photo by Carol Friedman
"Joanne Brackeen is one of the greatest living pianists hands down; no footprints!" (Metroland)
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet, Yamaha Artist and 2018 NEA Jazz Master JoAnne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention.
Her sound was honed through periods of apprenticeships with some of the world's greatest names: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Stan Getz and Joe Henderson.
In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has 25 albums as a leader and has written over 300 intricate, and rhythmically daring compositions; in a wide stylistic range. Ms. Brackeen appears on nearly 100 recordings.
She balances touring by teaching as a professor at Berklee College of Music and at The New School, by conducting master classes and residencies and by adjudicating competitions.
Brackeen maintains an active worldwide touring calendar, headlining and playing to sold-out and standing room only crowds such as The Kennedy Center, at the Newport Jazz Festival (where her solo piano concert was named one of the best live performances of 2017 by the New York Times) and at the Monterey Jazz Festival where Jazz Times magazine declared her trio "a most revelatory and favorite act of the evening, and proclaimed "After years of listening to her albums, the first time hearing Brackeen live, and with such a responsive ensemble, felt like transitioning from black-and-white Kansas to the Technicolor Land of Oz."
To witness 2018 NEA Jazz Master Joanne Brackeen live, is to be enchanted by the whole history and future of jazz; all with a contemporary edge.
Adam Cruz - Drums
Lonnie Plaxico - Bass