A masterful jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut balances his lithe technical skill with a robust, soulful style that speaks to his deep gospel roots and love of swinging hard bop. Raised in the church, he learned how to infuse his swinging, classically trained style with a warm gospel sound. Every set he plays is unique, as he reads the audience and the space to create a singular musical experience.

Virtuosic pianist and 5x-Grammy nominated composer and arranger Shelly Berg presents an exciting and highly informative 'History of Jazz Piano' concert that showcases and explains iconic styles such as stride, block-chord, and bebop by legendary pianists…

Pianist Michael Wolff returns to the piano store to present a solo set of his own compositions that hold deep meaning to him, offering insight into their history and how he came to compose them. He will also play some standards and Beatles songs, as well as share stories from his memoir, On That Note, recalling his days of growing up in Berkeley in the 60's, his experiences in the Bay Area music scene, and how they influenced him.

Dick Whittington celebrates his 90th birthday with his piano trio, featuring Robb Fisher on bass and Akira Tana on drums. Joining them will be Peck Allmond (trumpet, tenor sax, flute) and Jeff Cressman (trombone), both of whom were members of Berkeley School District’s Elementary School Jazz Band Program. The ensemble will play songs from the Great American Song Book, as well as bebop standards by Dizzy, Bird, Benny Golsen, and others.

Jazz pianist Luther S. Allison brings his trio for a debut performance at the piano store, featuring all new original works by Luther, exemplifying his compositional prowess and seamless blending of soul, swing, gospel, and the blues. 

One of the most exciting pianists in contemporary jazz” (The Guardian, UK), pianist-composer Lynne Arriale has performed on international stages for over 30 years. Her 17 critically acclaimed albums have topped the Jazzweek Radio Charts and earned “Best of” honors. Lynne’s performances radiate optimism and passion. Her latest release, Being Human, responds to a troubled world with a deeply felt suite exploring passion, courage, love, and joy, celebrating these qualities of humankind. She is joined by Ethan Philion (bass) and Tanner Guss (drums).

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Hard bop pianist Benny Green – who has played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, and the Ray Brown Trio – returns to the piano store for an evening of solo piano that will include standards and originals, including compositions he recorded on the piano store stage last year for an album due to be released in September 2026.

Laurence Hobgood’s well-known motto, “Never the same way once!”, finds delightfully buoyant expression in the interaction with Ernesto Mazar Kindelán (bass) and Josh Jones (drums). Vibrant, spontaneous connection and an ebullient, playful spirit infuse the chemistry, recently discovered, between these three veteran improvisers.  From un-mined facets of “chestnut” standards to fresh takes on Laurence’s original compositions, this evening will be infused with passion and merriment!

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Since touring with Ray Brown in the early 2000s, pianist Larry Fuller has built a reputation as one of the hardest-swinging pianists on the scene.  From bop, to stride, to swing, to blues, the Larry Fuller Trio returns to the piano store!  Larry Fuller, a Yamaha Artist, is known to ‘swing like a beast.’  Direct from NYC, Fuller brings his Trio, with Lorin Cohen on bass and Carmen Intorre, Jr., on drums.  Don’t miss this top-notch jazz trio while they’re in the Bay Area!

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Pianist Michael Wolff and drummer Mike Clark will play music from their recently released albums: Michael’s Sunny Day on Sunnyside Records and Mike’s Itai Doshin on Wide Hive Records.

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Jorge Luis Pacheco is known for his technical virtuosity on the piano and his electrifying performances. In his solo concerts, he uses a loop station to create complex accompaniments that allow him the freedom to improvise. Also an excellent vocalist with great sensitivity, he always pays tribute to the Buena Vista Social Club with some of their most famous songs. Pacheco reinterprets Latin and Cuban jazz, fusing diverse traditional and contemporary genres to create his own unique style, while maintaining a deep connection with his Cuban heritage.

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Piedmont Piano Company is proud to welcome back Alan Broadbent and Harvie S for their third performance on our stage. With decades of musical collaboration between them, Broadbent and Harvie S share a rare and intuitive connection that brings their performances to life. This seasoned duo will present a captivating evening of jazz standards and original compositions, all delivered with their signature style and remarkable interplay.

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"Sounding Line" Album Release Preview

Taking cues from two uncompromising geniuses of the piano, pianist/composer Carmen Staaf presents a fabulous contemporary accounting of the importance of Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk in the lineage of jazz on her new recording, Sounding Line (Sunnyside, September 2025). For this preview performance, she is joined by some of the illustrious musicians from the album - Ben Goldberg, Dillon Vado, and Hamir Atwal - for a set of duos, trios, and quartets exploring music by Williams and Monk, as well as originals. "A consummate jazz pianist" - Herbie Hancock.

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UnStandards – The Art Lande Quartet is comprised of highly experienced musicians who have developed distinctive voices on their instruments and know how to listen and connect to each other. The focus of this project is Art's UnStandards — reworking music familiar to the ear and bringing it to a fresh, present moment while honoring the history. Mixing meters, re-harmonizations, adding new sections and changing the whole mood of these old songs are some of the ways that Art fabulized the music during his months in Arizona last winter. This band promises to bring both surprises and consistency to these performances of new music in familiar packages. Come and taste the flavors.

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A masterful jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut balances his lithe technical skill with a robust, soulful style that speaks to his deep gospel roots and love of swinging hard bop. Raised in the church, he learned how to infuse his swinging, classically trained style with a warm gospel sound. Every set he plays is unique, as he reads the audience and the space to create a singular musical experience.

