A&E
Preview: Fallcoming Jazz Concert features Dick Hyman
By Emma Fighera ’20
October 6, 2016
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This Friday, Oct. 7 from 9-11p.m., Hamilton will host its 23rd annual Fallcoming Jazz Concert in the Fillius Events Barn with “Pianos Extraordinaire.” The concert features Dick Hyman, an American jazz keyboardist and composer and Rossano Sportiello, an award-winning, Italian jazz pianist. In their spirited performance, the impressive duo merges jazz, classical, and improvised music, creating a cohesive product while still retaining the semblances of their own unique styles.
Improvisation is one of the major features that sets jazz music apart from other genres.
No other style of music relies as heavily on “composing in the moment” as jazz, though improvisation takes place in almost all other styles of music. Generating original content extemporaneously forces the musician to rise to a level of creativity that helps him or her become more attuned to his or her musical process. The educational benefit to the recordings of improvised jazz and to improvisation itself is undisputed. During live jazz performance, a palpable unification of performer, listener, and musical venue occurs, creating a multi-dimensional form of instrumental art. Audience members of “Pianos Extraordinaire” will undoubtedly have this experience.
Born in New York City on March 8, 1927, Dick Hyman has been playing piano since adolescence, training classically with his mother’s brother, concert pianist Anton Rovinsky.
Throughout his 60 plus year career, Hyman has operated as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. His dexterity in the aforementioned fields have allowed Hyman to collaborate on film scores, orchestral compositions and over 100 studio albums. Hyman also possesses masterful faculty for improvisation in his personal piano style, though he is also a prolific concert pianist and studio musician. From 1984 to 2004, Hyman served as the artistic director for the Jazz in July series at the 92nd St Y in New York City.
Accompanying Hyman is Rossano Sportiello, born in Vigevano, Italy on June 1, 1974. Sportiello began playing piano age 9, and was performing professionally at jazz venues in the Milan area by age 16. He is inspired greatly by the old masters of stride piano, Ralph Sutton, Dave McKenna, and Barry Davis. Sportiello belongs to a conservative tradition in jazz, which treats jazz as a type of chamber music with an emphasis on refinement and avoiding harsh texture. This dedication to the stride tradition is evident in Sportiello’s technical virtuosity, a flawless rendering of balance and composition. In 2007, Sportiello married American writer Lala Moore and established himself in New York City.
“Pianos Extraordinaire” will act as a musical link between the versatility of Hymen and the grace of Sportiello. The audience can expect a rousing performance from this merging of two modern jazz masters.