Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
Adam Blankman
The Music of Peter Gabriel
Vocalist/guitarist Adam Blankman returns to Piedmont Piano with a fresh approach to the iconic songs of Peter Gabriel. Music will range from Gabriel’s early years with progressive rock band Genesis through his multi-decade solo career. The band will feature Walter Bankovitch (piano), Stacy Starkweather (bass), Dave Rokeach (drums), Michael Gill (synthesizer), and other special guest instrumentalists and vocalists.
$15 - To reserve tickets with your credit card, please call (510) 547-8188
Adam Blankman (vocals) is one of the most innovative jazz vocalists in the Bay Area, engaging audiences with his rich tone, wide vocal range, and creative improvisation. Adam has performed with the Jazz Singers Collective and the award-winning ensemble Vocal Flight. He is also a songwriter, known for his stirring melodies and witty lyrics. In 2005, Adam released his debut CD entitled The Gift.
Walter Bankovitch (piano) has appeared with Stan Getz, Bobby Hutcherson, John Lee Hooker, Louis Bellson, Bobby Shew, Wayne Bergeron, and with vocalists Rebecca Parris, Michelle Hendricks, Madeline Eastman, Kitty Margolis, Nicolas Bearde, and Paula West. He is extensively involved with the San Francisco Bay Area vocal jazz community, having served as the accompanist for the Oakland Jazz Choir and for the vocal jazz ensembles at Contra Costa College, Skyline College, and De Anza College jazz vocal ensembles. Walter is also the pianist for the Full Spectrum Jazz Big Band and composes and arranges music for big bands and choral groups. entireproductions.com/talent/walter-bankovitch
Stacy Starkweather has been a bassist for 48 years. Even as a 14-year old, Stacy could be heard playing bass with Middle School and High School players like Peter Apfelbaum, Steve Bernstein, Will Bernard, and many others (all were in High School Band called Strictly Kosher). Through his young adult years he split his time between groups like Apfelbaum’s groundbreaking Hieroglyphics Ensemble, prog/new wave instigators the Valkay’s and Michael Gill’s Rivendell. Moving to Vermont in 1985, Stacy quickly established himself in the thriving East Coast scene, including regular touring internationally with Sun Ra/Kool & the Gang trumpeter/cosmic shaman Michael Ray’s Cosmic Krewe (featuring guests from the Sun Ra Arkestra, Terry Adams (NRBQ), John Medeski, and common guests Trey Anastasio and Jon Fishman from Phish). He also was on original member of touring jamband/jazz stalwarts Jazz Mandolin Project, Gordon Stone Trio, and Bad Hat (featuring Trey and Jon). Additionally, he established a long teaching career mentoring many working bassists (Mike Gordon/Phish, Aram Bedrosian, Ian Wade and others). He currently resides in Benicia, CA, and plays with an all-star soul/jazz East Bay group called Suspects of Soul, whose album, Suspicious Characters, was a Top Ten Contemporary R&B download on Amazon for 2 weeks in 2017. scottthompsonbass.com
David Rokeach (drums) has been working in the San Francisco and Los Angeles area music scenes for more than 20 years. He has performed/recorded with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples, Lou Rawls ,Dr. John, Grammy winner Joe Henderson, Mark Murphy, Bluesman Charlie Musselwhite, The George Brooks-Zakir Hussain Group, Wilson Pickett, Linda Tillery, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Joyce Cooling, Maria Muldaur, Calvin Keys, Barry Finnerty, Merl Saunders, David Grisman, Melvin Seals, The Family Stone Experience, Louis Bellson, Wayne Wallace, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra,The San Francisco Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The Baltimore Symphony, The Dallas Sympnony, Paula West, Brazilian Master Marcos Silva, The Coasters, The Shirelles, Bluegrass Grammy winner Alison Brown, Ernestine Anderson, Oscar Brown Jr., award-winning trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, acclaimed composer and Grammy winner, Maria Schneider, Tony, Grammy, Oscar and Emmy Award winner, Rita Moreno, and many more. davidrokeach.com
Michael Gill is a Bay Area pianist and composer who focuses on jazz, progressive rock, and both traditional and contemporary Jewish music. He is the director of the Jewish/American wedding band, "The Shtetlblasters" and is a composer of vocal and instrumental music. Michael's CD Blues for Lazarus features original compositions based on science fiction stories and spotlights Bay Area and Los Angeles performers including Gary Meek, Dave Weckl, Dave Koz, Tom Valdez, Dan Petruzzella, and Rob Fordyce. This past November, Michael was one of fifteen international composers who authored a new musical "David's Quilt" based on a biblical libretto, its world premiere in Los Angeles featuring the UCLA orchestra and chorale. Prior, Michael arranged and produced singer/songwriter Arthur Pinchev's debut CD, Waking Up Tunes and produced jazz vibraphonist Sam Goldsmith's Summer Victory Dance CD. Michael has recently recorded and performed with Boston's folk duo David Meyer & Jonathan Nelson and with Israeli/Ladino singer/songwriter Rivka Amado. He is currently involved in a Bay Area production celebrating the life and poetry of Israel's national poet, Rachel. Michael Gill on facebook.com