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Kenny Werner has been a world class pianist and composer for over 40 years and is the author of the landmark book Effortless Mastery: Liberating The Master Musician Within. The New York Times has called him a “virtuoso,” the Boston Phoenix has called him “an extraordinary gifted artist,” and his prolific compositions and recordings have won National Endowment for the Arts grants, a Grammy Award nomination and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Edward Simon, a native of Venezuela, has made a name for himself over decades in America as a jazz improviser, composer-arranger and band leader, with his profile heightening in recent years as he has explored the commonalities jazz can have with the folkloric sounds of Latin America.

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“A first-call accompanist and collaborator for the vocal elite, and a conceptualist who's crafted smartly arranged musical love letters to everything from steampunk sci-fi to the City of Los Angeles as part of his ongoing Discovery Project, Nelson is a creative force to be reckoned with.” –Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

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Lynne Arriale, piano
Alon Near, bass
Alon Benjamini, drums

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Hard bop pianist Benny Green – who has played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, and the Ray Brown Trio – returns to the piano store for an evening of solo piano that will include standards and originals.

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Documentary Screening and Solo Performance

Join us for a special night of the Bay Area debut of Omar Sosa's 88 Well-Tuned Drums, a feature-length documentary on the life and music of Cuban-born pianist, composer, and multiple Grammy-nominee Omar Sosa. The film follows Omar's story from early childhood and conservatory education as a percussionist in Cuba, military service in Angola, a stint in Ecuador writing commercial jingles, and his fateful move to San Francisco. The screening will be followed by a solo performance not to be missed!

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Internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Taylor Eigsti returns to the piano store for a rare solo performance, just off the heels of winning a 2025 GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his latest album Plot Armor.

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with Jeremy Cohen and Quartet San Francisco

This concert is a world premiere of a number of works written by Bill Cunliffe for violinist Jeremy Cohen and the Quartet San Francisco.  Bill has had a long relationship with Jeremy, having performed with him a number of times at the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles in the ’90’s and ’00’s. These new pieces are for string quartet and piano, and all feature jazz improvisation, both by Bill and members of the quartet.  Works performed include pieces composed by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, two of Bill’s main musical influences. 

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Celebrate the release of Dust (E2/ Edition Records), the new solo piano album by Grammy®-nominated pianist and composer Romain Collin. Collin, who has been praised by NPR as a "visionary composer" and hailed by the Boston Globe as one of the "leading lights of a new breed of jazz players", will perform originals, as well as covers, with his unique and emotive pianistic approach. This special live performance coincides with the opening of an art exhibition at Oakland's Fourth Wall Gallery. This art show, conceived in collaboration with filmmaker Matthew Palmer, was created as a complement to the music of Dust. While the gallery show features 11 music films shot in the California desert, this intimate solo piano concert focuses on the music. Limited-edition vinyl copies of Dust will be available for purchase at the event. 

Larry Vuckovich celebrates his 88th birthday playing the 88 keys Fazioli concert grand on his actual birthday! He will be playing with his favorite guitarist, Kai Lyons. For the last number of years Kai has become the hottest guitarist in the Bay Area. Larry and Kai have been regularly expanding their diverse/wide-ranging repertoire – unmatched in the jazz arena. Besides the great jazz classics of top composers, their repertoire covers seldom heard standards, great Latin/Brazilian pieces, World Music gems, and as always funky, boogaloo blues selections. Additionally, they present special jazz vocals of rarely heard selections. Don’t miss this special event!

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Pianist Tamir Hendelman returns to the piano store for a solo program of standards, originals and compositions by jazz masters. Known for his lyrical tone, sense of swing, dynamic range and imaginative re-conceptions of jazz standards, Tamir brings spontaneity and nuanced musical storytelling to his solo concerts. Join him for this program filled with gems from the Great American Songbook, the jazz canon and his own fertile imagination.

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From bop, to stride, to swing, to blues, the Larry Fuller Trio returns to the piano store!  Larry Fuller is an internationally acclaimed jazz pianist known to ‘swing like a beast.’  He is a Yamaha artist.  Direct from NYC, Fuller brings his Trio, with Lorin Cohen on bass and Carmen Intorre, Jr., on drums.  Don’t miss this top-notch jazz trio while they’re in the Bay Area!

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Joe Alterman presents 'Happy Serious Music - According to Ramsey Lewis,' an unforgettable evening of music that will “surely make people smile and, if the room is right, dance.” (Nat Hentoff, The Wall Street Journal) Drawing inspiration from legendary jazz and “happy sounding” pianists Ramsey Lewis, Les McCann, and more, Alterman will take you on a journey, weaving joyful music inspired by these greats with fascinating, enlightening, and personal stories about these legends and his special relationships with many of them.

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Internationally acclaimed French-Malagasy pianist Mathis Picard returns to the piano store for an exciting evening of solo piano music. Stride, Swing, Preludes & Fugues connects the dots of different piano compositions across musical eras, painting a full picture of the history of the piano. Showcasing sounds from Harlem Stride and American Swing to European classical music, Picard will also share selections from his latest original work, “Preludes & Fugues: Book I,” a set of 12 compositions that reinterprets one of solo piano’s most beloved compositional formats.

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Art Lande’s solo piano concerts are rare, special occasions and personal offerings of everything he has to give. This Artful evening will be a journey through loosely charted territory with plenty of side road jaunts and unscripted excursions where captivating characters, places, and events co-mingle. The audience will hear some jazz, his own compositions, improvisation, spoken word, and anything that touches his heart in the space in the moment.