Chef to Clef

Mark Shane

Musical Styles: In the Tradition of Buoyant Swing and Lyrical Melodic Improvisation which is Classic Jazz Piano

Mark Shane plays classic jazz piano in a rowdy, rambunctious, rollicking style. His spirited "striding and tickling" gets parties off the ground. This hot piano combines ragtime feeling, infectious humor, virtuosic technique and a time-honored repertoire drawn from the golden age of jazz and swing. Listeners delight to hits made famous by Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson and other jazz legends. When Mr. Shane delivers one of his inimitably jaunty vocals, things really heat up!

With a resume that includes major jazz festivals throughout the United States and Europe, Mark Shane reflects a true sense of living jazz history in his playing, and continues the tradition of buoyant swing and lyrical melodic improvisation which is classic jazz piano.

Mark Shane?s jazz piano is firmly rooted in the swinging tradition of jazz piano masters James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Earl Hines and Art Tatum. Shane was house pianist in New York?s ?Eddie Condon?s? jazz club and has played with Benny Goodman and many all star alumni from the great bands of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.

Mark Shane has been featured on radio and television jazz special broadcasts and has appeared as a featured soloist at major jazz festivals worldwide. Shane has toured for Columbia Artists and with the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble. Featured in the 50th anniversary Benny Goodman memorial concert in Carnegie Hall, Shane has also played jazz piano for the Twyla Tharp Dance Company as well as for the Grammy
Award winning soundtrack, ?The Cotton Club? and other films.

For Carnegie Hall?s 100th Anniversary celebration, Shane accompanied hosts Beverly Sills and Barbara Walters. Mark Shane has played a royal command performance of Duke Ellington?s ?The Queen?s Suite? for HRH Princess Anne in London?s Festival Hall.

Shane is particularly noted for his Fats Waller program, ?Fats Lives!!!?, a swinging piano and vocal tour de force which has been featured with many of New York?s popular dance orchestras and at jazz festivals world wide. Mark Shane has played for society and debutante cotillions throughout the United States, for Presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington, DC, and for the Mayor of New York City at Gracie Mansion. Shane has also played private parties for Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Estee Lauder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and for openings and fund raising events at major libraries, museums and cultural centers throughout the United States. Shane is regularly featured at Lincoln Center?s ?Midsummer Nights? Swing? concerts.

Named to the Steinway international roster of piano artists, Mark Shane has been called
?...one of the great accompanists of his time?? (Mississippi Rag). Shane?s piano, featured on many recordings, reflects a true sense of living jazz history and continues the tradition of deep swing and lyrical melodic improvisation. Mark Shane plays Classic Jazz Piano, America?s unique musical contribution to world culture.
Mark has been featured on radio and television jazz special broadcasts and has appeared as a featured soloist at major jazz festivals throughout the world. He has toured with the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble under the direction of Bob Wilber, and was featured in the 50th Anniversary Benny Goodman memorial concert at Carnegie Hall. Mark has played jazz piano for the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, as well as for the Grammy-Award-winning soundtrack of the film "The Cotton Club." Other film work includes the soundtracks to "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Biloxi Blues," "Working Girl," and other films made for television. During the Carnegie Hall 100th Anniversary Celebration, he accompanied hosts Beverly Sills and Barbara Walters. In 1989, Mark played a Royal Command performance for HRH Princess Anne in London's Festival Hall.

Featured with the Peter Duchin and Lester Lanin Orchestras, Mark Shane has played for society and debutante cotillions throughout the United States, for Presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington, D.C., and for the Mayor of New York City at Gracie Mansion. He has also played private parties for Mikhail Gorbbachev, Henry Kissinger, Estee Lauder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and for openings and fund raising events at major libraries, museums and cultural centers throughout the United States. Corporate audiences such as IBM, AT&T and others have also enjoyed Mark's piano in New York's finest hotels and clubs, including the Waldorf-Astoria, Plaza, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, 21 Club and others.

Mark Shane's piano reflects a true sense of living jazz history and continues the tradition of buoyant swing and lyrical melodic improvisation which is CLASSIC JAZZ PIANO, America's unique musical contribution to world culture. He lives in Walden, NY with his wife, Alice.

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