Roberta Piket (born 1965) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

pianist, organist, composer, and arranger.

Life and career

Piket was born in Queens, New York,Jackson, Grant (February 26, 2011
"Roberta Piket on Piano Jazz"
npr. in 1965. Her father was composer Frederick Piket. She started playing the piano at the age of 7 and moved to jazz in her early teens. A university joint double-degree program led to her receiving a computer science degree from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

and a jazz studies degree from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on ...

. While at university, she took private lessons from

Stanley Cowell Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label. Early life Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became intereste ...

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, educator and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 70 of his ...

Jim McNeely Jim McNeely (born May 18, 1949) is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and faculty. Biography Jim McNeely was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 19 ...

, and Bob Moses. Her first album as leader was ''Unbroken Line'', recorded for Criss Cross in 1996. Her first album for a U.S. label was in 1999: ''Live at the Blue Note'', for

Half Note ''Half Note'' is a live album by saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1974 and first released on the SteepleChase label in 1985.Graybow, Steven (March 8, 2003) "Jazz Notes". ''Billboard'' 115/10. p. 17. This band was formed after she acquired an electric piano to use in venues that did not have an acoustic piano and then discovered that it did not suit her trio but made her think of new types of music to play. On Billy Mintz's 2014 album ''Mintz Quartet'', Piket played piano, organ, and sang on one track. She had done the same thing for her earlier album, ''Sides, Colors'', which also included several tracks she arranged for wind instruments, horn instruments, and strings. She was named Rising Star – Organ by ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' critics in 2018.

Playing style

The ''DownBeat'' reviewer of ''Emanation (Solo: Volume 2)'' commented on the absence of a "steady pulse, stride or walking bass" in her solo piano playing; "Instead, she establishes momentum through a rhythmic motif ..andkeeps things moving through more intricate alterations between her hands".Doerschuk, Bob (August 2015) "Roberta Piket – Emanation (Solo: Volume 2)". ''DownBeat''. p. 89.

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

As sidewoman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piket, Roberta 1965 births American jazz pianists Living people 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists Criss Cross Jazz artists Fresh Sounds Records artists