Part of the EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2024
Part of the EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
Virtuosity and warmth emanate from the bandstand whenever Cyrus Chestnut sits at the piano.
His staggering resume as a leader and a highly sought collaborator includes meaningful associations with such icons as Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Regina Carter, James Moody, Kathleen Battle, Betty Carter, and Dizzy Gillespie, among countless others. His sound bonds nuance, technical mastery, and a deep pocket that engages audiences across the world. Expect a hard swinging set that features an intergenerational band
Born in 1963, Cyrus Chestnut started his musical career at the age of three, playing piano at the Mount Calvary Star Baptist Church at the age of six in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. By age nine, he was studying classical music at the Peabody Preparatory Institute in Baltimore. In the fall of 1981, Cyrus began jazz education in Boston, MA at the Berklee College of Music. In 1985, he earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging. While at Berklee, Chestnut was awarded the Eubie Blake Fellowship, the Oscar Peterson, Quincy Jones, and Count Basie awards for exceptional performance standards at the college. After Berklee, Cyrus began further honing his craft as a sideman with some of the legendary and leading musicians in the business.
Chestnut continually tours with his trio, playing live at jazz festivals around the world as well as clubs and concert halls. With his hectic schedule, Cyrus has also found the time to get into jazz education, doing seminars worldwide and also on occasion, educating students in jazz at Middlebury College in Vermont during the winter months. Joined by bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Neal Smith, he continually uses the trio format to extend, elaborate, and refine the basic conception of the jazz rhythm section.
“The best jazz pianist of his generation.” – Time
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