A former rock star, Ian Whitcomb, joins young pianist Adam Swanson and Grammy-award winning Nashville percussionist Danny Coots for an album of ragtime, great Tin Pan Alley tunes, and originals. "I Love a Piano" was recorded in one exciting day at a top-quality Nashville studio and features such classics as "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" along with many Whitcomb originals, and the debut of an Irving Berlin song, "Who Was King Solomon's Favorite Wife?" Much of the album was inspired by famous ragtime pianist, collector, and historian Johnny "Crazy Otto" Maddox. Includes Whitcomb on vocals, ukulele, and piano, Danny Coots on drums, as well as piano solos by Adam Swanson. 46 minutes.
IAN WHITCOMB has been entertaining the world for over forty years. Born in Surrey, England, in 1941, he is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and became the “Father of Irish Rock.” Ian hit the American Top Ten charts in 1965 with his novelty record “You Turn Me On.” He appeared at the Hollywood Bowl with the Beach Boys and on such television programs as Shindig!, Hollywood A Go-Go, and American Bandstand. Subsequently, he toured with the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, but he quickly abandoned life as a British Invader to devote himself to resurrecting the roots of pop music, especially ragtime and the simple, heartfelt songs of turn-of-the-century Tin Pan Alley. Later, he was invited to sing on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show numerous times. Ian is also an author, best known for his classic book on the history of pop music from rags to rock, entitled After the Ball, still in print after almost forty years. He has published nineteen other books, including a biography of Irving Berlin, a memoir of his life in Los Angeles, and a novel set in Southern California. Ian has written and performed music for several movies, including Stanley’s Gig, The Cat’s Meow, and Last Call. In 1998, he produced a Grammy-winning CD called Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage. As well as singing in a special sort of way, Ian plays piano, musette accordion, and ukulele. Indeed he spearheaded the revival of the ukulele, that lively little instrument of pleasing plangency. The new Ian Whitcomb Show on XM radio can be accessed as a podcast or from www.ianwhitcomb.com.
ADAM SWANSON, from the small town of Shenandoah, Iowa, is rapidly becoming known as one of the world’s foremost performers and historians of ragtime and early American popular music. Adam has studied piano with Waleed Howrani of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory. Although he is only nineteen years old, he has been a featured performer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the United States. Adam is the youngest three-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, held in Peoria, Illinois. In 2007, he appeared alongside the late John Arpin at the Bohem Ragtime and Jazz Festival in the Republic of Hungary and has also toured Switzerland. Recently, Adam has recorded albums with the legendary Johnny Maddox, pianist Frederick Hodges of the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, rock star and ragtime singer Ian Whitcomb, and even a western swing album. Adam and Johnny Maddox perform together in the Diamond Belle Saloon at the Strater Hotel in Durango, Colorado. Adam is also an avid rail-fan, collects antique sheet music, records, and piano rolls. His CDs are available at cdbaby.com. Visit Adam online: www.adamgswanson.com.
DANNY COOTS started playing drums in 1964 at the age of six in northern New York. From that time he has studied with Nick Baffaro, Rich Holly, Alan Koffman, and Jim Peteresak in percussion. Danny continued his education at Crane School of Music and St. Lawrence University. He became adjunct faculty at St. Lawrence University, Clarkson University, and Potsdam State University from the mid-1970s into the 1990s, while traveling and performing with such jazz greats as Herb Ellis, Will Alger, Spiegle Willcox, Mimi Hines, Phil Ford, Bob Darch, and Pearl Kaufman. In 1995, Danny moved to make his home in Nashville, Tennessee. There he joined the Jack Daniels Silver Cornet Band for five years and helped to found the Titan Hot Seven. At the same time, he played and recorded with such artists as Randy Reinhart, John Sheridan, Neville Dickie, Bob Shultz, Ken Peplowski, Dan Barrett, Allen Vache, Vince Giordano, and Rebecca Kilgore. Recently, he has performed extensively with the renowned piano-flute duo of Jeff and Anne Barnhart, known as Ivory&Gold. Danny has recorded extensively in Nashville, New York, and Los Angeles on over seventy recordings, including the 2005 Grammy-winning compilation Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster. He has performed throughout the world, having appeared in ninety countries.
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