My influences are all of the usual piano/keyboard gods (in no particluar order): Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Kirkland, Taylor Eigste, Hal Galper, Andrew Hill, Joey Claderazzo, Larry Goldings, Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Jimmy McGriff, Kenny Barron, Josef Zawinal, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Art Taum, James P. Johnson, Oscar Peterson, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, etc., etc.
And many non-keyboardists: John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheney, George Garzone, Miles Davis, Steve Grossman, Dave Liebman, Steve Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Terry Lynne Carrington, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Marilyn Crispell, Dave Holland, Evan Parker, many, many others.
I have a great love for 20th- and 21st-century classical music. Ligeti, Berio, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Penderecki, John Adams, Terry Riley, NOT Phillip Glass (Yuch - BORING), Jennifer Higdon, George Crumb, John Cage, Steve Reich, Elliot Carter, Claude Debussy, etc.
And I love music of other cultures, especially, India, the Middle East, and Africa.
Sounds Like
I hope my stuff sounds like...ME! Which I suppose means you'll hear the influences mentioned above in what I create. I like modern music. That is to say, modern creative music, be it classical, jazz (whatever that means now), world, even some rock and roll now and then. I don't like boundaries in my life or in my art. I don't mean ignore tradition, but I feal artists should find a way to say something new with each work. We have tons of art from the past to observe...there is no nead to rehash the past. All contemporary art should be...just that...contemporary! Download some of my stuff and you tell me who it sounds like! I'd love to hear from you.
The piano track you put down in my studio last year worked out great for my friends wedding. I added a penny whistle to the background and it made for a haunting and beautiful piece.
Hi Steve, Thanks for the add. I like your sounds. I heard you on WEMU radio with Evidence on Two Lane Landscape. Very slick tune. I hope I get to see you live sometime. Richard Isgrigg "Inserts"
Steve,
It was good to talk to you again. I decided not to stay. That is one gigless city. Would like to hear you live doing solo grand piano. Check my blog. I'm telling all the music stories. I'm sure you'll show up in a couple of them.
Buck 'Hold Your Horses' VanderMeer
I have a private villa in downtown Benton Harbor that I use as a creative retreat. You're welcome to visit sometime. This is how I met so many Michigan friends.
Thanks for the add Steve. One day all of that hard work and practice will pay off-you'll figure it out. You sound OK-keep working at it. You know, I'm something of a jazz-man myself. You might find yourself out on the road with a world-class act like myself someday.
Sincerely Yours,
Michael McDonald aka THE GREATEST
Hey man-
After the Michael Doyle Project tomorrow night, we should get together and have a Phillip Glass listening party. Oh, how does the first week of January work for you to rehearse some tunes for this new group with Charlie and Jon Wert. We've got a hit at the Bistro Jan 27th.
