Stephanie Trick “has come to practically dominate the stride piano field,” notes reviewer Jack Rummel. Harlem stride piano, which developed in the 1920s and ’30s, is an orchestral style of two-handed piano playing that not only swings, but is also technically demanding and exciting to watch. Louis Mazetier, a respected interpreter of this genre, writes in the Bulletin du Hot Club de France that she has “won the esteem of specialists in the genre with wonderful interpretations of stride classics, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Don Lambert (which she learned by ear). She plays these pieces with a punch that is matched by her precise interpretation.” In the words of the great Dick Hyman, Stephanie is “one of the nicest gifts to arrive on the jazz piano scene in recent times, and we couldn’t be more delighted to welcome her.”

A classically trained pianist, Stephanie began playing piano at the age of five. During the time between her beginning years and high school, her piano teacher exposed her to early jazz, and the syncopation and swinging rhythm piqued her interest. While in college, it became clear to Stephanie that she wanted to pursue stride and classic jazz styles professionally. Graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at the University of Chicago.

With a swinging approach inspired by second-generation stride pianists such as Dick Hyman, Ralph Sutton, and Dick Wellstood (as well as the original Harlem ticklers, James P. Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Fats Waller), and one that includes boogie woogie and blues from the late ‘20s, Stephanie was the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Kobe-Breda Jazz Friendship Award, and has performed in many parts of the United States and Europe in a variety of venues, including the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Italy, the KIG Dixieland Festival in Dresden, Germany, the Arbors Records Invitational Jazz Party, the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, and the Sacramento Music Festival. In 2008, 2010, and 2014, she was invited to perform at the international Stride & Swing Piano Summit in Boswil, Switzerland.

Stephanie frequently performs with her husband, acclaimed pianist Paolo Alderighi, making fresh arrangements of songs from the Swing Era in a four-hands piano duo, and they currently have recorded six albums together (see www.paoloandstephanie.com). In 2014, they played for Prince Charles and Camilla at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. Stephanie also enjoys accompanying Grammy-nominated lyricist and vocalist Lorraine Feather in a show that features the music of James P. Johnson and other stride piano composers, set to original lyrics by Feather.

A serious student, dedicated to classic jazz and the stride piano tradition, Stephanie has recorded five albums in piano solo, several more with other musicians, and one DVD. Her solo “Live” CD was awarded the “New Talent Prize 2011” by the Hot Club of France.  (CD track listings, video clips, ordering information, and more may be found on her website at www.stephanietrick.com.)

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