Geoffrey Keezer is a GRAMMY®-winning pianist, composer, arranger and producer based in New York City. A native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he began playing piano and composing at an early age. After briefly attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Keezer moved to New York in 1989, becoming the last pianist with the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Keezer has toured and recorded with Ray Brown, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Diana Krall, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Barbara Hendricks, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Chris Botti, Sting, Joe Locke and Christian McBride; produced and arranged three GRAMMY®-nominated recordings with vocalist Denise Donatelli, and released a series of albums drawing influences from Hawaiian, Okinawan and Afro-Peruvian folk traditions. His 2009 album Áurea (ArtistShare) was nominated for a Best Latin Jazz Album GRAMMY® award. Geoffrey’s 2013 solo piano release, Heart of the Piano (Motema Records), seeks to redefine solo jazz piano as a personal and interactive showcase of melody, energy and groove, while his 2018 album On My Way to You (MarKeez Records) is a stunning set of music featuring his working trio with the addition of guest vocalist Gillian Margot. Keezer’s latest
album Playdate (MarKeez Records) earned a 2023 GRAMMY® in the Best Instrumental Composition category for his song “Refuge”. Geoffrey’s compositions have been commissioned by the Mainly Mozart Festival, Art of Elán ensemble, Saint Joseph Ballet, Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. His music can be heard in the films What Happens in Vegas, The Wedding Year, and Inhale, and in numerous TV shows including The Young and the Restless, Parks and Recreation, Casual, House of Lies, Call Me Kat, American Crime Story, Clarice, and The Originals. Time Magazine wrote, “Geoffrey has more than enough virtuosity and sheer musical wit and intelligence to weave all of his apparently disparate strands of influence into an original and compelling whole”, and pop icon Sting said “In the universe of piano players that I have been exposed to over the years, Geoffrey has proved himself to be not only a superb technician and improviser, but also above and beyond this, a composer and conceptualist who can maintain the overall line and the DNA of the song in everything he plays. A musician’s musician.”
Geoffrey Keezer is a faculty member of The Juilliard School and is a Yamaha artist.“Mr. Keezer is the kind of straight-ahead piano player you wish for: multifaceted,
responsive, constantly sifting through colors and shapes, bursting with a personal
and sincere enthusiasm.”
- The New York Times.
“On My Way to You, The Geoffrey Keezer Trio featuring Gillian Margot (MarKeez
Records), affirms Geoffrey’s status as one of the most innovative, creative pianists
working in the jazz modern mainstream today.”
- Hot House
“You look like you can’t do nothin’…we should work together!”
- Miles Davis
“Beautiful playing! I love your improvised pianisms together with your wonderful compositions. Very inspiring!”
- Chick Corea
“Geoffrey possesses a refreshingly open-eared sensibility in the modern manner, and he has more than enough virtuosity and sheer musical wit and intelligence to weave all of his apparently disparate strands of influence into an original and compelling whole.”
- Time Magazine
”If you like improvised jazz piano check out a wonderful version of “Come Talk to Me” by Geoffrey Keezer” – PETER GABRIEL, via Facebook/Twitter
- Peter Gabriel
“In the universe of piano players that I have been exposed to over the years, Geoffrey has proved himself to be not only a superb technician and improviser, but also above and beyond this, a composer and conceptualist who can maintain the overall line and the DNA of the song in everything he plays. A musician’s musician.”
- Sting
Having an exquisite voice, a disarmingly wide vocal range, and a style that is deeply rooted in the tradition of the great jazz vocalists, Gillian Margot possesses a gift of storytelling and stunning lyrical delivery. A native of Toronto, Canada, Margot studied under a generation of jazz legends including Oscar Peterson, Freddy Cole, Carol Welsman, and Norman Simmons. Equally at home in the musical worlds of jazz, R&B, chamber, and pop, she has been invited to perform in major venues worldwide with a long list of top-tier talent, including rock icon Sting, famed soprano Kathleen Battle, jazz stars Jeremy Pelt and Chris Botti, and GRAMMY®- winning artists Robert Glasper and Geoffrey Keezer. Additionally, her voice can be heard in commercials, feature films, and television programs including Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees (IMAX 2002), New Year (Doublesee 2010), Lethal Weapon (FOX 2016), The Young and The Restless (2016-2019), and One Good Reason (Alone.Calm 2020). Margot’s first album, A Pink-Filled Sky is a vibrant collection of reimagined classic jazz standards and original compositions, recorded in 2010 for a live audience in Toronto with her chamber trio of voice, acoustic bass, and piano. Her 2016 US debut, Black Butterfly (Hipnotic) is an artfully crafted set that showcases her multifaceted musicality and speaks to the singer’s passion for diversity. The album blends Great American Songbook standards, intriguing jazz originals, gutbucket blues, contemporary hip-hop flavours and uniquely personal covers of songs by Curtis Mayfield, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, and 80’s English rockers Simply Red. In 2018, Margot collaborated with pianist Geoffrey Keezer for the album, On My Way to You (MarKeez). Downbeat’s Ted Panken writes that the vocalist and pianist “achieve an uncanny mind-meld on the co-composed ‘You Stay With Me’ — Margot projects her magnificent contralto to equally compelling effect both when conveying her tender, sensuous lyric and then improvising in dialogue with the piano during the latter section. They also co-wrote the percolating ‘Guanajuato’ (named for the Central Mexican city where they performed a duo concert), on which the protagonists engage in a protracted, intuitive musical conversation.” Her latest album, Power Flower (Ropeadope) features seasoned titans Billy Kilson, Seamus Blake, Ingrid Jensen, and Mark Whitfield Jr. and is a deeply soothing homage to her influences in the jazz, pop, and funk of the 70s and 80s. Three rare covers from Stevie Wonder, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Sample are balanced with three originals and a dramatic, orchestral arrangement of the traditional song “Black Is The Color (Of My True Love’s Hair)”. In addition to performing worldwide, Gillian Margot is one of two vocal faculty on OpenStudioJazz.com offering courses and masterclasses online, and has recently joined the faculty of Swing University presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center. She holds a Double Baccalaureate in Fine Arts with Honors (Music & Anthropology) from York University in Toronto, and a Master of Music (Jazz) from The Juilliard School in New York.
Mike Pope is best described as a rare triple threat in the music world. An equally capable acoustic and 6-string electric bass guitar player, he is a world-renowned solo artist, sideman, composer, and faculty member at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Piano playing has been a constant throughout Mike’s life. Raised in Bowling Green, OH, Mike left at age 18 to attend the University of North Texas, ultimately migrating to New York City at the recommendation of Michael Brecker, whom he met during a clinic at the school. Pope hit the ground running and began playing and recording with Michael and Randy Brecker, Chuck Loeb, Mike Stern, Joe Locke, Jeff “Tain” Watts and Al DiMeola. He released two solo albums, Walk Your Dogma and Lay of the Land, while amassing additional credits with Chick Corea, Bill Bruford, David Sanborn, Geoffrey Keezer, and Manhattan Transfer. In addition to his prolific career as a bassist, Mike has contributed to multiple projects as a pianist, most recently sharing his skills with fellow Berklee professor John Patitucci in team taught lessons and impromptu performances. Mike’s piano work can be heard on The Dave Pope Trio release, You and the Night and the Music, and most recently on bassist Jon Steele’s EP release, Jon Steele Quintet, available on most streaming platforms. Most recently, Mike has toured with former Chick Corea Elektric Band bandmate Frank Gambale. He continues to tour in support of his critically-hailed third solo release, Cold Truth, Warm Heart, and is working toward the impending release of his next CD, The Parts You Keep.