It was after a gig in 1980 when drummer Billy Mintz made an off-handed suggestion to pianist Harold Danko: “What if you played an annual concert, but you did it every February 29?”
Jazz Piano
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Album review: ‘Road to the Sun’
Amina Figarova ‘Road to the Sun’ AmFi Records taminafigarova.com On “Road to the Sun,” pianist Amina Figarova explores the possibilities of a little big band, at times combined with a string trio. Born in Azerbaijan, Figarova began as a classical pianist. After studying jazz in Holland, she moved to the United States and studied at […]
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Helen Sung is on a lifelong jazz journey
After graduating in 1997 from the Thelonious Monk Institute at New England Conservatory, pianist Helen Sung has performed with greats like Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, and Clark Terry. She won the Kennedy Center’s 2007 Mary Lou Williams Piano Competition and has played all over the world. Sung, who brings her trio to The Penthouse on […]
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Album review: ‘Triple Play’
Harold Danko “Triple Play” SteepleChase esm.rochester.edu/faculty/danko_harold The new album by pianist Harold Danko is best described as a musical adventure. The title, “Triple Play,” is especially appropriate because it’s a collective improvisation on the part of Danko and trio-mates Jay Anderson (bass) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums). As Danko explains in his liner notes, the three […]
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Top pianists honor a jazz pioneer
The Kodak Hall stage will be occupied by seven excellent pianists the night of Friday, March 23: Monty Alexander, Renee Rosnes, Bill Charlap, Harold Danko, Bill Dobbins, Tony Caramia, and Gary Versace. But another great pianist, who is no longer with us, will be on everyone’s mind. Marian McPartland (who lived from 1918 to 2013) […]
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Bobby Floyd is a piano player’s piano player
The first piano player who observed prodigious talent in Bobby Floyd was his mother. At the age of 2, he walked over to the old upright in the family’s Marion, Ohio, home and began picking out melodies. A short time later his parents discovered he had perfect pitch, and by 5, Floyd was taking piano […]
