As seen and heard on:
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The Skinny:
Acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, author and
educator Bradley Sowash has delighted listeners of all ages in concert halls and churches
throughout the United States and Europe for over two decades. His emotional style and
formidable technique have prompted favorable reviews in national publications including The
Village Voice and Billboard Magazine among others. As a sideman, he has played
with such luminaries as The Cab Calloway Orchestra and The Mills Brothers. His
broadcast credits include national radio airplay on NPR’s "Morning Edition"
among others and he has been a regular guest on the PBS-TV series, The Piano Guy
since its inception. His publications include several volumes of jazz hymn arrangements
published by Augsburg Fortress Press and educational jazz piano books published by the
Neil A. Kjos Music Company and Houston Enterprises. |
The Rest of the
Story:
Concert Description
Roaming somewhere on the musical spectrum between Ellington's playfulness and
Beethoven's romanticism, pianist Bradley Sowash's music has been categorized as
contemporary jazz with classical stylings. Every Sowash concert contains a few familiar
standards, yet he is most recognized for his innate gift for instilling feelings that
words leave untouched into his original compositions. Sowash's commentaries, which reflect
his vast and varied experience as a parent, modern dance collaborator, teacher, church
musician, sailor, horseman, outdoor enthusiast and world traveler are an integral part of
every performance and make his warm, poetic melodies even more accessible to casual
listeners. In addition to his concert hall performances, Sowash
performs jazz worship services and sacred concerts in churches nationwide.
Recordings
Though the concert experience is vital to Sowash's artistry, he has recorded four
critically acclaimed CDs. While on a hiking and fly fishing trip in 1993, Sowash was
deeply inspired by the magnitude and variety of American landforms. This experience led to
his first recording, Out West,
which received favorable reviews in national publications. The sweet experience of raising
his two daughters, tempered by the knowledge that they would grow up so fast, inspired his
second release, Bittersweet, in
1996. The love of intense outdoor activities that inspired his third album, In the Moment, also caused Sowash
to postpone touring following its release when he broke his arm in a fall from an
untrained horse. New Age Retailer declared In The Moment "One of the best
solo piano albums of 1999." The 2002 release of We Gather Together, which features
hymns and spirituals, prompted Solo Piano Publications to declare Sowash, "simply
one of the best pianists on the contemporary scene." Augsburg Fortress
Press has published a two-volume set of accompanying sheet music. Outstanding worldwide sales
prompted the follow-up release of more jazz hymns arrangements with When Saints Go Marching
and For the Beauty of the Earth
in 2004 which is also available in sheet
music form. Sacred Jazz and
Spirituals (2005) documents a live concert with his jazz quintet and a 45 voice choir.
Whodunit? features
selections from his original score to the mystery ballet of the same name which premiered
on March 8, 2007 in a production by BalletMet with choreography by Susan Hadley.
| In Sowash's Words... What this is about, really, is doing what I love. I have always known I would
be a musician. As a child, I could not distinguish between the terms 'musician' and
'magician.' Not only did they sound alike, but seemed to me to function the same way by
bringing people to their sense of awe. Music, for me, is a language that addresses the
emotional places we have in common but seldom discuss. |
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Background
After earning his degree in music composition at Ohio State University,
Sowash moved to New York City where he worked with many modern dance luminaries including
Mark Morris, Meredith Monk and Susan Hadley with whom he collaborated for 10 years. Later,
while living abroad, Sowash refined his mainstream jazz piano technique before
appreciative audiences in several countries while exploring the roots of concert
performance, Alpine skiing and his French heritage. Upon reaching what he affectionately
calls the "dogs and babies phase of life," Sowash returned to his native Ohio to
raise a family "in the warm embrace of the Midwest" and develop his emerging
unique piano style which, while influenced by jazz, remains distinctly his own. |
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Educator
A well-regarded jazz educator, Sowash is the author of That's Jazz, a three volume
jazz piano method published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company. He frequently offers
teacher training workshops for piano teachers in conjunction with that series. He is
the director of The Jazz Workshop, a
division of Columbus, Ohio’s Chamber Music Connection, in which student jazz combos
receive weekly coaching by professional jazz musicians and he teaches at the Jazz Academy
administered by Jazz Arts
Group. He also maintains a private studio with students ranging from age 9 to 70.
Past educational positions include the Ohio State University Department of Dance
and New York City's High School of the Performing Arts which is featured in the movie,
"Fame."
Service to the Field
Sowash currently serves on the board of the Worthington Arts Council in his hometown.
He also regularly appears as a guest speaker and arts consultant offering professional
development workshops for fellow artists and teachers. As a panelist for grant
applications, he serves art organizations such as the Jazz Masters Awards and several
state arts councils. In 2008, he will serve as a panelist on the subject of recreational
music making at the Music Teacher's National Association annual conference in Denver, CO.
Awards and Honors
In 1999, he was the featured artist at the Arts Midwest 15-state regional
conference in Cleveland, Ohio. He is listed in John Schaefer's book, New Sounds: A
Listener's Guide to New Music and in Katherine Teck's Movement to Music.
Sowash has received numerous grants from the Ohio Arts Council as well as from the New
York State Council on the Arts, the Hazelbaker Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the
New York Foundation for the Arts.
See My
Story for a first person account. |
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