Rick Germanson
Encyclopedia
Rick Germanson is an American jazz pianist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Germanson started playing piano at a young age and grew up playing in the Milwaukee jazz scene. After winning the grand prize at the 1996 American Pianists' Association Jazz Piano Competition in 1996, Germanson left Milwaukee for New York City.

After relocating, Germanson began quickly making his mark on the New York jazz scene, playing with notable acts and artists such as Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....

' Jazz Machine; Regina Carter
Regina Carter
Regina Carter is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter.-Early life:...

; Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...

, Slide Hampton
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...

, Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan
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, Eric Alexander
Eric Alexander
Eric Alexander is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his sophisticated hard bop and post-bop style.Alexander began as a classical musician, studying alto saxophone at Indiana University with Eugene Rousseau in 1986...

, Frank Lacy
Frank Lacy
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, Marlena Shaw
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, Donald Harrison
Donald Harrison
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, Brian Lynch
Brian Lynch
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, Jim Rotondi
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James Robert Rotondi is an American jazz trumpeter, educator and conductor.Born in Butte, Montana and the youngest of 5 siblings, Rotondi lives in Graz, Austria and performs there and internationally with several groups, as well as being a Professor at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts...

, Charles McPherson, Charles Davis
Charles Davis
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, Craig Handy
Craig Handy
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, Cecil Payne
Cecil Payne
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, and the George Gee
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 Orchestra.

Since 2001, Germanson has been a member of the Cannonball Legacy Band, headed by Cannonball Adderley's original drummer Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...

. He has also toured with Pat Martino
Pat Martino
Pat Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz and hard bop idioms.-Biography:...

's tribute to Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...

.

Germanson has appeared on recordings with Gerald Hayes
Gerald Hayes
Gerald Hayes is an American football linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pittsburgh....

, David Gibson
David Gibson
David Gibson, , was a surveyor, farmer and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Forfarshire, Scotland in 1804. He apprenticed with a land surveyor in Scotland and came to Upper Canada seeking employment. In 1825, he was named a deputy surveyor of roads and, in 1828, surveyor of highways...

, Joe Magnarelli, Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Brad Leali Jazz Orchestra, James Zollar, Peter Dominguez, Lance Bryant, Bill Cantrall, Gerald Cannon, and Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes is an American jazz drummer.-Biography:His father played drums and piano and his mother the piano and he refers to the early influence of hearing jazz, especially that of big bands, on the radio...

, among others.

Germanson has released three albums under his own name, 2003's Heights and 2005's You Tell Me on the Fresh Sounds New Talent label, and 2010's Off the Cuff on Owl Studios
Owl Studios
Owl Studios is an independent record label, started in 2005 by J. Allan Hall, that concentrates on jazz, R&B, and jam band genres. It is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates from its downtown offices on Monument Circle.-Formation:...

.

Discography

  • 2003 - Heights - Fresh Sounds New Talent
  • 2005 - You Tell Me - Fresh Sounds New Talent
  • 2010 - Off the Cuff - Owl Studios

External links

  • http://www.rickgermanson.net
  • http://www.owlstudios.net
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