Check Out the Album, THE WORLD OF STEVE HUDSON

featuring the standards

If I Were a Bell, Armando’s Rhumba, Things ain’t What They Used to Be, and the originals Isaac on the Loose, Make Your Path, Love Speaks.

(Steve Hudson-Piano, Hilliard Greene-Bass, Jerome Jennings-Drums)

WHAT’S HAPPENING - All the Latest News

Had a great time priming at the Martha Stewart book opening in NYC with the trio - Marcus McLaurine on bass, Adam Ray on drums, and yours truly. I was hoping to lay a down a groove for Snoop Dog to freestyle, but the crowd was a bit much…it was a fun night!

Happy to hear that the album, Underdog, was just awarded the YYCMA Best Jazz Album of the Year 2024 in Calgary. The album was created by the Redline Trio with Mark DeJong on tenor saxophone, Steve Shepard on bass, and Jeffery Sulima on drums, and has Brad Turner on trumpet and yours truly on piano.

You can listen to the music on BandCamp. There options also for downloading and streaming, and vinyl!!!!!

Taking this August to shed and work on original material that I am looking forward to sharing with you soon. I have been studying the Cole Porter piece, Just One of Those Things, and checking out how different musicians approach it, and figuring out my own approach. I first became interested in the song [ok, this post is going together kind of geeky, inside baseball] when during a piano lesson, Stanley Cowell, showed it to me on piano, solo piano. He did this thing with his left hand where the bass line played each note twice…it was his way of playing a bass line over a fast tempo. I have never seen anyone since then play in that way. Anyways, I am in the shed right now, looking forward to seeing you call in the coming days!!

Trace the Sun, a project started a few years ago, was just signed with Aldora Britain Records. Stay tuned for all the latest regarding out partnership, very excited to be collaborating with such a forward thinking label. What I like about them is that they are as passionate about music as most musicians I know! You can hear the music of Trace the Sun on our Bandcamp site and on Youtube, songs like “Chestnut Street,” and “Love just Comes Naturally.”

A couple days ago I performed on a very old Steinway at a gig in the village and dove into a couple songs that were new to me. Expanding the repertoire to include songs like Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” and playing through the song it really hit me how a simple melody with powerful lyrics can take a song to another level. And then there is the tune, “I Didn’t Know What Time it Was.” Besides having also a great melody and lyrics, what makes this song great? In my mind, it’s all about delayed gratification…meaning the song starts in E minor and then does a bunch of harmonic head fakes until it resolves to G major on the bridge, and then eventually again to G major at the end of the song. There is this feeling that you have to wait for it, and then when it comes, the G major, it’s like the sun breaks through the clouds and you are home.

The one plus about the cold weather of is that you end up getting more time on your instrument to practice…..working on some Charlie Parker solos (shedding Moose the Mooche at the moment), Bach (Goldberg Variations….that cross hand stuff is tricky…but worth it!), and writing, writing, writing. Recently, I have the desire to get back to basics….going to relearn James P. Johnson’s Carolina Shout (yeah, one step at a time!).

NOW STREAMING AND EVERYWHERE YOU FIND MUSIC

“Don’t Forget The Dream”

Out today, "Don't Forget the Dream," everywhere you find music and on all streaming platforms!

The song has kind of a soulful, country sound in a way, and I wasn't sure if we would record it...but when Niki sang it in rehearsal, she took it to another place. This is with the project Trace the Sun and features Niki Morrissette and John Michael Parker on vocals, Jordan Peters on guitar, Marcos Varela on bass, Dan Rieser on drums, and yours truly on piano. We recorded at Studio G in Brooklyn with Chris Cubeta and Gary Atturio a couple years back and it's the last track on the 5 song EP that's on BandCamp. Enjoy!! S

“Be The One” Now on All Streaming Platforms. This Song is From the Indie Rock Project, Trace The Sun, Enjoy!! You Can Hear More From Trace the Sun on its Site.

Appearance on Podcast Jazz-Zeit

Shared my thoughts on the new album, the piano and how I discovered it, and music in general on the podcast, Jazz-Zeit, the German radio show by host Constantin Sieg. The podcast is a deep dive into pianists from the USA, Aaron Diehl, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Lynn Arriale, many others and yours truly….88 keys and everyone’s telling their own story!

Video from the Recording Studio, Armando’s Rhumba (Chick Corea)

While making the new album, The World of Steve Hudson, we recorded Armando’s Rhumba by Chick Corea as a duet with yours truly and drummer Jerome Jennings in the recording studio. We had a bit of time towards the end of the recording session and Jerome and I sat down and just played Armando’s Rhumba like we were having a conversation. Here is the video on YouTube. You can hear the song and the rest of the album, The World of Steve Hudson, on BandCamp.

NEW VIDEO FROM THE TRIO, ISAAC ON THE LOOSE, CHECK IT OUT!

Playing With That Fire, Thinking of Jerry Lee Lewis

So as a kid I took an art class in school at Albany Academy and the teacher was Jim Reed, a tall, skinny guy, with long hair, who kind of looked like Jim Morrisson from the Doors.

Jim Reed who was an amazing photographer, painter, and a phenomenal pianist. All of the walls in his room had painted designs and the ceiling as well. He had an upright piano in his room which had painted designs on the side and there was no cover so you could see the hammer and the strings. A few feet away he a record player.

I never learned much about art in those years, but I did learn to play in that room and later in Mr. Ellington's band class.

When Mr. Reed would play he would play standing up and his hands would be at an angle while his right foot stepped forward. His music had that fire. He taught a group of us, about 8 of us always surrounding the piano, how to play that boogie boogie style of piano playing that came out of New Orleans and was infused in that early rock n roll sound. We played along with Jerry Lee Lewis records as well as Ray Charles, Three Dog Night, Jimi Hendrix, and others. We even used to try and play backwards like Jerry Lee.

Turns out Mr. Reed was friends with Jerry Lee Lewis, and even opened up for him on the road.

He gave me a book about the pianist and encouraged me to keep exploring the music.

I later joined the school band and was lucky to have of the most inspiring teachers I'll ever know, Mr. Ellington, who introduced us to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Yes, and so many others....Ellington always gave us the keys to band room at lunch, and the world opened up. I started getting into other styles of music including jazz.

Sending a big hug to Jerry Lee Lewis, the great rock-n-roll pianist from Louisiana who just recently passed on.

Your music had that fire which sparked so many music lovers out there!

Playing Room 623 in Harlem

Had a blast playing with saxophonist Claire Daly and bassist Dave Hofstra at Room 623 in Harlem. Dave plays so in the pocket and Claire’s music just swings hard, both in a relaxed way and more intense way. Whole lotta fun! Thanks for everyone who came out to the show!!