On it was to Hartford. From '93-95 I spent two interesting years living in Hartford. Besides accompanist for the Connecticut Opera Express 1995, the Hartford Ballet 1994/5, and being a German instructor at the Universities Of Hartford I was able to hook up with Giovanni Hidalgo. It was one of those fabled late night encounters when the telephone rang on a Tuesday at 11.20 p.m., "What are you doing on the weekend?" "Well I have .." "... Cancel it, you are playing with Giovanni." Dancing, jumping to the ceiling ensued and loud fairly primate sounding calls escaped my vocal chords.

Admittedly, had I not just returned from Cuba - where I relished in the presence of maestro Chucho Valdes, playing duets and witnessing fascinating pianistic feasts. God can he play! - I had not the slightest chance to stay aboard, as it was I learned a lot of what I didn't know very quickly.

However It was my first foray into touring real Jazz festivals et al.

I had this great group in Hartford, the Swingle Belles. Three Opera singers, two mezzos, one soprano and myself - no I did not sing - revamped the classic Christmas repertoire embedded in a hour show that was really good. It's funny in Hartford everybody thought it was New York quality, yet in New York we never came together again, save one short lived attempt. Who knows ... nah!

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Finally in 1995 I moved to New York City. Just before I moved to New York, Brooklyn that is, I met William Cepeda who turned out to be a fairly influential individual. With him I recorded the epochal work "My roots & Beyond". We actually received a Grammy nomination for the follow up CD "Branching Out". Yet the first album is an absolute classic which sadly never received enough support through touring and management. But that's a totally different story which shall be told later, much later!

In New York I soon learned if you are feeling overwhelmed, down and out just drive to the lower east side. Trust me you ain't doing so bad.

So eight years later I am still here and writing this bio. Since coming here my palette of styles, rhythms, songs has vastly broadened. My appreciation for live music has quadrupled. No where can see more in day. It's manic and abrasive but like all addictions you keep coming back for more.

So here's some people I met played and/or recorded with since coming here: Slide Hampton, Vince Cherico, Luis Bonilla, Gregory Jones, Mario Rodriguez, Harvie S, Omar Kabir, Eddie Allen, Ari Hoenig, Mark Walker, John Benitez, Tito Puente, The Big Apple Circus, Mario Rivera, Blood Sweat & Tears, Leslie Uggams, Cirque du Soleil, Ute Lemper, Peter Brainin, Nicki Marero, Luis Quintero, Richard Bona, Jay Rodriguez, ... the list goes on. It is truly amazing how many truly gifted musicians arrive literally every month.

In 1996 I had the chance to jump in for Rebecca Mauleon and become a teacher and workshop leader at the Afrocubanismo! '96 in Banff, Alberta, Canada, together with Chucho Valdés

In 2001/2 I did together with Steve Sandberg the music to the short film "Climbing Miss Sophie". It was the winner of the NYU film festival 2002 and consequently shown around the world from Cannes to the Sundance Film Festival , receiving critical acclaim.

I have played on all kinds of Jazz Festivals from Montreux to North Sea, Tabarka, Eilat, Heineken, and more.

Stay tuned for more elaborations on my traveling life soon.

Munich
I was eight when I started playing piano. My rapid classical success slowed down to a crawl, however, with the discovery of Boogie Woogie and Rock'n'Roll. Unforgettable is the first time I heard Little Richards "Tutti Frutti". The raw power and relentless energy mesmerized me. Then my grandfather gave me a snare drum for my birthday. This greatly shocked my parents but they grinned and endured all more or less joyous noise emanating from our cellar over the next many years while I added piece by piece and command to that arsenal. Above a photo from our first real band "Steelyard Blues" (where am I?), which later became "Das Syndikat".

I saw the light with seventeen that piano was to be my real calling and focused on the piano again. By the time I turned ten, I knew I wanted be a musician (I don't recall this but a verified source told me so). However, circumstances did nor allow me to fully acknowledge this fact until my beginning twenties. Eventually I studied piano with Milos Radosevic who is the last real bohemian. I learned about life, back gammon, chess, women, neurosis (his), the piano and music as a gift from the spheres. His explanations of the musical pieces at hand turned into romantic treatises, themselves masterpieces of poetry and invention wanting to be realized. He gave ma a palette and showed me how to mix colors yet leaving the canvases and subjects up to me to discover. A lot I now know about music is rooted in that time. Little seeds were planted left to flourish and nourished by life.

In '85 I started the Munich Jazz School and studied with Max Neissendörfer. Up until then Jazz was interesting to me but completely beyond my comprehension. And after two years there the only thing I knew for sure that I had to go study in the States. The first advice on where to lay my head was to come from Herb Ellis after an amazing concert of Triple Treat (Oscars old trio with Herb, Ray Brown and Monty Alexander), he simply told me to go to North Texas State "Them guys know their scales". Yess Sir! And that's where I went. NTSU (then, now it's called UNT) seemed to actually care to have me and eventually even gave me a scholarship. I convinced Cristopher, my oldest friend and music buddy to come along and off we went.

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Denton, Texas
Well there I was pursuing a degree in Jazz studies dealing with freshman English, Texan beauties, a stiff classical requirement ... and buying a Cadillac. A '74 Eldorado with a 501 motor, black with red leather interior, a Jacuzzi in the back (almost), a miles to gallon ratio of about 10:1 on a good day and on and on. It soon become known as the U.S.S. Geissendoerfer and the Bat mobile. In it's second year and after breaking down close to twenty times within three months we got rid of it. Here is what we learned: a car is like a woman: if you have a beauty, take best care of her, repair her, invest in her, but don not get her fixed (meaning a quick repair job), 'cause fixin' it just creates more problems. We had this car mechanic who managed to say more swearwords in one sentence then most of us in a week, all the while maintaining a very cool air and occasionally spitting out of the side of his mouth, screaming over his shoulders to the other guys, his kids, his wife, and telling you that he'll fix it. He was a good mechanic, no doubt, but hampered by our small wallet and his wish to see us soon again.

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Steelyard Blues 1979

..once upon a note

©BCM 2009