Mike LeDonne

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Mike LeDonne, 2017

Michael Arthur "Mike" LeDonne (born October 26, 1956 in Bridgeport , Connecticut ) is an American pianist and organist of modern jazz .

life and work

Mike LeDonne's parents ran a music business; Mike's father was also a jazz guitarist. When he was ten, he played with him at local events. He graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music at the age of 21 and moved to New York City , where he worked as a resident pianist at Jimmy Ryan's jazz club and played with many swing and mainstream jazz veterans . In 1988 the first recordings were made for the Criss Cross Label; he also worked with Milt Jackson's Quartet and the Widespread Depression Orchestra . During this time he also played with Benny Goodman , Sonny Rollins , Bobby Hutcherson , Art Farmer , Dizzy Gillespie , and from 1996 with Benny Golson , as on his album "Remembering Clifford".

In the 1990s he played in Michael Hashim's band ("Lotus Blossom", 1990) and was involved in Joshua Redman's debut album in 1992 . Among his own albums, “Soulmates” from 1993 (with Ryan Kisor , Joshua Redman) and “Waltz for an Urbanite” from (1995) stand out. LeDonne also plays the Hammond -B3 organ; as organist he has recorded the albums "Smokin 'Out Loud" and "On Fire" and can be heard on albums by Scott Hamilton and Clifford Jordan . As a pianist, he was also involved as a sideman on recordings for Jim Snidero and Chris Flory .

Discographic notes

literature

Web links

annotation

  1. Cook and Morton count the two albums among LeDonne's best productions and rate them in the Penguin Guide to Jazz with the second highest rating of *** (*) stars.