Drew Paralic Jazz Composer

I WROTE THIS FOR A RADIO STATION IN LONDON RECENTLY AND IT WAS WELL RECEIVED, SO I AM REPRINTING IT HERE TO SHARE SOME INSIGHT OF MY PLACE IN JAZZ AS I SEE IT:

My role in jazz took me by surprise:

I started piano lessons very late (20) for a career as a pianist. I made my first recoding--all originals--at the age of 40. I did it for me; I wanted to hear my tunes executed very well. I hired a quartet who were professional, something my piano playing would always lack.

I was shocked--and encouraged--at the mostly positive critical success. Jazz is a performer's art, no?

Being a New Yorker, the music was all around me. I got to meet many musicians over the years, some well known by jazz standards.

Anyway, I went on to write and arrange 5 or 6 more albums-- but I was never able to quit my day job...

Drew Paralic

Back in 2000, I decided to begin recording my compositions. Although I play piano, I chose to hire far better players than myself to record my music. I began studying piano rather late in life, at the weathered age of 20. Being a native New Yorker -- Brooklynite, to be exact -- I had access to several great music education institutions including The Jazz Mobile in Harlem and Turtle Bay Music School in, well, Turtle Bay. I also spent a semester up in Boston at the Berklee School of Music. Many great teachers and musicians guided me on ways to put music together both in NY and in Boston, and beyond. I have arranged my music, over 45 originals recorded thus far, in a variety of settings: quartets, trios, duos and solo piano pieces. I have often employed different lead instruments -- various saxes, clarinets, flute, trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, and even vocals on two pieces, “How Billlʼs Heart Sings” and “My Wintertime Sky”. (Of course, I owe a tremendous debt to the Great American Songbook as well as many great American jazz artists, such as Bill Evans and Thelonius Monk). The results have been much more than I ever dreamt! From my first CD, “Too Little, Too Late” which won an OMA award in 2002 through my fifth and current “Mary's Place”, I have been happy to have experienced virtually unanimous critical success. Financial? Well....................... You know how to make a million dollars in jazz? First, start with two million... So please give a listen to my passion. And support jazz -- not just my music, but THE music.

— My Bio