrical ballad performer, enriching and expanding the harmonic and melodic essence of every theme." Ms. McPartland began her career following World War II with band leader/husband Jimmy McPartland. She began her solo career soon thereafter, and was quickly acknowledged to be one of the top jazz pianists on the scene.
In 1979, Ms. McPartland began hosting her own show on National Public Radio, Piano Jazz. She maintains a very busy performance and recording schedule both as a soloist and with a trio.
Click here to visit Marian's PianoJazz website.
Peter Nero began his formal study of music at the age of seven. By the age of fourteen, he was awarded a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music. At age 18 he appeared in a Paul Whiteman television special playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Honors and accolades have followed him ever since.
Taste, style and talent have made Peter Nero one of the world's best known and loved pianists. He has been the recipient of ten Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards, a citation from Cashbox Magazine as "The World's Number One Instrumentalist," and has a coterie of admirers which included Vladimir Horowitz.
A whirlwind of boundless energy, Mr. Nero conducts over 100 symphony performances a year, and is Pops Music Director and Conductor for orchestras in Florida, Oklahoma and his native Philadelphia. Still he finds time for frequent engagements with his jazz trio and guest appearances in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall.
Click here to visit the Peter Nero Society.
Nettle
& Markham — (Coming Soon)
David Nettle and Richard Markham, known professionally as Nettle & Markham are among Europe's most popular piano duos. Having combined their separate careers in 1979, their collaboration proved so successful that within four years they had established themselves on as many continents.
These Steinway artists make England their home base, touring extensively in the United States and around the world. Their first recording session with PianoDisc was in April 1996 in the middle of a lengthy American tour.
The artists, who normally play duets on two pianos, will perform a special piano four hands disk for their PianoDisc Artist Series recording.
Born and raised in New York City, Earl Rose began his classical piano studies at the age of seven. He graduated from the Mannes College of Music and also attended UCLA, the Vienna Academy of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied conducting, It was during his college years that he discovered and became influenced by jazz and popular music. He began to incorporate and assimilate these new influences into his playing, creating his own unique sound which New York Cue Magazine called "pure entertainment."
Today Mr. Rose is one of the busiest composer/conductor/performers in music. His credits include seven Emmy nominations for music composed for television; several film scores; hit record status for several of his compositions and a busy concert schedule as both a conductor and pianist. For PianoDisc, Mr. Rose brought his considerable charm, style and talent to an array of popular movie themes -- music for which he obviously has a real affinity. Titles include Laura, An Affair To Remember and Two For The Road.