Piano
Started in 2006
Musical Background:
Eight years of classical piano classes starting at 6 years old.
Eight years of listening to neighbour's stereo.
Favorite Musicians:
Queen.
Crying kids.
Favorite Music:
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, Part III.
Car engine.
Wishes he could play like:
Dave Grusin.
Tiger Woods.
Family:
Wife - Yana.
Carnivorous Plant - George (contributed by Yana).
Vocation:
Getting PhD from the Institute of Optics at University of Rochester.
Potentially, a house-husband.
Hobbies/Interests:
Piano (of course), biking, sushi.
Banging on the neighbor's door at 1a.m. to stop the stereo.
Why the Greece Jazz Band?:
Always wanted to expand my piano playing proficiency into jazz, learn jazz chords, be able to "piano doodle" like a pro. And what can be better than just jump in the middle of all that jazz and start playing in a band. I like the music the GJB plays, I like the people, so the question is really "why not?".
To keep my Russian friends puzzled as to when did jazz replace Sirtaki, and how the hell I ended up in Greece.
Interesting Facts/Stories:
I actually never entertained the idea of finding and joining a jazz band, having so little experience in jazz playing. So, the way it all started is my neighbor's coworker was in a hard rock band which was looking for a keyboard player and thus my name came up. I actually went to one of their practices. Hard rock is really something over my head, too much sound distortion in my personal opinion. Besides, none of the pieces sounded familiar. I figured that this is not for me, but at the last moment the band's drummer, Jeff McBay, mentioned that he also plays in GJB and perhaps their music will fit my preferences better. And he was absolutely correct.
Did you know? Apparently, in Russia playing piano works magic in attracting females. A black concert size piano, a white suit, a red tie, a bottle of French wine and a booked hotel room guarantee you an unforgettable evening in a company of a beautiful lady. In US, this kind of approach guarantees only an unforgettable credit card bill.