 Michael Kaeshammer is one of the most exciting, young, jazz
pianists in the country today. Still in his mid-20s, he has released a series of
award winning, critically acclaimed recordings and has developed a large,
international following through his dynamic live performances.
As a charismatic performer who was classically trained in Germany, he fell in
love with boogie-woogie piano at the age of 13. By the time Kaeshammer and his
family moved to Canada four years later, he was a veteran of the German club,
concert and jazz festival circuit.
In 1996, still as a teenager, he released his auspicious debut recording, Blue
Keys. Critics hailed Kaeshmammer's "prodigious technique and thunderous left
hand bass lines on a repertoire of brilliantly reshaped traditional jazz and
blues classics."
Kaeshammer followed with Tell You How I Feel in 1998, his first recording for
Alma Records and producer Peter Cardinali. It featured a team of Canadian jazz
stars on a series of studio performances demonstrating Kaeshammer's mastery of a
dizzying variety of jazz forms.
On 2000's No Strings Attached, Cardinali took the young pianist down to New
Orleans to record with Big Easy legends Eddie Bo, Art Neville and Johnny
Vidacovich. Canadian jazz stars Neil Swainson, Guido Basso and Terry Clarke also
contributed to Kaeshammer's eclectic repertoire on his acclaimed third CD. It's
an impressive collection of daring originals, funky blues, and thoughtful
reinterpretations of ragtime and boogie woogie classics. The recording's
combination of roots music and modernity garnered a JUNO nomination and a West
Coast Music Award for Male Artist of the Year in 2001. In 2002 Michael received
two West Coast Music Awards, Performer of the Year and Musician of the Year.
Strut has been nominated for a 2004 Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year Juno
Award.
To create the ideal environment to record 2003's Strut, drummer Johnny
Vidacovich and veteran bassist Ben Wolfe (Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr.) joined
Michael in a studio that Cardinali and noted engineer Denis Tougas set-up in a
big, old barn at a house on Stony Lake, just outside Peterborough, Ontario.
"Going down to New Orleans and recording with Johnny on No Strings Attached
really influenced me, but this session was even better," Kaeshammer explained.
"It was so warm and so much fun, a really relaxed atmosphere that produced some
very beautiful, soulful music."
Guitarist Kevin Breit (Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, kd lang) contributed some
succinct, tasty licks to the trio's rhythmically sophisticated repertoire on
Strut, and Michael continues to demonstrate his growth as a composer of hip,
well-crafted originals grounded in his encyclopedic knowledge of traditional
piano styles. Ragtime, stride and Jelly Roll Morton's early jazz stylings
seamlessly meld into funk-inspired bebop, romantic ballads, and modern jazz in
the ever-expanding, unique keyboard sound of the young piano star.
The young pianist has a polished live show that features exciting performances
of the music on the new CD, as well as surprise-filled reinventions of tunes on
his earlier recordings. Kaeshammer's in-the-moment improvisational magic and the
trio's cleverly-reshaped live versions of his music will be showcased throughout
Canada, Europe and the U.S. during the pianist's current tour. Every performance
is met with thundering applause and standing ovations. Strut is the culmination
of the musician's singular synthesis of the jazz piano tradition. With
continuous touring and a busy schedule of television and radio appearances, he
hopes to share it with an even larger international audience.
"I'm going to tour this record for the next couple of years, and I'm looking
forward to it," Michael explained. "I really love playing this music."
Kaeshammer continues to amaze with his prodigious keyboard technique and total
absorption of jazz idioms. Strut demonstrates his continued growth as a stylist,
composer, and, on a sultry reading of Comes Love and a Professor
Longhair-inspired version of Cry To Me, an emerging talent as a soulful
vocalist. There's not a brighter star on the jazz horizon.
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