Piano Teacher
Ages: Adults
Levels: Beginner >> Intermediate

While I took classical piano lessons as a child my life changed when, as a teenager, I met the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin (among many others) at parties that featured live dance orchestras. I loved that foxtrot beat and I wanted to play what they were playing. If I heard a tune that I liked I would go up to the band leader, ask him for the name of it, then rush out the next day to G. Schirmer Inc. Sheet Music to buy the sheet or a whole book by the same composer. Over 50 years of playing in small clubs, restaurants and for private parties I’ve amassed a sheet music collection that I would love to share with you.

As a college student I became obsessed with jazz (piano players in particular) and I acquired a reputation among my young, unmarried friends as the “source” for information on who was playing and worth listening to in the NYC jazz clubs. Over many years I’ve also built a substantial collection of the best-of-the-best jazz musicians on vinyl and cd. The recordings of the great players are a wonderful source of inspiration and ideas to incorporate in my own playing.

If you can feel a beat, carry a tune, remember some lyrics and you enjoy listening to music from the Golden Era of American popular song (1920’s > 1980’s); the songs Sinatra sang, Broadway show tunes, movie themes or Bossa Nova numbers we will enjoy each other’s company.