Andy LaVerne (born December 4, 1947) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist, composer, arranger, and educator.

Education and musical career

Born in New York City, LaVerne studied at Juilliard School of Music, Berklee College, and the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, and took private lessons from jazz pianist Bill Evans. LaVerne has worked with

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

, Woody Herman,

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

, Chick Corea,

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, Michael Brecker and

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

. A prolific recording artist, his projects as a leader number more than 50, including ''Intuition'', a duo with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi (SteepleChase), and ''Epiphany'' (ClaveBop).

Instruction

LaVerne is a prominent jazz educator, having released a series of instructional videos, ''Guide to Modern Jazz Piano'', Vols. 1 &, 2, and ''Jazz Piano Standards'' (Homespun Tapes), featuring the Yamaha Disklavier, as well as the video, ''In Concert'' (Homespun Tapes), with guitarist John Abercrombie. He is the author of ''Handbook of Chord Substitutions'', ''Tons of Runs'' (Ekay), ''Bill Evans Compositions 19 Solo Piano Arrangements'', and is the pianist on ''The Chick Corea Play-Along Collection'' ( Hal Leonard). ''The Music of Andy LaVerne'' (SteepleChase Publications) has been published. ''Countdown to Giant Steps'' ( Aebersold Jazz) is a two-CD play-along companion book, of which LaVerne served as player/producer/writer, and ''Tunes You Thought You Knew'' (Aebersold Jazz) is a LaVerne play-along CD/book set. ''Secret of the Andes'' is collection of LaVerne originals published by Aebersold Jazz. He is a frequent contributor (since 1986) to '' Keyboard'' magazine, and ''Piano Today'' magazine. His articles have also appeared in '' Down Beat'', ''Jazz Improv'', ''Piano Quarterly'', ''Jazz and Keyboard Workshop'', and ''JazzOne''. He is the recipient of five Jazz Fellowships from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

and winner of the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for his tune "Shania". He has appeared at concerts, festivals, and clubs throughout the world, and has given clinics and master classes at universities, colleges, and conservatories worldwide. He has also toured and recorded with singer-songwriter

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

.Neil Sedaka biography.
He is Professor of Jazz Piano at The Hartt School ( University of Hartford), and on the faculty of the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Ted Curson * '' Jubilant Power'' (

Inner City The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

, 1976) With

* '' Another World'' (Columbia, 1977) * '' Mort d'un Pourri'' (Melba, 1977) * '' Children of the World'' (Columbia, 1979)

References

External links

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Official website

"In Conversation with Andy LaVerne"
by Eugene Marlow,
Jazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laverne, Andy 1947 births Living people American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists SteepleChase Records artists University of Hartford Hartt School faculty 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Double-Time Records artists