Eclectic Series: Rob Schwimmer in “MY FIRST LOVE” / Music for Piano – A Solo Concert

Rob Schwimmer in “MY FIRST LOVE” / Music for Piano – A Solo Concert

As I approach my 70th birthday I’d like to welcome to a new and overdue chapter in my series of performances at Bargemusic-My very first solo piano concert here! My first love (musical, that is) was, is, and will always be the piano-The many other instruments I play like the theremin, Haken Continuum, ondioline etc. all sprang from what I loved and learned in my many years at the piano. I was born with synesthesia and started playing piano when I was 3.

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There’ll be new original music, old music, medium music, non-originals, improvisations and more if that doesn’t cover it. Please join me for this special evening!

Selections will be announced from the stage.

Rob Schwimmer is an improvising composer-pianist who has performed and recorded throughout the world. Born in NYC with synesthesia and perfect pitch, Rob began improvising at the piano at the age of 3. At 17 Rob searched out some of his piano idols and became friends with Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett who used to “…lend me books, listen to music together and play piano for me!” Inspiring times for a teen! By 19 Rob subbed for Bley on a European tour with singer/composer Annette Peacock.

His solo piano album “Heart of Hearing” was rated #4 in Slate Magazine’s “Best Jazz of 2019” stating, “…a mesmerizing pianist of astonishing drama, wit, and virtuosity.” It elicited the following from Stereophile: “It’s a stunner—Mesmerizing, haunting, flush with drama and wit. Schwimmer immerses himself in whatever genre he’s traversing or transcending. Across all realms, he’s a virtuoso.” Gary Giddins, the famed jazz critic wrote “For anyone who thinks the magical properties of 88 keys are pretty well exhausted, Rob Schwimmer’s Heart of Hearing may come as something of a revelation. This is piano music that creates its own field, neither jazz nor classical nor pop. The fusion of virtuosity and originality is by turns exhilarating and moving, no less so in his treatment of standards than in his originals, all of it invoking a dazzling clarity of purpose.”  Allan Kozinn said, “He is also a magnificent jazz pianist, with a fleet, subtle touch…it’s tempting to see it (Heart of Hearing) as a manifesto of sorts — a proclamation that all styles are fair game if you can play them convincingly and if you have the technique and imagination to move between them without ever sounding out of your element…an extraordinary level of detail… Paul Simon’s “Sound of Silence”is recast… even darker and more haunting than the original.” Point of Departure said, “… there is a great deal of wisdom – and wit and genuine tenderness – in Schwimmer’s art.” Renowned choreographer Mark Morris offered: “Kooky, crazy, terrifying and gorgeous!”

Rob’s solo album “Beyond The Sky” was also widely lauded in both classical and jazz publications: It was greeted as “Extraordinary” in Gramophone and “Shaping up to be the finest solo piano CD of the year” in The NYC Jazz Record.

Schwimmer has performed his own version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue with orchestra and was commissioned by The Metropolitan Museum to write new music for the 50th anniversary showing of the movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for jazz trio and “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” for jazz quartet with Scott Robinson and Jay Anderson. On the classical front He has performed Frederic Rzewski’s “No Place To Go But Around” which Rzewski himself praised (which evidently didn’t happen often!)

Rob has played on Simon and Garfunkel world tours and worked/recorded with Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Esperanza Spalding (on her Grammy winning “12 Little Spells,”) Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Gotye, Chaka Khan, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, Queen Latifah, Arif Mardin, Adam Guettel, Paul Bley, The Boston Pops, Mary Cleere Haran, T-Bone Walker, Sam Rivers, Ethan Iverson, The El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Marc Shaiman, Uri Caine, The Everly Brothers, A-ha, David Krakauer, Christian Marclay, Matthew Barney, Ang Lee, Maria Schneider, Michel Gondry, Mark Morris Dance Group, Vince Bell, Trey Anastasio, The Klezmatics, Bob Neuwirth, Bernie Worrell, Sxip Shirey, Gotye’s Ondioline Orchestra, Nels Cline, Jack Douglas, Annette Peacock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marshall Brickman, 9 Horses, Kelsey Lu, Karen Black, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Josh Groban, David Soldier, Mabou Mines, Rafaella Carra, Geoffrey Holder, John Cale, Steve Buscemi, Iva Bittova, Theo Bleckmann, John Stubblefield, Burt Bacharach, The Roches, Jack Quartet, Scott Robinson, Edie Brickell, Teo Macero, Hal Willner, Vernon Reid, Ethel, James Emery, Bela Fleck, Lenny Kaye, Kurt Vonnegut, Tamar Muskal, Anjani Thomas, Odetta, Drepung Loseling Tibetan Monks, Sussan Deyhim, producer John Simon, Joseph Jarman, Alwin Nikolai/ Murray Louis Dance Company, Marc Ribot, Frank London, C&C Music Factory, Sammy Davis Jr. and many more.

Rob has played at many legendary clubs/concerts/arenas around the world including Carnegie Hall, Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, Hollywood Bowl, the Blue Note in NY and Japan, Staples Center, The Knitting Factory, Hyde Park, The Stone, Beacon Theater, the 55 Bar, Avery Fisher Hall, CBGB’s, The Mudd Club, Metropolitan Museum, Max’s Kansas City, Weiner Konzerthaus, Roulette, The Village Gate, Palladium, Cotton Club, Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Concertgebouw, Madison Square Garden, Tokyo Dome and the Colosseum in Rome in front of a crowd of over 600,000 with Simon & Garfunkel.