Album Notes

World recognized jazz pianist with over 20 years of professional experience in a variety of venues, Mike has a vast repertoire from Broadway to blues, from boogie-woogie to bop. Did we mention, Mike has been blind since birth?

From the first through the eighth grade, Mike Markaverich was locked into classical piano studies at Perkins School for the Blind. By the time he entered Bishop Guertin High School In Nashua, N.H., he was playing rock music and after matriculating at Dartmouth, the grand conversion from classical and pop to jazz occurred after he had listened to an Oscar Peterson album. The Peterson influence was so overwhelming that Markaverich switched majors, from French to music.

At a wedding reception in Portsmouth, NH, in 1977, Molly Campbell, proprietor of the popular Falmouth jazz club heard the young pianist and invited him to perform the following spring at her club, Molly's. Markaverich, who received a master's degree in Music Theory from University of New Hampshire in 1978, has been a hit ever since!

While he is fond of rippling glissandi and showers of notes, there is little to indicate that he is trying to be an Oscar Peterson carbon copy. Markaverich is inventive with a mind verdant with musical ideas and a puckish compulsion for humor. His sets contain songs garnished with more quotes than is usually found in a State of the Union speech.

Markaverich has a propensity for alternating straight-ahead playing with stretches of stride and occasional improvised choruses in which he uses either the left or right hand.

Mike Markaverich was a premature baby, and his parents were told by doctors not to expect him to survive. His experience in the incubator resulted in his blindness. Mike began playing a toy piano at age three and took lessons at Perkins School for the Blind where he attended grammar school. He graduated second in his class from Bishop Guertin High School and studied at Dartmouth College where he became interested in jazz and decided to make music his career. After attaining a graduate degree at the University of New Hampshire, Mike began his professional career on Cape Cod where he worked as a solo performer and in various combo settings in major area nightspots. In November 1988 he moved to Sarasota, Florida where he has been a regular member of the local jazz scene ever since. Mike has also appeared in concert in various venues, appeared on television and radio, given workshops in schools and colleges, has produced four of his own recordings and appeared on numerous others, and teaches jazz piano. As a member of the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Sarasota County Music Teachers Association, he runs a private piano studio and teaches at local colleges.

This latest album showcases a wide variety of material and demonstrates the versatility of Mike's playing. He grooves and sizzles with a trio on five of the tunes. His solo playing ranges from the delicacy of a ballad to bringing-it-on-home gospel to bop to original. And if you're wondering about the cover photo? The picture was taken from the top of Mount Sinai. Yeah, on this album, Mike takes us to the Promised Land.