In a 100-seat concert hall inside Melbourne’s Atlantic Music Center, seven young jazz pianists will compete this weekend in the third annual International Jazz Pianist Competition. In that intimate setting, not much bigger than a jazz club, the pianists, winnowed from a list of 30 who submitted their music by recordings, will be playing for a panel of three judges that includes the celebrated jazz pianist Bill Mays.
As if the competitors needed the inspiration, Mays himself will give a concert with his own trio Friday night at the center.
The public can watch not only Mays’ concert, but the competition itself. Walk-ins are welcome to the pianists’ 15-minute solo sessions Saturday afternoon. Then, Saturday evening, the public is invited – at a small admission fee – to watch the finalists play in a jazz trio, the drummer and bassist provided by the competition.
Along with the chance at winning, the finalists will get the thrill of playing on a remarkable piano: a new Bosendorfer Vienna concert grand, a 9-foot, 2-inch piano that was used in last month’s concert by Fei Fei Dong, the acclaimed Chinese pianist. That performance, also in Atlantic’s concert hall, was only the second use of the piano in the U.S. – the first was in Carnegie Hall.
“Fei Fei Dong told me this piano was one of the most amazing she has ever experienced,” says Brian Gatchell, founder of the competition and owner of Atlantic Music. “She said it felt like an extension of herself. It allowed her to interpret and express exactly how she was feeling.”
Gatchell’s thrill goes beyond hearing providing the treasured piano, a rare experience for a young musician. What moves him most is giving the pianists a professional boost. “This competition is promoting the careers of these incredibly young, talented pianists,” he says.
Prizes come in the form of cash and promotions from sponsors. The first- and second-place winners get guidance in setting up a follow-up concert tour, Gatchell says. And the three remaining finalists are allowed to continue their competition online in a concert judged by popular vote.
“I hope the community will join in our mission of helping to spread the knowledge and joy of this American art form of jazz to young people,” he says. His hope is that through his efforts and others, Melbourne will come to be known as a leader in presenting jazz – “particularly with young performers,” he adds.
Gatchell’s pianos could star in their own competition. Currently, his inventory includes the Grand Bohemian limited edition piano considered the most opulent in the world. Valued at nearly a half-million dollars, it’s been requested for a concert at Mar-a-Lago this Easter. Another Bosendorfer concert grand was designed by Porsche. Still another is programmed to reproduce the music of jazz great Oscar Peterson. “It’s like having Oscar sitting in your living room,” he says.
The latest piano in his lineup, called the Woman in Gold, has a painstaking reproduction of a Klimt painting under the lid, “down to his use of gold in the paint,” Gatchell says.
Each year, 30 or more pianists between the ages of 18 and 25 submit their tapes and entry requests. On Saturday, the seven finalists will perform in two open-to-the-public concert sessions. Each pianist will perform in concert as a soloist in the afternoon from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and this session is free to the public. It will be followed with a 7 p.m. performance by each finalist playing with a jazz trio: piano, bass and drums.
The competition is the brainchild of Gatchell, who is himself a concert pianist; he recently performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. Other sponsors of the event include Yamaha Pianos, Bösendorfer Pianos and the Space Coast Jazz Society, among others.
Last year the legendary pianist Kenny Barron was the celebrity judge for the competition; he too was featured in a solo concert the evening before the finals. This year Mays has accompanied such stellar singers as Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Al Jarreau, Barry Manilow and Anita O’Day, and joined forces in concerts, compositions and recordings with such jazz legends as Phil Woods, Woody Herman and Shelley Manne, to name a few. Jazz great Gerry Mulligan is said to have called Mays was the best piano player he ever played with.
A composer of original music for solo piano, chamber groups, as well as symphonic works and film scores, Mays has also arranged and orchestrated music from a wide range of sources, from Cole Porter to Sting and even Claude Debussy.
He has played on, or composed for films and TV shows. Mays has been playing for the famous Sunday jazz brunch at Palm Beach’s Colony Hotel this past month. He’ll resume again in March.
Joining Mays for the Friday concert will be Danny Gottlieb on drums and Jamie Ousley on bass. Gottlieb is best known for his work with the Pat Metheny group and has played with a myriad of jazz legends including Gerry Mulligan, Herbie Hancock and Stan Getz. He is a professor of jazz studies at Jacksonville’s University of North Florida. Ousley teaches jazz bass at Florida International University in Miami. He too has played with many jazz luminaries including George Shearing, Arturo Sandoval, Suzanne Somers and Vic Damone.
The competition weekend begins with a jazz trio master class Friday afternoon led by Danny and Beth Gottlieb. It features pianist Per Danielsson, a professor of jazz piano at the University of Central Florida, and bassist Ousley. That class is open to pianists of all levels and starts at 4:15 p.m.
The weekend events all take place at the Atlantic Music Center, 25 S. Wickham Rd., Melbourne. For more information, go to americanjazzpianistcompetition.org. or call 321-768-2221.
