Stephanie Trick “has come to practically dominate the stride piano field,” notes reviewer Jack Rummel. Harlem stride piano, which developed in the 1920s and ‘30s, is an orchestral style of two-handed piano playing that not only swings, but is also technically demanding and exciting to watch. Louis Mazetier, a respected interpreter of this genre, writes in the Bulletin of the Hot Club of France that she has “won the esteem of specialists in the genre with wonderful interpretations of stride classics, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Don Lambert (which she learned by ear). She plays these pieces with a punch that is matched by her precise interpretation.”
A classically trained pianist, Stephanie began playing piano at the age of five. During the time between her beginning years and high school, her piano teacher exposed her to early jazz styles, and the syncopation and swinging rhythm piqued her interest. While in college, it became clear to Stephanie that she wanted to pursue stride and classic jazz styles professionally.
With a swinging music style that includes boogie woogie and blues from the late ‘20s era plus Fats Waller and Ralph Sutton, Stephanie has performed in many parts of the United States as well as in Europe in a variety of venues, including the Great Connecticut Traditional Jazz Festival, the Cincy Blues Fest in Cincinnati, the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, California. In 2008 and again in 2010, she was invited to perform at the international Stride and Swing Summit in Boswil, Switzerland, where she teamed up with pianists Louis Mazetier (France); Rossano Sportiello, Paolo Alderighi (Italy); Bernd Lhotzky, Chris Hopkins (Germany); Jon Weber, and Ehud Asherie (USA).
A serious student, passionate about traditional jazz and stride heritage, her studies have included piano master classes, training abroad in Germany and Austria, and she has studied under a number of celebrated musicians, including Louis Mazetier, Rossano Sportiello, Carl Sonny Leyland, and Danny Coots. Graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at the University of Chicago.
In an effort to bring a greater appreciation for traditional jazz and its integral role in the develop-ment of American culture, Stephanie shares anecdotes about stride masters of the past during her performances and gives presentations to students in special programs about the history of early jazz from ragtime to swing. When she is not touring, she is working on her next CD and arranging, composing, and adding new pieces to her repertoire. Stephanie is also working on a program to start touring in the fall of 2011 featuring the music of James P. Johnson and other stride piano composers, set to words and sung by Grammy-nominated lyricist and vocalist Lorraine Feather (see www.nouveaustride.com).
Stephanie’s latest CD is “Stephanie Trick LIVE,” recorded in May 2010 at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis. A video version of the Sheldon concert with bonus material was released on DVD in June 2011. Her 2008 CD, “Hear That Rhythm!”, has an emphasis on the stride works of Waller, Johnson, and Smith. “Ragtime Tricks” features the works of Joplin and other classic ragtime composers, with some tasteful embellishments. “Piano Tricks,” her 2005 solo album, is a combination of stride, ragtime, jazz, and classical selections. (CD track listings, video clips, ordering information, and more may be found on her website at www.stephanietrick.com.)
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