By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Dan Trudell Plays the Piano
A
lot of good musicians never stray far from home, yet make a solid living
playing near where they were born, or grew up, or moved to and settled later in
life. The groups with which such musicians perform are often referred to as
“territory bands.”
Dan
Trudell is just such a guy. He was born in Michigan, began his musical studies
on the organ at Western Michigan University — with a short stop on the tuba — and
transferred to North Texas State, where he majored in piano. During his early
career, he made a living playing on cruise ships. He ended up in Boston, formed
his first trio, then moved to Chicago where he played with Sabretooth, the
Chicago Jazz Orchestra and the B-3 Bombers.
Deciding
that the Midwest was his favorite part of the country, Trudell settled in Wisconsin’s
Lake Geneva resort area: close enough to Chicago and Milwaukee to facilitate
playing there on occasion. He’s best know as an organist, but lately has
returned to piano. This is his first album on the latter instrument.
The
session features his trio — Matt Wilson on drums, Joe Sanders on bass —
performing songs either written by, or associated with, famous pianists. The
package also includes a couple of Trudell originals.
It’s
interesting that his organ “style” is evident in his piano chops. He often
plays chords, rather than single notes, which are done with “trill” fingering; this
tends to “fill” the tonal spaces, much like an organ would. That said, it all
swings quite nicely.
Since
Trudell obviously has found his comfort zone, and is unlikely to stray far from
it, he isn’t likely to become a well-known performer; that said, I’m sure he’ll
keep the territory natives happy. I’d love to have a club close enough to enjoy
artists like Trudell, at the mere price of a short drive.
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