"Monk's Roots: Harlem Stride Piano"
Dick Hyman, Butch Thompson, and Mike Lipskin
Sunday, June 17 • 7pm
$58
$38
$32
$25
“Dick Hyman…can do practically anything on a piano.” – The New York Times
Program Notes
Harlem stride pianists like James P. Johnson were the first true virtuosos of jazz. They infused ragtime with the walking left hand rhythms that gave the style its name and improvised on the melodies, all the while playing the familiar tunes at breakneck speed.
Though it might not be readily apparent, Thelonious Monk is a direct descendant of the stride style. Listening closely to Monk’s playing, one hears those jaunty bass lines and shimmering upper-register runs deconstructed and reassembled into a unique style of pianism. Tonight’s final Monk Project event pays tribute to that debt by presenting three of the most acclaimed interpreters of the Harlem stride style.
Dick Hyman is well known for his encyclopedic working knowledge of keyboard styles, with an emphasis on the formative years of jazz piano. A seven-time NARAS Most Valuable Player honoree for his skills as a studio musician, Hyman is also an accomplished composer of both classical and film scores. He has composed, arranged, and performed music for many of Woody Allen’s films, including Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, and Sweet and Lowdown, and has worked extensively with famed choreographer Twyla Tharp.
“The incomparable jazz piano of Butch Thompson” (Wall Street Journal) first gained widespread recognition during Thompson’s stint as bandleader for A Prairie Home Companion. Thompson, also an acclaimed clarinetist who performed regularly at New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall in the ’60s and ’70s, is a fervent supporter of jazz. In addition to his performances with symphony orchestras and his own New Orleans Jazz Originals, Thompson produces the weekly Jazz Originals radio show for KBEM in Minneapolis.
Bay Area pianist Mike Lipskin studied with famed stride pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith and “displays the virtues of technique, soul, and freshness in his flawless interpretations of stride pieces” (Los Angeles Times). A lawyer by day, Lipskin is a veteran of SFJAZZ’s Stride Piano Summits, with five recordings and innumerable concert appearances to his credit.
Personnel:
- Dick Hyman, piano
- Butch Thompson, piano
- Mike Lipskin, piano
- Leon Oakley, trumpet
- Hal Smith, drums
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Huggins
