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Jeff Baumeister

“Jeff Baumeister is an artist deserving wider recognition, he is the newcomer alongside more established forward-thinking folks like Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Bill Frisell, Tomasz Stanko and others - he's got his own thing happening that bodes well for the future.”- John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

Jeff earned degrees in Jazz Performance from William Paterson University (B.M.) and the University of the Arts (M.M.). Aside from college he studied privately with Sam Bellardo, Uri Caine, Tom Lawton, Al Stauffer and Jim McNeely. He also studied composing and arranging with McNeely and Manny Albam at the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop in NYC.

Jeff has been actively involved on the Philadelphia jazz scene since the early 1980s. As a regular contributor to DownBeat magazine many of his transcription and analysis essays are frequently published. Among these included analysis of solos by Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Tomasz Stanko with Dave Holland, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and John Zorn. Jeff teaches Jazz Studies at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa.

Awards

Eubie Blake Scholarship - William Paterson University, 1992 - 1995
Bernard Peiffer Jazz Piano Award for Excellence, Creativity, and Dedication to Jazz Piano - University of the Arts, 2003

Jeff Baumeister: Pretty Melodies, for people who dig that sort of thing

Read "Pretty Melodies, for people who dig that sort of thing" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 24, 2014

Pianist Jeff Baumeister can't be accused of being enigmatic with an album title or rushing into a recording. It took him eight years to create this frankly titled follow-up to his debut--Useful Music (Wahbo Records, 2005). Baumeister's first album received some favorable reviews, but the pianist wasn't looking to tread on the same ground with his sophomore date. In fact, he went in a completely different direction, making a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn with constructive methodology and working with ...

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Album Review

Jeff Baumeister Quartet: Useful Music

Read "Useful Music" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
October 27, 2005

With the number of jazz albums released every month, it's becoming more and more challenging to keep up. Add the proliferation of small independent and artist-run labels and the task becomes nearly insurmountable. And that's a shame, because it means that talented artists are getting lost in the sheer mass of information out there. Hopefully that's not a fate in store for Philadelphia-based pianist Jeff Baumeister, whose debut release signifies a new voice with a less-than-common set ...

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Music Industry

Slought Foundation Announces Jeff Baumeister as New Music Curator

Source: All About Jazz
July 17, 2006

Slought Foundation 4017 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-3513 Ph: 215.222.9050 Since 2002, Slought Foundation has presented a series of time-based performance practices featuring artists at the forefront of new music, language arts, film, and new media. According to pianist Jeff Baumeister, “First on the agenda is to highlight the rich diversity of improvised music and jazz found right here in our own backyard. With the goal ...
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Recording

Jeff Baumeister Releases "Useful Music" on Wahbo Records

Source: All About Jazz
March 27, 2006

WAHBO RECORDS ANNOUNCES JEFF BAUMEISTER QUARTET USEFUL MUSIC In Stores Now

Best of 2005, Publisher's Picks Michael Ricci, All About Jazz

Best of 2005, Editor's Choice, New Discoveries John Kelman, All About Jazz

Top Ten Best Albums of 2005 Nick Lea, Jazz Views

John Kelman, All About Jazz - “Useful Music has all the potential to be a classic. Jeff Baumeister is an artist deserving wider recognition. He ...
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Useful Music Wahbo Records

Editor’s Choice, Best of 2005 - New Discoveries
- John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

Top Ten Best Albums Of 2005
- Nick Lea, Jazz Views.uk

Publisher's Top Picks for 2005 - Honorable Mention
- Michael Ricci, publisher, All About Jazz.com

“A prediction for the coming year (or two) - you will soon know the name of local pianist, Jeff Baumeister”
- Ken Weiss, Philadelphia Correspondent, Cadence Magazine

Useful Music Wahbo Records

Editor’s Choice, Best of 2005 - New Discoveries
- John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

Top Ten Best Albums Of 2005
- Nick Lea, Jazz Views.uk

Publisher's Top Picks for 2005 - Honorable Mention
- Michael Ricci, publisher, All About Jazz.com

“A prediction for the coming year (or two) - you will soon know the name of local pianist, Jeff Baumeister”
- Ken Weiss, Philadelphia Correspondent, Cadence Magazine

Congratulations to you and your saxophonist!
Your music is world-class.
- Mark C. Gridley (author of Jazz Styles: History And Analysis, Prentice Hall)

"Baumeister is completely original, with a fresh take on free/avant garde jazz that is challenging yet eminently listenable.
An example of the terrific music coming out of Philadelphia's thriving jazz scene."
- Tony Rogers, Jazz CD Reviews.com

“Completely captivating and with a certain aesthetic connection to classic ECM piano recordings, Useful Music has all the potential to be a classic in its own right. Baumeister’s writing, while evoking its deceptively gentle veneer, is more structurally rich than its antecedents, making it a completely modern take on an established aesthetic.
- John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

"The organic lucidity that animates each of Baumeister's composition is the real treasure of Useful Music and a compelling reason to return to this album again and again"
- Dimitry Ekshtut, Jazz Improv Magazine

“Useful Music is moody, detailed, and unique. The quartet weaves in and out of changes with subtlety and grace on this spectacular set of originals. Highly recommended.”
- Andrew Ciccone, Sound of Market Street

“This is my favorite sort of jazz approach,
really smart and burning.”
- John Anthony, audio engineer, Maja Audio Group

“While not recommended for short attention spans, the session is a refined study of high - end improvisation - full of quiet but fiery interplay, cerebral and engaging. Pianist Jeff Baumeister's new CD could just as easily be found amid the hushed discs of the Munich- based ECM label.”
- Karl Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Improvised music that has the lyricism of the best composed music of the last century - wonderfully mysterious - a beautiful, clear recorded sound, live and personal.”
- David Demsey, saxophonist, Coordinator of Jazz Studies, William Paterson University

"Useful Music is an album that combines the cerebral to the hot playing in colorful, modern and high aesthetics."
- Vangelis Aragiannis, Jazz & Tzaz , Greece

“Exploratory yet rooted, oblique yet lyrical, dark but playful, all rendered with synergetic group interplay.”
-Tom Lawton, pianist and composer, Dreambox Media

“I really enjoyed this cd! Great songs and great playing,
Check it out!"
-Uri Caine, pianist and composer, Winter and Winter

"There's a quiet intelligence to Jeff Baumeister's playing that often brings Paul Bley to mind. In many ways this is the sort of piano session ECM releases by the bucketful only with warmer, more upfront production. If you're as fond of smart, probing piano music as I am, this is a fine example."
- Jerome Wilson, Cadence Magazine

"Baumeister, Dan Capecchi, Greg Riley and Peter Paulsen executed every piece with boldness. The abstractly painted soundscapes are a Stenson- like blending heritage with a touch of groovy lyricism. They defy all, culminating in six masterpieces. As soon as your ears will get to this album you will be impressed by Baumeister’s craft. Highly recommended! "
- Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez, Jazz Review.com

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Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Philadelphia

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Assistant Professor, Bucks County Community College
Private Piano Instruction
BM in Jazz Studies / Performance, William Paterson University
MM in Jazz Studies / Performance, University of the Arts
Contact 215.968.8135. Private lessons may be arranged through Bucks County Community College Continuing Education.