Alison Keslow

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   I grew up in Westchester County New York and started playing piano at about three or four years old. My mother, who is a jazz pianist and singer, was my main inspiration. While growing up I practiced piano and wrote songs  and always felt a strong connection with music. In my teens I picked up the electric bass and fell in love with it right away. I started out playing in rock and blues bands and later got into to jazz. After high school I moved to Florida for a short time where I studied music theory and composition with the great Dr.Larry Weed at Valencia Community College . Playing in Dr Weed's Jazz band gave me the foundation in performance that I needed to progress to the next level. While at Valencia, I  also studied bass privately with Florida Symphony bassist Paul Strosshoffer. In 1991, I moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music where I graduated with honors in 1994. I learned so much about music at Berklee and had the good fortune to play with so many great players. My Berklee teachers had a huge impact on me, especially my private instructor Rich Appleman. I also learned a lot from my bass lab teachers, including Joe Santerre, Oscar Stagnaro, and Bruce Gertz who I studied privately with after graduation. 

 
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     After graduating Berklee College of Music I played steady gigs all over New England in clubs including: The Hard Rock Café, Harper's Ferry, Bills Bar, Mama Kin, Dodge Street, Cameron's, The Regatta, Johnny D's and many more. I backed up big bands like Stage Door Canteen and The Classiques, singer songwriters, jazz groups, rock bands and theatre productions. After many years of being a sideman, I decided to step out as a leader. My debut CD "Between Earth and Sky" was released in 2003. It has received air play on the Jazz Oasis and Women in Music programs on WERS radio in Boston, Upper Room with Joe Kelly on WVOF in Fairfield CT, WMFO at Tuffs University and Women on Air which broadcasts over 99 public radio stations across the country.
 
I love instrumental jazz, funk and blues but am open to music of all kinds. I play gigs with my own group and freelance with several local artists. I also teach bass lessons at my studio ( I was a public school music teacher/band director for 8 years). I have continued my own education with graduate courses in jazz improvisation with Philadelphia based pianist Jimmy Amadie and jazz arranging techniques with trombonist Phil Wilson, and bass studies with the great jazz bassist Bruce Gertz. Most recently I studied advanced improvisation techniques with the amazing jazz master Charlie Banacos. These lessons have changed my life! I'll never stop practicing because of the sheer joy it gives me. 

   My CD "Between Earth and Sky” is the culmination of all of these experiences and lessons. It presents seven of my originals and two of my arrangements of standard tunes. The album was recorded "live in the studio" with some of the best musicians I have ever worked with. The players  include: Dino Govoni on Saxophone, Jon Hazilla on Drums, Dave Limina on Piano and Peter Wiernik on guitar. I am currently gigging around the Boston area playing with my own band and doing freelance work. Look for my new CD due out later in 2008.
  

 


 

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View Alison Keslow's EPK
View Alison Keslow's EPK